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Thread Number: 80151
/ Tag: Refrigerators
From Frying Pan Into Fire - Now GE Fridge Doesn't Cycle |
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Post# 1040958 8/7/2019 at 16:41 (1,723 days old) by Launderess  (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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After last week's woes seems as if the evaporator fan motor issue is corrected, at least for now.
Fridge holds temps between 37F and 40F, freezer is -5F to -10F (by thermometer). This is the fridge doesn't cycle off and on. It goes into defrost, and that cycle clears things as it should. But then fan (and one assumes compressor) kick back on and remain so until next defrost cycle. Mind you am assuming the compressor is on while evaporator fan is running, cannot hear anything from lower part of fridge. Turning temp control knob until thermostat clicks and turns off fridge sometimes is well into "warmer" territory, at least past "Colder" setting on dial. Have read/heard various things; manual states it is normal for things to run nearly all the time, especially during warmer weather. But others have said and posted here in group fridge should only run about max 70% of time. | ||
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Post# 1040974 , Reply# 1 8/7/2019 at 17:57 (1,723 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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 Hi Laundress
First of all how warm is your apartment, when I was trying to explain before that a ref like this will usually run 40-70% of the time you skipped over the average temperature of your home.
Question, how do you know its not ever shutting off except for the defrost cycle ?, such as when you are sleeping etc, if you are opening the door to see if it is running it will seldom shut off.
The GE tech sheet packed with this ref gives average running times in different temperature rooms.
In order to even try evaluating a situation from a far we need facts.
John L. | ||
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Post# 1040979 , Reply# 2 8/7/2019 at 19:18 (1,723 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Keep indoor temps around 74F, with AC on. Am not a huge fan of air conditioning nor am one who prefers indoor temperatures as if living in frozen foods section of supermarket.
Humidy wise, it has been a very, very *very* damp summer for NYC. If it isn't warm and damp, it's hot and muggy. Since only sorted out the evaporator fan motor issue overnight Friday into Saturday have been home entire weekend. Well absent short periods of going out. When one leaves fridge is running, upon return it still is doing so. Can tell when shuts off for defrosting (as opposed to just cycling off when reaching proper temp), because there is one or more "knock" sounds as things expand from heat in freezer area given off by the heating system. Also will hear water dripping down from freezer to pan underneath fridge. Was indoors most of Sunday and fridge ran from 1PM (time one looked at clock) until well past dinner time (8PM) when it shut down to defrost. Evaporator fan motor (and one assumes condenser) came back on about thirty minutes later and were still on when went to bed well after 1AM. | ||
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Post# 1041017 , Reply# 3 8/8/2019 at 06:56 (1,723 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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It Sounds Like You Have A Problem Thanks for the additional information.
Refrigerators like this are not supposed to run this much, yes some new expensive high end models do have variable speed compressors and they basically never shut off in room temperatures above around 70F, but that is not your refrigerator.
Problem with it running all the time is it has no reserve cooling capacity for freezing unfrozen food or room temperatures up to100F. And you are correct when it runs this much it does not keep food as well in either compartment.
It may have a leak and a low refrigerant charge, you can get a rough idea of this by unplugging the refrigerator after it has been running for at least several hours and removing the freezer floor and looking at the frost pattern on the evaporator coil. If less than 1/2 of the coil is frosted it has a problem. The other possibility is the compressor is worn or there is a restriction in the system [ less likely ].
Unfortunately refrigerators like this are generally not worth repairing the sealed systems on.
John L. | ||
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Post# 1041027 , Reply# 4 8/8/2019 at 08:43 (1,723 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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Post# 1041039 , Reply# 6 8/8/2019 at 11:19 (1,723 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Freezer -5-10
Good point John O, I missed the freezer temperature when I read the post.
There may be an air-balancing damper control that would help if reset to send more air down to the FF section. Sometimes they are hidden on GE refs and you may have to remove an airduct to adjust it. Repost your model # and I can look it up. John L. | ||
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Post# 1041049 , Reply# 7 8/8/2019 at 13:41 (1,723 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Post# 1041092 , Reply# 8 8/8/2019 at 17:58 (1,722 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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"Did this refrigerator come with the apartment? If it did, isn't the landlord responsible for it?"
Fridge is ours. Previous ancient unit died and not wanting to be slapped with an increase just went out and got our own. As noted previously kitchen is small, and offerings > ten years ago for "apartment" sized fridges wasn't that great. Even today much of the 12 cubic foot or so units seem to come from Summit, Avanti and other off the wall brands, though WP does have one offering as well. None have the same nearly 12 cuFt space as the current GE. Especially liked the (comparatively) generous freezer space with full width shelf. Do lots of baking/cooking and or stocking up on deals when on sale. Thus appreciate generous sized (for space it had to fit) unit. Other than the initial in warranty service call this GE fridge has proven remarkably reliable. Well for a General Electric modern appliance. Normally wouldn't touch anything "new" from that brand with a barge pole. Have moved things about in both freezer and fridge to ensure vents aren't blocked, air flow paths clear. Reached out to local appliance service person we use; and went through the sad tale of woe and misery. He knows us, and quickly went for a vein; asking what exactly in detail has one done. Explained about all the opening and closing of doors, removing of food to check evaporator fan motor, etc... His advice was to leave the fridge alone and get a hobby or something. If after a week or longer it still won't "shut down" call him back. It was further explained pretty much what John L. already did; that this model series of GE fridges are designed to have things run a majority of the time. In very warm/humid weather that may go well into the 90% to 100% range. Local weather has been warm and very damp for weeks, and one constantly opening and closing fridge, messing with controls, taking things apart isn't allowing the appliance to operate properly. Dressing down continued with remarking freezer and fridge temps are within normal range for "Cold" setting on control dial. If freezer isn't frosting over, fridge is keeping things cold but not freezing them then the appliance is working pretty much as it should. Ice forming at back of fridge along top of "fresh food" compartment was more result of ones continued opening of door allowing warm and humid air into the thing. Mother Nature added further injury to this insult by sending a change of weather. Wednesday was a nasty day of thunderstorms and wind as a cold front arrived. Result is by evening and over night not only had temps dropped, but so did dew point. So much so that even with just fans running it was rather chilly indoors. At one point during night before going to bed was up doing some paperwork and noticed the place was quiet as a mausoleum. Went near kitchen and noticed fridge was "off", but not defrosting. First it had defrosted earlier (several hours ago), so shouldn't be doing so again. Also there are audible signals that come with the cycle (popping sounds caused by heat induced expansion, water gurgling, etc..), not a bit of it; the thing was totally off. So it may seem John L, appliance person and everyone else was correct, the warm and humid temps may have been responsible for fridge working overtime to compensate. At this point am going to leave things alone and move on. Will of course keep an eye on things, but from a distance. Last thing want to become is one of those bored know-it-all persons pestering appliance professionals with problems that don't exist, and won't take no for an answer..... | ||
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Post# 1041097 , Reply# 9 8/8/2019 at 18:10 (1,722 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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GE Fridges Of Late
Or rather of this model series while probably bested by others, receive decent enough reviews/customer ratings. Something one found a surprise but explains (in part) why spares are hard to find and often snapped up quickly when they appear.
While not the most puny with energy use, still rather decent for something with an automatic defrost. products.geappliances.com/Market... Style, design and feature wise it ticks a few boxes. products.geappliances.com/applia... Again those looking for less than full size fridges IMHO usually end up having to make some compromises. This seems to apply across the board to appliances in general as makers have to balance costs versus overall demand. | ||
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Post# 1041103 , Reply# 11 8/8/2019 at 18:38 (1,722 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Last year, my husband and I rented a vacation apartment and this Summit came with the unit. I was quite impressed with it's spaciousness and quietness. CLICK HERE TO GO TO Ultramatic's LINK | ||
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Post# 1041107 , Reply# 12 8/8/2019 at 18:54 (1,722 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Thanks guys for the suggestions.
@Ultramatic,
Have had our eyes on that very same Summit fridge, in case things came to the worse. Am not a fan of modern day trend for electronics in fridges, but that does seem to be the way things are going. What could have been a deal breaker is height. Microwave and a few other things are kept on top of current fridge. Something too tall/narrow would might make this no longer possible. Curse of tiny kitchens is lack of counter space, especially in relation to power outlets. Microwave ended up where it was due to the 20amp "fridge outlet" location. Summit appliances are known for European styling and indeed many of their offerings are built in EU. For years they offered a front loader on NYC market that IIRC came from some place in Europe. | ||
| Post# 1041147 , Reply# 13 8/8/2019 at 23:52 (1,722 days old) by Stan (Napa CA) | ||
Dear
If it makes you feel any better.. It would drive me nuts if I couldn't hear my fridge cycling on or off too.
Refrigeration is somewhat mysterious to me, so I panic if I think something's wrong because I don't know enough to begin to repair..i.e. Panic! If the washer wasn't working right, wouldn't panic because it's something I could probably repair. The thought of broken refridgerator sitting in a kitchen..trying to move food to a back up and all that would cause sleepiness nights! My fridge doesn't operate in any way like yours (not designed to) but I'm glad yours is operating normally and as it should. Mine dims the lights when it cycles on, so I don't even have to hear it. LOL | ||
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Post# 1041152 , Reply# 14 8/9/2019 at 00:24 (1,722 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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 My Artica SxS is quiet enough with variable speed compressor and (presumably) condensor fan that I rarely can hear it running ... plus I have a HEPA filter unit running 24/7 near the kitchen. The evaporator fan in the freezer runs continuously after I replaced the mobo (with a stated substitute P/N) several years ago. | ||
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Post# 1041304 , Reply# 16 8/10/2019 at 14:32 (1,720 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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When I bought two new fridges back around 2001, I went with Kitchenaid (Whirlpool). I had read enough about failing GE rotary compressors to avoid the GE brand. GE made good ranges, not so with their 90's fridges, AFAIK. I still would not buy a GE fridge today. Although I have a lovely single door '48 GE fridge waiting to be repainted in the workshop.
The Kitchenaids have been relatively trouble-free. I had an icemaker failure in the SXS after about five years. Never hooked up the ice maker in the top freezer in the patio kitchen; it's been trouble free, but its main problem is defective foam insulation. It has caused the sides of the cabinet and front of the curved stainless doors to cave in slightly. Pissed me off, and I think the store I got it from (Airport Appliance) knew of the problem but decided to sell ti anyway). The SxS in the main kitchen doesn't have the issue. My only gripe about the KA SxS is that the icemaker isn't sealed, so the ice tends to evaporate and pick up food odors/tastes. When it comes time to replace it, I'll look for a unit with a sealed icemaker. | ||
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Post# 1041526 , Reply# 17 8/12/2019 at 17:17 (1,718 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Had never really paid much attention
To how weather affects fridge operation, until now.
Never occurred to one that fridge would need to work harder when indoor temps were warm and or very humid. Saturday was a warm day so fridge basically ran all day. By Sunday afternoon and certainly evening temps became a bit more chilly, and fridge ran much less. When off if one opened door too long for fridge, thermostat would kick in and start things running. But soon as fridge reached temp it shut down again. So at least have pretty good confirmation things are going as they should. One bright spot out of all this; for years had temp control set to almost "coldest" thinking it was required. Moved it down to merely "cold" at start of all this drama and fridge still holds fresh food compartment temps at about 36F-40F. | ||
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