38080 - Instructions

I have a fridge in my garage. I have found that a glass of ice water or a cold drink outside is very important to me. When I discovered melting ice dripping onto the garage floor I was very upset. I spun the fridge and found that the compressor and fan weren't starting. I got out my multi-meter and discovered that power was not making it to these components. I did some research and found the wiring diagram online. There really isn't too much going on with a fridge and the most likely candidate seemed to be the run capacitor. I ordered the part, replaced it in a few minutes and the fridge began working again.

unplugged refrigerator. removed light bulb from old socket. unsnapped old light socket and pulled it out just enough to diconnect the electrical plug that plugs into the socket . discarded the old socket and plugged in new socket. snapped in new socket into refrigerator. i watched how to do this simple procedure on you tube and decided to do it myself. easy easy easy

Removed back panel. Opened cover to relay attached to the compressor and pulled off replacing with new relay. No problem.

Better than paying $250 for someone else to do it.

Found burned Defrost timer contacts.

Unplugged the appliance for safety. Removed two 1/4" screws that held the assembly in place. Carefully removed the wire guard that retains the glass shield. Unscrewed old light bulb and replaced with new part. Reversed the steps after cleaning glass cover.

After I bought what I thought I needed for the repair. I asked a friend to come over and look at it. He changed the
the light socket and put the same light bulb in and it works great. I am returning the light switch but decided to keep the light bulb.

Getting on the internet was so easy. This was really very simple. Thank you for making what I thought would be a big ordeal into something very simple.

Paulette Johnson

First unplugged frig. Took off cover to fan, then bottom & back panels in freezer. Unplugged the fan to the wires & marked them so we would know how they went back. Unscrewed the frame that holds the fan, laid the old one next to the new one so we could tell how it went. Only took a few minutes to do this, then put it back in the same way we took it out. Plugged frig. back in & it took off. Very happy with this. Runs like a new one.

i have a friend that had a big side by side refrigerator . he had repair man after repairman come and look at it. one thought it was the overload relay in the back and another just said it was compressor problems. this went on for over a month. after all of this and no one able to fix it he went and got another refrigerator . being the tinker with stuff kind of person i am i said i will come and get the old one to keep him from having to haul it off (he agreed). well i did my home work and tried a few things messing with it. tapping on the thermistat resetting the defrost timer and it dawned on me that that the fridge would run great if i wiggle a wire on the thermistat and reset the defrost timer. so i get on the internet look around for the parts. come to find out they were realy cheap. the day they get here i break out with a screw driver and a nut driver and take the cover off. i take the old parts out and put the new ones in in about 15 minutes. i wiped the inside of the frige clean and pluged it back in. well in no time flat this thing was cooling like a northern blowing through in january. then it dawned on me that i have a 27 cubic ft frige that i didnt pay any thing for (well the 65 bucks i spent on the parts) and it runs great. what a deal.

after getting the big side by side fixed up and running like a champ i realized i have a refrigerator in the garage that my parents gave me a couple of years ago that only ran for a couple of months. well i get brave and decide to try my luck with the second one. due to it sitting up for so long and the humidity i had to do a little more work to it. i replaced a few wires, changed out a couple of connections, put a thermistat , a defrost timer and a evapmotor in it this thing also ran like a champ. i cleaned it up real good ran some steel wool over the outside and sprayed a couple of coats of enamel on it and it looks brand new.

so to end this story i spent about 140 bucks and i have two refrigerators a big side by side ice and water despensing refrigerator in the house and a 17 cubic ft refrigerator in the garage (the wife was happy simply because i had a place to put beer and bait).

if i would have went and purchased both of these refrigerators i would have spent about $1400 for the side by side and about $450 for the other one. man what a bargin, so from now on even if it seems a little dificult i dont get rid of any thing until i give it a good look over and see if i can fix it. i saved a total of $1700 (minus tax).

I opened the back panel of the fridge and exposed the compressor. Unplugged existing run capacitor and installed new one with the addition of the sleeve that is stated must be installed around the run capacitor.
Everything I read and on this web site says that based on these symptoms, that the problem is the run capacitor. I searched and search for a part called a start relay which plugs in to the compressor. This run capacitor plugs in to this other part which I take as the start relay.

Installing this run capacitor did not solve the problem. The fridge compressor keeps cycling on and off. Freezer doesn't keep as cold as it should.

I had to call for a appointment for repair with GE Appliance because I thought then it . .was something electrical. The technician came out & checked everything out, turned out it was not electrical, The technician went out to his truck got a light bulb from his truck, put it in & it worked. It cost me $121.00 for trip charge from GE appliance for a light bulb that worked, your light bulbs were defective twice. Very disappointed with your products, cost me alot of money for a good light bulb thru GE appliance

I took the advice off of your website about the only thing that will fix
the problem is change the run capacitor. I felt assured that I would
have a working refrigerator freezer after making this change. I was
pretty disheartened when it didn`t solve anything. I was not going to
take the new part back out after the small challenge of putting it in.
The next day I found out how to test the old capacitor and it was still
good. I will just have to eat the $49. I did learn not to take advice from
a website even if it seems like a sure thing

Easy fix - snapped together.

Instructions say run capacitor is by motor, but on this frige its in the refrigerator compartment. The capacitors looks different, one square and the other long

Pulled the door off easily and noticed that the spacer on the Center hinge was ground down to nothing and that a small screw in the bottom plate of the door was half way out. This screw would catch on the cabinet Center hinge bracket and stopped the door from closing. Problem was solved by tightening the screw and putting in a new "spacer" that kept the small screws from contacting the Center hinge bracket. The freezer door now closes like new.

No repair, lol! Just a perfect fit for my ignition :). I bought two in case my grandson gets curious again.