Defrost Heater and Bracket Assembly Specifications
The defrost heater keeps the cooling coils from frosting over. The heater will get hot and melt any ice or frost build up around the coils.
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Troubleshooting
This part fixes the following symptoms:
Fridge too warm | Freezer not defrosting | Freezer section too warm | Frost buildup
This part works with the following products:
Refrigerator.
This part works with the following products:
General Electric, Hotpoint, Kenmore.
Part# WR51X10055 replaces these:
AP3183311, 914088, WR51X10055, WR51X10030
Customer Reviews
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★★★★★
★★★★★
John N - September 30, 2022
Verified Purchase
Repair went well , easy install
The part matched my refrigerator model type
★★★★★
★★★★★
Clyde N - September 18, 2022
Verified Purchase
defroster repair
went great, straightforward, for someone who's been to a few rodeos
★★★★★
★★★★★
Mark T - July 18, 2022
Verified Purchase
Came quickly and just as described
The part was the correct one and solved the problem
★★★★★
★★★★★
PAUL I - June 9, 2022
Verified Purchase
Well, it wasn't as easy an install as I hoped.
The opening for the freezer compartment was too narrow to allow me to easily do the removal and install but I got it done and the parts work perfectly. I'm happy I paid the extra for genuine GE parts given the reports of failures of the after-market parts after 2 years.
★★★★★
★★★★★
Ronald B - May 7, 2022
Verified Purchase
part worked as expected
replacement part solved iceing problem
★★★★★
★★★★★
Patricia C - November 12, 2021
Verified Purchase
GE Refirgerator repair
Correct part received quickly
★★★★★
★★★★★
Johnny L G - September 16, 2021
Verified Purchase
Defrost heater bracket
The part in great condition and came very fast. After three weeks of usage it has work just perfect. Thank you so much
★★★★★
★★★★★
Cynthia S - July 21, 2021
Verified Purchase
Easy repair. Part working well
Part came well wrapped and protected. Saved me over 400 dollars in a service repair job
★★★★★
★★★★★
Steve A - October 13, 2020
Verified Purchase
Easy repair. Part exact replacement for original.
Correct part with fast delivery and good price.
★★★★★
★★★★★
Chris S - March 9, 2020
Verified Purchase
Repair went well
The parts received were correct and on time. The Tech was able to complete without problems. Would use part select again.
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Customer Repair Stories
Average Repair Rating: 3.4 / 5.0, 42 reviews.
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Freezer Cold Refrigerator warm
The defrost heater failed. The coils frosted completely over so no airflow to the fridge. Step 1. Empty the freezer. Ice maker and top shelf can stay. Remove power, pull plug or open breaker. Step 2. Remove shelves and bottom food drawer. Step 3. Remove bottom food drawer rails. 2 phillips screws on each side. Step 4. Remove bac
... Read morek panel, 2 screws at the top. Work panel out. Note there may be a green ground wire hook on it at the top. This will expose the heater and the cooling coils. The heater is at the bottom of the cooling coils and is the width of the coils. Step 5. There will be 2 wires, one on each end, and two phillips screws holding it in. Wires pull straight out. Note which way the heater is installed and remove the 2 screws. Step 6. Assemble in reverse order. Be very careful with the heater. It is in a glass tube and is very easy to break.
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Steve from DOWS, IA
Difficulty Level:
Really Easy
Total Repair Time:
30 - 60 mins
Tools:
Nutdriver, Screw drivers
2 of 2 peoplefound this instruction helpful.
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Freezer coils were iced up,was not cold enough,suspected the heater was the culprit
I had looked at videos on you tube,it looked simple enough. I mostly do my own repairs so I gave it a shot. the job went well,if you do not fix things around the house don't try to do the repair,find a handyman in your neighborhood to help you out,cheaper than calling a refrigeration man. It is not that hard to do.
robert from WOONSOCKET, RI
Difficulty Level:
Easy
Total Repair Time:
30 - 60 mins
Tools:
Nutdriver, Pliers, Screw drivers
1 personfound this instruction helpful.
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warm refrigerator, and freezer not defrostt
i replace the defrost thermostat and defrost heater and bracket assembly. i did not know what was wrong with the refrigerator until i found your web site. i would like to thank all the friends who explain this process. this save me the price of a service call. this was a very easy job
Local repairman was called. He replaced the condenser fan motor as it had an intermittent noise several days before. Cost of the repair was 252.00. Two days later freezer was thawing again. He then came back again and said it was probably the evaporator fan and would replace it for 339. dollars or the mother board which he would replace f
... Read moreor 500 dollars. He recommended replacing the unit. Since my unit was still in pristine looking condition I decided to do some further research. That is when I found your web site. After reviewing the possible causes on your site I ordered the defrost themostat and and all three thermistors.As a precaution I also ordered the evaporator fan and defrost heater and bracket Assembly. When the parts arrived I disconnected the power to the unit. Removed the shelves and lower pan. Removed the light shield and light bulb. Reovede the two screws holding the evaporator coil cover. This allowed access to the evaporator themostat. I then cut the wires from the old themostat and removed it from the coil. I then stripped the wires on the colored wires and also cut the wires on the new themostat and stripped those. Then using wire nuts I aatached the wires making sure they were properly color coded. Wrapped with electrical tape and attached the new thermostat to the evaporator coil. I then located the evaporator temperature sensor and removed it from the coil and removed the clip and placed it aside for use on the new sensor. I cut the wires and discarded old sensor. Stripped wires on the new sensor after determining the proper length and stripped the wires where the old one was removed and the using in line connectors I first crimped the wires on the new connector and the crimped both wires to the wires previously cut and stripped. Reinstalled the connector to the clip and clipped it back onto the evaporator coil. I then disconnected the wires attached to the defrost heater bracket assembly, located the two screws holding it to unit and removed it from the unit. I did a continuity check on it and it checked ok but was black so I replaced it as a precaution since I already had a new one. Hung the new unit onto the mounting bracket reinstalled the two mounting screws and reattached the two wires. Reinstalled the evaporator cover making sure to reattach the ground wire clip. Reinstalled screws and light cover and all shelves and pan. Reconneceted electrical power. Unit operated fine for a couple of days and then thawed again. I then retraced the steps removing what I had to remove to replace the evaporator fan motor and replaced it per the installation instructions on your site. The unit has now been operating for five days maintaining -8 degrees in the freezer and 37degrees in the refrigerator. I probably could have done a little more trouble shooting at the main board but didn't want to risk damaging that since I already had the parts I thought would fix the problem if it wasn't the main board. I only replaced the one temperature sensor so I will probably return the two I did not use. Thanks for your excellent "how to"videos.
Fresh food compartment of refridgerator not cooling. Water dispenser freezing
I am going to start by talking about the problems. I woke up one beautiful morning around 4 am and grabbed my breakfast and coffee. I was not happy and realized there was a problem when the milk was almost as warm as the coffee. I was confused because I could hear the compressor running and the freezer was cold. On line directed me the r
... Read moreight direction but I did not want to believe it. I did eventually confirm the evaporator coils in the freezer were frozen over because the heater was evap coil defrost heater was burnt out (multi-meter). I never realized a refridgerator had a heater, weird. The water dispenser in the freezer door had been freezing up for the past year. I could never find a real problem or solution to fix it. I did not find anything relating the evaporator coils freezing over causing the water line to freeze but thinking about the problem it made sense. The freezer was much cooler than it needed to be to cool the fresh food side. The temp control ensures the freezer is at least a certain temp, it did not limit how cold it would get. The hardest part of the repair was waiting for the part. I installation and reassembly of the freezer was easy. I replaced the cooling fan because the old one looked a little chewed up on the sides. It was not recommended or required. After the repair I was able to feel good airflow in the upper freezer and in the fresh food compartment. I think the fix will effect the temperature, the water line and also should help me get more ice from the ice maker (the freezer ducting feeds cold air to the ice maker area). Good luck.
The eavporator coils were completely frozen which prevented fridge-freezer air circulation
1. Removed all food, shelves, and ice bin from freezer compartment. 2. Removed freezer light hood and unscrewed freezer bulb. 3. Removed rear evaporator cover panel (2 Phillip’s screws, 2 hex screws). 4. Melted ice on coils with hair blow dryer (needed bath towels to collected water). 5. Removed old defrost heater (2 P
... Read morehillips screws, 2 plug-ins). 6. New heater connected without any adjustments. 7. Replaced evaporator cover ice bin, shelves and food.
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chris from GROVE CITY, OH
Difficulty Level:
Really Easy
Total Repair Time:
15 - 30 mins
Tools:
Screw drivers, Socket set
2 of 2 peoplefound this instruction helpful.
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Therefrigerator side was not cooling
I removed the cover on the back of the freezer side of refrigerator to expose the anti freeze element use the hair blow dryer to melt the ice on the coils put 2 towels to colect the water thats wath take me time, to replace the heath element was a 1 minute job.
Enrique from east stroudsburg, PA
Difficulty Level:
Really Easy
Total Repair Time:
30 - 60 mins
Tools:
Socket set
1 personfound this instruction helpful.
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howling sounds in the freezer; blower fan cycles on/off
------------- defrost heater replacement -------------------------- - unplug the refrigerator - unload all shelves underneath ice maker - move ice crem into the refrigerator section - remove all shelves and the bottom tray. - remove light bulb cover and the bulb - unscrew two 1/8" screws on top corners of the
... Read more back panel - unclip the ground clip on top - pull the back panel up; pull the left side toward yourself - test 3 thermistors (see instructions below) - test the thermostat (see instructions below) - if either thermistors or the thermostat units are defective, they may be the reason for fan malfunction, not the fan itself. - unscrew 2 philips screws on either side of the defrost heater - pull it out and unplug the 2 wires on either end. Replace with a new part. - putting together is the reverse of disassembly - move ice cream back to the freezer
--- thermistor testing
- unplug the refrigerator - locate thermistors to be tested. There's one on evaporating coils, one on bot. left of the freezer (behind deep tray, with white wires), 1 in fridge section (top left, in the corner, inside square white wire conduit; undo the top 1/8" screw ONLY and pull conduit up). - without disconnecting from the circuit, place a thermistor in a cup of ice water. Wait for 5 minutes - locate the main control board. Locate and unplug the J1 connector. The pinout, starting from the side with all wires connected: * pin 5: ground * pin 4: evaporator thermistor * pin 3: freezer * pins 2,1: fresh food thermistor - use an ohmmeter to measure resistance. Push the needle of the ohmmeter into the socket, where the wire plugs in, without trying to remove the wire. It should be 16.3 kOhm +/- 5% (for 0 deg C)
to replace a thermistor - cut out the old thermistor, leaving as much wire as possible - strip the wires, twist them pairwise - use a bell connector filled with RTV silicone, to ensure that no moisture can get to the connection * others have also used butt splices and screw-on caps with electrical tape (for moisture isolation) - using a proper crimping tool, squeeze the bell connector to secure the wire
------------- thermostat testing --------------------------------- - it's a round quarter-sized cylinder w/ pink and orange wires - check for bulging (= burnt) - locate temperature ratings on the side of the thermostat. It should read e.g. 140-30F. This means it's switches to open circuit when >140F is reached and switches to closed circuit when <30F is reached. - unplue the 6 pin connector that has thermostat. - test the thermostat. Orange wire is in the 6-pin connector; pink wire can be disconnected from the defrost heater under the evaporation coil. It should read closed circuit (no R). - place the thermostat into a cup of boiling water. It should open. - if OK, reattach the thermostat
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William from Champaign, IL
Difficulty Level:
Easy
Total Repair Time:
15 - 30 mins
Tools:
Socket set
1 personfound this instruction helpful.
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Ice build-up in back of freezer, not cool enough
Defrost heater turned black. Test showed infinite resistance. Problem went away after the heater was replaced.
Wenshui from Irivne, CA
Difficulty Level:
Easy
Total Repair Time:
15 - 30 mins
Tools:
Screw drivers, Socket set
1 of 2 peoplefound this instruction helpful.
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Freezer compartment would freeze sold so the fridge would go warm.
Emptied the fridge and freezer. Unplugged it and in so do doing defrosted the freezer coils. Replace the listed parts, for they were right there easy to get at and replace. Between the three of them we had an 80% chance of getting what was wrong. The freezer and the refridgerator are both working just fine. No more warm milk.
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34 questions answered by our experts.
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Mike
October 13, 2017
How do I check the old part to make sure this is the problem?
For model number gsh25jfxlww
Hi Mike. Thank you for the question. You can test the Defrost Heater with an Multi Meter. You will need to check for Continuity. The meter should read between 1-50 ohms. Hope this helps!
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Don
August 27, 2017
Evaporator coils icing up. Replaced defrost thermostat, defrost heater, temperature sensor. Is mother board next? Evaporator fan runs and seems ok feel air flow. Also find that freezer temp controller must be set at Max warm setting #1 to get about 5 deg in freezer. Any recommendations?
For model number GSH25IGRBWW
Hi Don,
Thank you for your inquiry. When humid air passes over your coils, that will cause the ice build up. You have changed most of the major parts that I would think you would have to check. I would also suggest checking your gaskets to see if they are sealing correctly. If your gaskets look fine then you will probably have to look into seeing if there is an issue with your main control board. I hope this helps. Good luck with your repair.
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Frank
February 11, 2018
Is there an installation video for this part?
Hello Frank,
Thanks for your question. We do not have an installation video for this part, but the instructions are as follows. Unplug the fridge. Open the freezer door and remove all of the shelves, followed by the light shield and the bulb. Take out the two screws that hold the top edge of the back panel, then the ground wire clip that attaches to the back panel. Pull out the left side of the panel and remove it. You may want to remove the bottom drawer as well. Remove the screws retaining the defrost heater assembly and pull it out slightly. Remove the two wires at the side of the heater. Reverse this procedure to install the new part.
I hope this helps.
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Dan
November 5, 2017
I have a GE side by side, the coils are freezing. I have replaced the control panel, thermostat and the defrost heater. The gaskets around the doors are good also turned the freezer down and still the freezer is freezing up.
For model number GSH25KGMBBB
Hi Dan, Thank you for the question. I suggest testing the Defrost Thermostat.The best way to do this is to remove the Thermostat from the refrigerator so you can control the temperature of the sensor. You can let the sensor warm up to room temperature. With the sensor warmed up to room temperature the sensor should read approximately 6.2K Ohms at 68°F. With the thermistor submerged is a glass full of ice water, the sensor should be very close to 32°F which should read approximately 16.3K Ohms. If the values that you are getting are far off from these readings, then the sensor is bad and should be replaced. Hope this helps!
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Dale
November 7, 2017
The heater element for allowing water dispenser to not freeze was added to this unit, so we've had no probs since. However in 2014 i replaced a defrost heater element due to probs in the freezer. Worked fine since. I now have prob with refrigerator not being cold enough over past few days and now the water dispenser not working. I haven't been able to take everything out of the freezer yet to look. But can a bad defrost heater element cause the water to stop dispensing if it has caused the coils behind the big panel of freezer to ice up? Thanks
For model number GSH25JSXLSS
Hi Dale,
Thank you for your inquiry. If the refrigerator section is too warm, the defrost heater and bracket is one part you will need to check, but there are some other parts that you will need to check to see which one is causing the issue. You will need to check the temperature sensor, the dc condenser fan motor, the compression ring, the evaporator fan blade, the dispenser door assembly or flapper, the fresh food door gasket, the inverter kit with jumpers, the evaporator thermistor clip and the defrost thermostat. I hope this helps. Thank you and have a great day!
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Jim
June 3, 2019
GE refrigerator is starting to run a little louder and for a longer period of time. The cooling temps seem to be normal. Ice bucket is full. Six years old.
For model number GSH25JGDDWW
Hello Jim, Thank you for the question. This would depend on what part of the appliance the noise is coming from. In most cases it is a sign the Evaporator Fan Motor, PartSelect Number PS1019114 will need to be replaced. Hope this helps!
The freezer and refrigerator separation section of the refrigerator frame gets very warm. The wall of either sides of the freezer and the refrigerator are normally cold. Only the front frame where the 2 doors meet when closed gets warm. What electrical part(s) are located along that separation that would cause such a heating condition?Thanks,
For model number GSS25QSWASS
Hi Jean,
Thank you for your question. If the space between the doors is warmer than normal, there is an issue with air flow over the coils. You will need to clean the condenser coils. When your condensor coils are clogged up, the heat gets trapped. This causes your condensor fan to run constantly where it may become damaged or cause it to stop working. The fan blade may also become damaged. This extended use can also lead to damage to the fan blade itself like warping or breaks. If you notice that you no longer hear the fan running, the first thing you will want to check is that the fan blade is intact and clear of any blockages. If it seems to be working normally, you’ll need to test that the motor is not damaged, and replace if needed. I hope this helps. Thank you and have a great day!
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Jarrett
December 26, 2017
When I ohm out my ps303781 heater bracket assembly i get approximately 23 ohms. I read on this website it should check between 1 and 50. I also noticed some yellowing of the coils inside the tube. Should this be of any concern. Repairman states he replaced it. It does not look new to me.
For model number GSH25JFTEWW
Hi Jarrett, Thank you for the question. If there is yellowing I suggest having it replaced, as this is a sign the element is bad. Hope this helps!
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Blair
November 26, 2018
Freezer side is cold. Refrigerator side is too warm. I have adjusted the sliding controls to full cold. No change in problem. What do you think is wrong?
For model number TPX24BPBEBB
Hello Blair, Thank you for the question. I suggest first checking the Evaporator Fan Motor at the back of the freezer. PartSelect Number PS304600. The fan circulates air over the refrigerator coils. These coils will convert the heat into cool air, which is then circulated to the Fresh Food Section to keep it cool. If the fan is running normally you can check the Defrost Thermostat, PartSelect Number PS303471. The best way to do this is to remove the thermostat from the refrigerator so you can control the temperature of the sensor. You can let the sensor warm up to room temperature. With the sensor warmed up to room temperature the sensor should read approximately 6.2K Ohms at 68°F. With the thermistor submerged is a glass full of ice water, the sensor should be very close to 32°F which should read approximately 16.3K Ohms. If the values that you are getting are far off from these readings, then the sensor is bad and should be replaced. Hope this helps!
