How to Troubleshoot & Replace Ge AP3796479 / WR17X11843 Evaporator Drip Pan

I love this site's thoroughness, just watched this site's videos on each part & repairs were a breeze. 

I replaced the cover w/fan that is over the condenser coils and drain pan underneath that structure. 

The trough drain was rusted through and the Styrofoam on the evaporator was moldy. So, I replaced the entire cover and trough. I unscrewed the three screws on the cover. Unplugged the fan and removed the cover. Three are two more screws holding the trough and evaporator, I unscrewed them and removed the trough. The hardest part was cleaning up all the rust. Once it's clean, put it all back together. I was easier than I expected. 

Changed ice maker. Unplugged the ice maker and removed one screw. Out it came. Installed the new ice maker, reinstalled one screw and plugged it in. A couple of hours later, I heard new ice fall into the bin. It literally took five minutes to do the job. Very pleased! 

My husband fixed it. First we called a service company who charged us $ 60.00 to let us know about the dripping pan. They gave us a estimate of $ 220.00 to replace it. We ordered the pan which cost us $ 44.00 with overnight delivered. Removing the shelves and put back was a pain. Took about 2 hours to complete the job. Be careful when removing the styrofoam. Just to let you know we are retired over 70. Anyone can do it. 

Replaced the broken one with a new one bought from AppliancePartsPros.com 

Replaced with part from ApplianceParts. Part fit perfectly, the replacement part looked more heavily galvanized. So maybe it will last longer than the original. But the best thing was the shipping time....it took only about 18 hrs from the time I ordered, to get from KY to MO. Wow! It's like I clicked 'PAY' and the doorbell rang.....wish all my online purchases were this fast. I'll definitely buy from ApplianceParts again. 

Removed old part (careful because you have to bend the compressor thing, was afraid I would break the copper tubing). Old part was rusted with holes in the pan. Replaced part and all seems fine now. Poor design on GE's part. The part should be make out of plastic. My frig is only less than 5 years old. Also, I sprayed the new part with galvanized paint as suggested by another reviewer. Hopefully this makes it last longer than 5 years. 

On-line reading led me to believe it was a clogged condenser drain line on the freezer side. After verifying the freezer drain line was not clogged, I discovered that the condenser drip tray on the refrigerator side was rusted through. Once I had the replacement part, it took about 30 minutes to install. Issue is resolved. On a side note, it appears the replacement part has a thicker galvanized coat that the original. So hopefully won't see this issue again. 

Called appliance repair. Service man said after 20 minutes on the job, refrigerator problem in non-repairable. Will have to buy an new refrigerator. Asked the problem, he said drain pan is rusted thru and there is no replacement. Asked where it was located and he said behind the plastic panel behind the meat drawer. When he left, I got a screw driver and started taking apart to see what I could do. Had the pan out in less than 20 minutes. Intention was to epoxy repair. Looked on internet and found you and the exact part. Ordered second day air, part arrived at noon. Epoxied new pan, dry in 2hrs. Sprayed with Rustoleum paint, baked on for 1hr in low heat. Replaced pan in another 20min operation. Job complete and my 5yr old refrigerator is good to go.