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Our extended warranty expired a few months ago so our GE refrigerator broke down right on "schedule".
The unit appears to make all the sounds it's supposed to but the fridge half isn't working. It's not cold and the light doesn't work. If I unplug it, and plug it back in, it seems to work for a few minutes and then the problem returns.
The freezer side was zero degrees like it's supposed to be, lights work, icemaker and water dispenser both work normally, etc.
On the off chance there might be some ice built up somewhere in the innards of the beast we emptied and let it warm up but no water appeared and it still doesn't work.
The silver lining is that a few years ago I bought one of those gizmos that turn a freezer into a refrigerator. We have a chest freezer that will be empty until turkey butchering day and the gizmo is working great. And there was BARELY enough room in our other freezer to fit the frozen contents of the broken unit. But if you thought finding something frozen in a chest freezer was fun, imagine digging through a thoroughly stuffed chest every time you needed to get something from a fridge.
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Sounds like what happened to our fridge(except for the light). Freezer worked but the food area wasn't getting cold. Turned out it was the fan in the freezer section (it was barely turning). It wasn't blowing the could air down to the food area. Very simple to replace yourself and they cost about $40.00 on-line. Sears in home repair will charge you $300.00
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If the freezer is working your compressor should be good. I’d unplug the fridge, and spray some WD-40 into the door open/close, on/off switch on the fridge side.
If there’s no change after you test it, then remove the panel that covers the switch and check it for rust, free movement, etc.
My fridge is 25 years old and I’ve had to do that twice. Neither time was it necessary to replace the switch.
Good luck!
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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I had this problem once. there are air flow channels between the freezer and fridge. Mine had frosted up and clogged. Had to empty the fridge and clear the channels and defrost the channels.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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In our case with a similar problem it was also the fan. Michael's repair fixed it since we're not take-the-fridge-apart kind of people. Michael and Rusty were great.
Certainty will be the death of us.
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My refrigerator lights stay on after I close the doors. Not sure how to fix that.
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Well I figured it out. Thanks to the EPA our fridge has a "feature" where if the door is left open for more than 2 minutes it shuts off the light (to make it harder to notice the door open) and then allows the food to spoil.
The door switch was bad so the unit thought the door was open and immediately went to "spoil all their food" mode.
I "fixed" the problem by removing the switch because it makes the unit think the door is always closed.
So now I need a replacement switch or else the lights won't come on when I open the door. I can order one online but does anybody know where I can get one locally?
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I use Sears parts direct to look up the part number and then I put the part number in a google search.
Sometimes you can get the part thru Amazon Prime or if the locals Sears parts place has it at a reasonable price I just buy it from Sears.
https://www.searspartsdirect.com/categor...ator-parts
You need the model number and you can look through the illustrated parts list.
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The sears parts website did give me the proper part # but the GE web site told me it was discontinued and replaced with a different part number. I don't know what the difference is but both parts were for sale on Amazon.Because I have the discontinued part number and it failed, I bought the replacement part number hoping for "better luck next time".
We'll see.
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quote:
Originally posted by SBH
My refrigerator lights stay on after I close the doors. Not sure how to fix that.
I'm not sure if you are joking (how would you know unless you were inside the refrigerator)? Or you are serious (you manually depress the switch as if the door closed and the lights stay on).
But if you are serious, an appliance light can actually throw out a lot of heat, in some cases enough the fridge can't maintain proper temperature battling it.
ETA: replace the switch.
