Kitchen Large Electric Appliances - GE Side-by-Side: freezer working, refer not

I have a 11 year old GE Monogram KISB42DYA side-by-side refrigerator/freezer. The freezer is keeping the temperature from-2 to 8. The refrigerator is not cooling. I am keeping it in the high 40's by placing bowls of ice in the area. I have had a repairman working on it for almost 3 weeks and an getting very worried. Some questions.

He originally thought it was a bad baffle (GE says damper). Said he propped it open while he ordered a part. No real change in cooling. He came back and replace defrost timer instead of damper. No improvement. Took out a TMDJX35RB9 (one site says 10 hour cycle 30 minute) defrost time and replaced with a 6 hour cycle 21 minute defrost. Another parts site sys to use one with 6 hour cycle and 25 minute defrost. Is the different cycle/defrost times a problem?

On another trip said fan was bad and slow. He did a temporary lube. Next trip he replaced fan motor (WR60X190) with part (WR60X162) that he said GE said was correct fan motor. Part differed from old motor and part number listed on various web sites. Later I noticed higher temps in freezer (teens) and soft rattling sound coming from freezer. He came back, reinstalled old motor, and ordered replacement by number. It's been over a week and I am waiting. The symptoms are the same as they were 3 weeks ago.:wall:

I have tried setting the fresh food dial from5 to 9 with no change in behavior.

Could a bad circulation fan motor be causing these symptoms?

Could anything other than the fresh food damper be causing these symptoms?

Thanks for any advice,

Joe M

I have a 11 year old GE Monogram KISB42DYA side-by-side refrigerator/freezer. The freezer is keeping the temperature from-2 to 8. The refrigerator is not cooling. I am keeping it in the high 40's by placing bowls of ice in the area. I have had a repairman working on it for almost 3 weeks and an getting very worried. Some questions.

He originally thought it was a bad baffle (GE says damper). Said he propped it open while he ordered a part. No real change in cooling. He came back and replace defrost timer instead of damper. No improvement. Took out a TMDJX35RB9 (one site says 10 hour cycle 30 minute) defrost time and replaced with a 6 hour cycle 21 minute defrost. Another parts site sys to use one with 6 hour cycle and 25 minute defrost. Is the different cycle/defrost times a problem? B]

On another trip said fan was bad and slow. He did a temporary lube. Next trip he replaced fan motor (WR60X190) with part (WR60X162) that he said GE said was correct fan motor. Part differed from old motor and part number listed on various web sites. Later I noticed higher temps in freezer (teens) and soft rattling sound coming from freezer. He came back, reinstalled old motor, and ordered replacement by number. It's been over a week and I am waiting. The symptoms are the same as they were 3 weeks ago.:wall:

I have tried setting the fresh food dial from5 to 9 with no change in behavior.

[B]Could a bad circulation fan motor be causing these symptoms?

Could anything other than the fresh food damper be causing these symptoms?

Thanks for any advice,

Joe M

jeez- First, put the fresh food setting back to the mid point setting.

Has he actually taken the cover off of the cooling coil to check for frost/ice buildup? With the damper open, wet the back of your hand and try to feel the airflow. Usually, when the freezer side is ok and the reefer side is too warm, something is preventing the cold air from getting to the reefer side. If I'm reading correctly, the damper was NOT replaced? Another thought- I wonder if he has the fan blade backwards?

The fresh food setting was at 9 for only a day to see if anything changed. It didn't.

The damper has not been replaced. You say to test for moving air with the damper open. How do I get the damper open?

The fan blade has the small hub clamp facing up (towards the freezing coils). How do you tell if the fan blade is on right-side up and what difference does it make? The air will move the same direction in either orientation as long as the motor has the shaft facing up.

Thanks,

Joe M

The fresh food setting was at 9 for only a day to see if anything changed. It didn't.

The damper has not been replaced. You say to test for moving air with the damper open. How do I get the damper open?

The fan blade has the small hub clamp facing up (towards the freezing coils). How do you tell if the fan blade is on right-side up and what difference does it make? The air will move the same direction in either orientation as long as the motor has the shaft facing up.

Thanks,

Joe M

If the blade is on backwards, the airflow be over the cooling coil will be seriously compromised. If it's hub out, [away from the motor, iow- opposite side] it's probably ok. To see if the damper opens, turn the fresh food control to it's coldest setting, wait a bit, a few minutes, then check for airflow. If you can't feel cold air blowing on your wetted fingers then something is stopping the air from flowing from the freezer side to the fresh food side. It could be the damper is bad, the control might be bad and not passing a signal to the damper, possibly a control board or it could be a buildup of frost/ice in the coil, the air passageway to the damper, etc. There should be a tech sheet with the box [usually behind the front toeplate]. See if it contains a procedure for checking the damper.

The fan motor has been replaced with one with the same part number as the original and the refer dropped to below 40 after 1 1/2 days. The substitute that the parts supplier suggested was apparently too weak. The original motor with lubrication must have not been running full speed. The original placement of the fan blade looked OK: the top of the blade was in the hole to the cooler fins and the blade had the clamp portion closest to the cooler.

Thanks for your help.

Joe M

Well I'm glad you're back in business. The wrong part will get you every time.