Chris C. for Model Number PSS26NGPABB I have ge side by side pss26ngpabb. First noticed water leaking from freezer section. Both feezer and cold food section warm. Not sure if compressor was running at this time. After clean up unplugged for some time then powered up fridge.The compressor,compressor fan, evap fan, and cold section fan powered up. The freezer section started to cool, and eventually achieved freezer temp 0 and cold section 37. I had removed evaporator cover earlier to watch for ice formation. The ice formation was fairly significant. Leading me to test for a defrost problem. I tested heater and thermostat for continuity on the main board. checked out ok. Also checked evaporator and freezer thermistors using a cup of ice water and both at 16 ohms. Double checked defrost heater buy removing it and testing for continuity result ok. So it is the main board. Correct? But I still was not convinced because the ice formation was uniform except at the very top rung of the evaporator coil where the defrost thermostat and thermistor are connected. Also the freezer and cold section again became very warm.My wife discovered this condition,so I am not sure but it seems that compressor had stopped. The ice on the evap coils was melted when discovered. At this point she adusted the fridge temp and the unit seemed to start running,and cooling again. Is the compressor shuting off because of heavy load as some kind of safety measure? The compessor is very hot to touch when unit is plugged in and it never seems stop running.I would assume there is some type of thermal protection for the compressor. Currently the unit is running and cooling. I have unplugged the unit and defrosted it. Starting temp of freezer 40 degrees C and cold section 60 degrees.After 2 + hours temp F 17 Cold 37. The condenser fan is running at 4 dc volts. I have been monitoring it since start up. (Also checked power to other fans via main board checked ok) Seems that upon start up the condenser fan should run at 12 volts not 4 volts. Correct ? I am not sure but thinking that the compessor fan motor is variable speed, but again on start up (heavy cooling mode) would it not run at 12 volts. Would this be causing the compressor to overheat and stop cooling? Is this a main board problem? So any suggestions ? Thank you in advance. one last thing I did check cold section thermistors upper at 16.3 ohms and the lower was 15.6 ohms. used ice water to test
Answer Chris, Based on the readings of the thermistors, it is safe to say that they are all checking ok. The most likely cause for this issue will end up being that the control board. It sounds as if though when the unit enters the defrost mode that it may be sticking and not coming out. Read More... Answered by AppliancePartsPros.com | Friday, March 13, 2015