How to Troubleshoot & Replace Ge AP3884317 / WR50X10068 Defrost Thermostat

Yes, a 49-yr old woman fixed this fridge all by herself! AppliancePartsPros was very helpful in the diagnosis of the problem, which I determined to likely be the result of defrost failure. There was a large amount of ice and frost coating the back of the freezer despite the inside temp being 42 degrees. My husband thought I was crazy to think it was a problem with ice when the temperature was warm, but I told him to trust me and I would attempt the repair. He just wanted to throw the old one out (10 yrs old) and get a new one. But I stubbornly said I wanted to a chance to repair it myself - yes a woman repairing a fridge - oh no! So I purchased the three components of the defrost cycle for repair, watched the videos linked to the parts and got to work. When the ice was gone, I took the heater out first for inspection since that was easiest to get to in my GE. A quick look revealed that the ceramic housing for the heating element (a single element heater) was crumbling and it didn't take much force for it to fall apart completely. My smoking gun! Or actually not smoking which was the problem. The dual-element heater replacement didn't have a video, but there were clear written instructions provided. The only thing that didn't quite match up with the instructions is that it said that the pink wire would be on the right and the blue on the left for a metal heater casing. My pink wire was on the left. The instructions anticipated that switching to the dual-element heater would require splicing new wire in to lengthen the pink wire long enough so it would reach the same side as the blue wire. So I had to do some wire stripping and splicing. My husband had all the necessary tools because at one point in his life he had worked on houses, but now he just works at a computer all day. The instructions also made reference to something that I had to Google and learned was silicone caulk. Luckily he had some of that laying around too, so that part was easy. To his credit, he did set up the caulking gun for me :). I think he was secretly hoping that my repair would fail and he could both gloat and buy a new fridge, BUT it's been 5 days and we are down to 0' in the freezer, 36' in the fridge and NO frost buildup. Woot! Victory! [Although I put that it took 1-2 hours, defrosting actually took the longest time of the whole repair (~1 hr), with the actual active me-and-screwdriver repair part taking about 30 minutes, then 3 hours for the silicon caulk to cure.] 

First replaced the main board in back. Better but not repaired to full status. Gained access as per your videos to Defrost limiter and Defrost heater parts, which incidently both checked full continuity on ohm meter. Discovered my bought new GE refrig had double element heater as original part, but Limiter had already been replaced as wires were cut and speed nuts utilized with no silicon sealent in evidence. Evidence that Lowe's had sold me a repaired or returned refrigerator and represented it as New. Refrigerator now functioning as per a new model. BTW while in back of unit I brushed the coil by removing the fan with a soft baby bottle brush and shop vac. Then lubricated the bearing with a drop of transmission fluid. Runs extremely quiet-no noise at all. Quite a bit of dust collects INside the coil. I would suggest, IF, you know how to balance the fan blade it's plastic and quite a simple job. Same with the fan and blade in the front side in the freezer compartment. Do not over tighten screws retaining the front cover to the evaporator coil in the freezer compartment, snug but not torked as the tabs in the coil assembly will easily pucker and lose lock capacity. The cover plenum on the bottom back side of refrigerator fan is a booger to remove and replace, but access can be accomplished by reaching over and behind the compressor. I used a flex shaft and 1/4 inch deep well socket and still had to say the magic words a few times. The back screw is hidden from sight and you'll have to feel for it. Refrigerator is now cycling cold/defrost cycles as it should, it runs quieter than new, and thermostat settings over door in refrigerator section are both set on three and doing nicely to keep freezer producing ice, and refrigerator keeping milk fresh and other products at proper temp. I must compliment the staff and salespeople. Shipping is fast-ordered one morning received parts next day weekday. Main board ordered on a Friday took longer but that was Fed-Ex normal weekend lag. Altogether with website nfo and videos and staff helping to get right parts I highly recommend your service to anybody with the skill set necessary to change a spark plug in a lawn mower should have no problem. Considerable savings on parts and I did not have to pay a technician to guess at what was wrong with my refrigerator. Watch the videos and save money and time Appliance Parts Pros have got their act together and I will use this service again if needed. 

Unplugged refrigerator. Took cover off the back inside compartment in the freezer side and used hair dryer on hot to defrost the frozen coil. Once defrosted, unclipped Defrost Limiter Thermostat from top of coil, cut wires, stripped wires back less than 1/2 in., did the same to the wires on the new Defrost Limiter Thermostat, easily matching colored wires together and used appropriate wire connectors and covering with electrical tape. Clipped Defrost Limiter Thermostat back on. Put cover back on, plugged refrigerator back in and it has functioned properly since. 

Replaced defrost heater, temperature and defrost limiter thermostat. After taking the cover off the air chiller I found the coils frozen solid and defrosted it with a hair dryer. Once defrosted I remover the heater coil to test it it was fine, then I could see the defrost limiter was broken and as I put the unit back together I broke the heater tube (it is glass) so I ordered all the parts that might be defective and replaced them for less than the charge of having some one come to check it out. 

Replaced the Temperature Sensor and the Defrost Limiter Thermostat. Works great now! 

Common theme on the blogs was thermistors and or defrost heater/thermostat. Ran self-diagnostics which turned on defrost heater which was fine. All five thermistors indicated ok on diagnostic also, but I read more than one time "replace the thermistors no matter what if your FF section isn't cooling". So I ordered all five thermistors and defrost limiter thermostat. Received all in 48 hours (great shipping service), took me about three hours to replace all thermistors and thermostat just as excellent how-to video indicated. Set to factory presets of 0 and 37 degrees. Next morning came downstairs, actual temperature: 0 and 37 degrees! Lowered FF section to 35 (wife's preference), reefer went right down to 35 and has stayed there since. Also had the common melting ice problem in ice maker which appears to be resolved by this repair. An hour or two of diagnostics, few hours to repair, 60 bucks and it's performing better than ever. Very pleased with the results. 

Replaced defrost limiter thermostats and glass heater. 

Defrost heater tested OK. Replaced defrost thermostats and fixed th problem. Onine video and tech help was excellent. Had never tried anything like this before. Saved me $$$ 

Replaced defrost heater and defrost thermostat. 

Replaced defrost limiter following video provided online. Very easy! Part came within 3 days. Great service.