Refrigerator not cooling

I purchased in 2003 a ge side by side model #gsl25jfpabs. I noticed the divider panel was extremely hot to the touch so read on your website what to do. The condensor fan was not working so tested the main board and determined I needed a new board. Replaced the board at a cost of $175.00 and fan started working fine.

Now my freezer is making ice and nice and cold but now the refrigerator won't get below 60 and it seems the evaporator fan in freezer now not working. It was working before replacing the main board because I could hear it?

Could I have hooked the main board up wrong? New board has more connector outlets than old board but I counted the prongs and plugged into what I thought was the correct outlets. What should I do now?

Thanks
Jeff

I just emailed you regarding my ge side by side model #gsl25jfpabs. I believe I stated that I just replaced my main board because condensor fan not working and now my refrigerator won't cool only 60 degrees. I stated my evaporator fan not working I think but it is working. I guess I didn't leave my door open the full 3 minutes. I just tried it again and left it open for 4 minutes and opened the freezer and I hear the fan running. So don't know what to check for now. condensor fan running good. thxs Kim




Find your part:




Answer

Hi Jeff,

Replacement parts in General Electric GSL25JFPABS Refrigerator
icon


Open both doors and press in on the freezer door switch. Then look at the top right hand corner to see if you can see light from the fresh food section. This will indicate if the damper is opened or closed. The damper should be open (unless the door has been opened for more than three minutes). If the damper is open make sure the light goes out when you close the refrigerator door. If not check the door aliment. If the fresh food door is lower that is should be it may not be hitting the door switch which will cause the damper to close and the light will stay on.

Assuming that everything was working before (besides the fan) lets take a look at the main board. There is a plug marked J3 that is what controls the damper that controls airflow to the fresh food section. Make sure it is plugged in good and not backwards. Do the same for the J1 connect (all the connectors for that matter). The J1connector is for the thermistors if a thermistor is unplugged the damper may not open, as it should.

If you don’t find anything….

Lets assume for a minute it has nothing to do with the resent repair. Check the back wall of the freezer to see if it has heavy frost. If so remove the back wall and see if the coils look like the one on this page under defrost problem GE Refrigerator Not Cooling
If so you have a defrost problem, that page talks about defrost problems.

Let me know what you find and if you need anymore help.

Thank you,
Shawn/administrator

Comments for Refrigerator not cooling

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still need help
by: jeff

I checked all connectors and plugged in correctly. The damper door is opening and closing and the refrigerator door is turning the light off. No frost on back of freezer. any other ideas? thanks for all your help
RE
by: Shawn

So lets assume the damper, door aliment, main board and fans are ok.

Make sure the compressor is running and while the compressor is running the condenser fan is running. If the condenser fan isn’t running replace the fan motor since you already replaced the main board. If the compressor isn’t running let me know and we will go from there.

If the fan and the compressor are running, take the back wall out of the freezer and describe what you see. If there any heavy frost and if so where (part of the coils or entire coils). Is there light frost along the entire coils (this is what you should see) or is there light frost on part of the coils. While you are in there double-check to be sure if the fan is running.

Since you replaced the main board because of a fan problem did you check the old board for a burnt resistor? If you had a shorted fan the main board will fail but if you don’t replace the fan at the same time the new board will fail. This is all on both the video and the GE refrigerator fan motor page.
refrigerator still not working
by: kim

condensor running - condensor fan running - light frost over entire coils in freezer. Freezer evaporator fan running. checked old board, no burnt spots on front of board, however on back of board there is a very small (pinhead size)burnt spot. the front of there the burn mark is is a black square box with these numbers on it 832a-1c-s we believe this is some kind of relay. Husband ready to call service I don't want to spend the money any other suggestions on what problem could be. Noticed today freezer felt warmer checked temp freezer now shows 10 degrees was reading zero degrees. HELP if you can
thanks
kim
Freezer and Refrigerator both not working now
by: Kim

just checked freezer temp. It has been over an hour since I checked and now up to 32 degrees. Don't understand new main board, both fans working, damper door working, door alignment correct, light frost over coils, condensor working. Could the new main board we just bought on Saturday possibly be a bad board? Freezer worked great for 3 days after board installed - refrigerator never cooled below 60 degrees.

Ready to punt!!!!!!

thanks again

Kim
RE
by: Shawn

Everything you describe tells me that it is working fine other than the temperature. The refrigerator is either cutting off too quickly because of a faulty thermistor or it is cutting off to quickly because the compressor is over heating (what we call short cycling).

It is not likely that the new main board is bad (possible but not likely).

The next thing to check is the thermistors this page tells how this is done GE Refrigerator Thermistor



Before you do that there is one thing that comes to mind. On certain models it is necessary to cut out a jumper wire on the main board when replacing the board. This jumper wire is on the J1 Connector. This is on the installation instructions that came with the main board. It notes that this only applies to certain models with certain serial number prefixes. I hope you still have the installation instructions. This jumper wire you have to cut out is on the thermistor connector and could affect thermistor readings. I am not sure exactly what will happen if you leave the jumper in.
checked board instructions
by: Kim

The instructions said only cut the connector for bottom freezer units only and I have side by side so should be okay there. We will check thermistors today and let you know. Also freezer is back to normal. About 4 times a day I check temps in freezer and fridge now and I am noticing there is a big degree change. freezer has been going from zero to 32 degrees and fridge goes from 6o to over 70 degrees then cools back to 60 degrees and freezer back to zero. Before our unit broke I did notice there would be times by ice cream would be hard and then next time very soft. Maybe that is how these units are suppose to work. Will advice on thermistors as soon as we check them. Thanks again for all your help.
Kim and Jeff
All Bottom Freezers and Some Encoder Models
by: Shawn

The instructions say that the jumper wire is cut on all bottom freezer models and some encoder models (yours is an encoder model) with serial number prefixes listed. Yours could be one that you have to cut the jumper since it is an encoder model depending on the serial number prefix (first three numbers in the serial number).

The temperature in the freezer should stay around 0 degrees and it should never get above 15 degrees. It will only get up to 15 during defrost. You may have had another problem before the condenser fan problem.
still need help
by: Kim

I do not have the instructions so I called the dealer who sold me the board. Dealer will not return my phone call so was wondering if I sent you my model and serial number if you could tell me if I need to cut the jumper wire.
model #GSL25JFPABS
serial #HF204933

thanks Kim

Yes,
by: Shawn/admin

Yes, this model is included. On the J1 connector there is a jumper that jumps from the first pin to the second pin. Note that this is to take out he one on the second pin do not cut the wire that connects the first pin.


I am not sure what happens if you do not cut the jumper out so I don’t know if this is your problem or not. If this corrects your problem please let us know. I may need to note this on my GE refrigerator repair pages.


It's Seems to be working
by: Kim

We cut the jumper from frist pin to second and everything seems to be working just fine. My freezer is freezer properly and the refrigerator is around 37 degrees.

I want to thank you so much for all your help. I bet there is a lot of people out there that have spent a lot of money because after replacing the board it did not cool the refrigerator when in fact all you have to do is cut the jumper wire.

Thanks again

Kim and Jeff
Thank You
by: Shawn

I have replaced lots of these boards but never knew that if I didn’t cut the jumper the refrigerator would not cool. Thank you very much for posting this!!!

I will note this on my GE refrigerator repair pages so that hopefully this will not happen again.

I am glad you got it going!!
ge refrigerator model gsh25jsrfss
by: richycat

I have a ge model gsh25jsrfss and I am having the same problem.I replaced the board,evaporator thermistor,defrost thermostat and the freezer and fridge are barely cold.i think the replacement board might be bad,but can't say for certain.put back the original board with same results.Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
RE
by: Shawn

Check these things and let me know what you find.

Are both fans running?

Is there heavy frost on the freezer coils?

If there is not heavy frost on the entire coils describe the frost you see on the coils. EX. Is there light frost along the entire coils? Is there heavy frost on part of the coils but none on the rest?


Also I assume you read this thread about the jumper wire but if not make sure that is not your problem.

Thank you,
Shawn
frost
by: richycat

Thanks for replying so quickly Shawn,I have uniform frost across the coils and both fans are running.I replaced the parts mentioned before because I did have a defrost problem,it's all so confusing to say
the least.
ice
by: Anonymous

underneath the frost, the coils have ice on them but the heater is pretty much frost free,so I'm guessing it's not the heater.I tested all 3 thermistors and the only 1 that seemed wishy washy was the 1 for the fridge,like 14k ohms.
Light Frost Only
by: Shawn

If there is ice anywhere in or around the coils you have to remove it so that the coils can get good airflow through the coils. Light frost is all that should be in/on the coils.
ice on coils
by: richycat

Hey Sean,I put the fridge to defrost and then I turned it back on,and now it is blowing much colder and making a little ice.I think that letting it defrost did the trick.Thanks man.
Going to cut pin
by: John

Thanks for the info. I had the exact same problem and replaced two boards, fan, thiristors and was told it must be freon leak with 0 degree freezer. I am going to cut the pin as a last resort.
OMG !
by: Anonymous

THANKS SO MUCH after replaceing mother board ,never thought of snipping jumpers thanks again !
Main Board replacement on GSH25JSRF SS
by: Nelson

I replaced the main control board on our GE GSH25JSRF SS HH prefix seial number, and it seems to be working correctly; however, I can hear a fan running most of the time now in the back. What could cause this to happen? Thanks for your time.
RE
by: Shawn/admin

Under normal operating conditions the fan will run 60-80% of the time. Just after a repair it can be more like 80-95% because the temperatures haven’t stabilized. Keep an eye on it to see how it does.
THANK YOU
by: James Long

Had same issues and did not know had to check serial number to know to cut jumper, thanks again.
Had Same Issue
by: Joe

I replaced the circuit board on my GSL25JFPA BS. The refrigerator had not cooled since. I changed several parts that seemed to be the culprit but it still didn't cool. I had just about given up with this unit until I read this string of comments. I severed the jumper and the refrigerator was cool within an hour. Thanks so much!!!
Thermal fuse
by: Bill

There is a thermal fuse in the freezer compartment in series with the defrost element that opens. Mine has gone bad twice in ten years.
This is your problem. If you remove the rear panel of the freezer and thaw it completely out, it will work fine for a week. When it freezes up again your fridge will again be too warm. this will assure it your defroster is not turning on.
Remove the two screws that house the thermostat controls inside the fridge, and you will find the schematic to the fridge. Locate the defrost element on the diagram, and locate the thermal fuse, it will be in series with the heater element in the freezer. Replace it and you'll be good to go!
Not cooling after replacing board
by: Nicci

I read the entire thread and sure that I don't need to cut the wires. I have a GE model -GSS25WGMCCC. SN Prefix - GD2.
The center between the doors was getting hot, and condenser fan wasn't running so I replaced that. The fan still didn't run so tested and found the main board to be bad and replaced that with WR55X10942 board, as directed on the parts site for my model. Since that replacement, fan is running but neither the freezer nor refrigerator is cooling now, even though it was before this all began. I tried to test the thermistors on J1 plug and getting zero readings, and not sure if I am even testing correctly. How can it get a reading if there is no power?
Please help... tired of throwing parts at it, and using my 'spare' in the garage isn't that convenient either.


Hi Nicci,

Everything seemed normal until you replaced the board and it quit working. My guess is the new board was faulty return it and see if that fixes your issue.

Thank you,
Shawn/admin

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