Ge WR51X442 Refrigerator Defrost Heater OEM Part

We saw that the ice cream in the freezer was soft and the main refrigerator section was not cold enough. Called for repair but soonest appointment was a full week away. So I spent the next few hours online learning how to diagnose and repair refrigerators. When I opened up the back of freezer compartment to access the evaporator coils, I found ice and frost totally blocking the cold air flow. Turns out the bottom one of the two heater bulbs (quartz heater bulbs) was bad, so both heater bulbs (connected in series) were not working and there was no heat to defrost. I shut off the fridge with the main temperature control knob and defrosted the coils with a heat gun, catching the water in towels. Now the fridge could work keeping the food cold until I could get the parts. It would eventually freeze up again, but before that, I would change the parts. I closed the rear panel and put back the shelves and food. I turned back on the fridge and then checked the defrost timer in the main food section. I put a mark on the moving shaft and made sure an hour later that it was turning. It was. For the next few days, it worked great. When the parts came three days later, I first removed the freezer food into a second freezer we have, and I put a big bag of ice into the fridge compartment to keep the food cold. I shut the circuit breaker to the fridge, removed the freezer shelves, and opened the rear panel. The evaporator coils were again frosted up, but not bad enough to stop the airflow. I again defrosted it with the heat gun, catching the water in towels. I then removed the bad heater parts and replaced them with new ones. The parts came pre-wired including the heat bulbs and the thermostat. They just simply plugged into the wire harness. All it took was a few screws to mount everything. I put back the rear panel of the freezer compartment, but just rested it in place (not screwed in yet), so the coils could have proper airflow. This was for the freezer to get cold, so the thermostat would allow the heater to work, to be tested. After turning the circuit breaker to the fridge back on, I let the fridge get cold. I then moved the back panel so I could see the coils. Next, I advanced the timer until it clicked... the compressor shut off and the heat bulbs lit up!! Wow! I fixed it! It will now defrost again! I closed up the panel, put back the shelves, and when it got cold enough, put back the food and removed the big bag of ice. Repair job took time, but it was easy and straightforward! Glad I did it myself!

I changed out the heater thermostat and timer I fixed my fridge when I thought I couldn't

Replaced defrost heater harness. The lower heating element had burned out. First, I had to melt the solid cake of ice buildup off of the evaporator coils behind the back panel in the freezer unit. Used a hair dryer to do this. Works very efficiently. The replacement defrost heater harness came as a complete unit that includes both upper and lower heating elements as well as the thermostat. Very easy to replace. The fridge is almost 20 years old, but the replacement parts were identical to those removed.

Studied your instructions. Removed back freezer panel, defrosted the thick ice buildup, turned on the timer with screw but it did not defrost. Ordered part from you, and when Defrost Heater with Thermostat arrived, studied instructions and freezer wiring again - then installed in less than 10 minutes! It was very simple. I had guests over also so I was distracted yet it was easy! Before reinstalling the back panel, I let the refrigerator run it's normal cycle. When both heaters were on, it defrosted all the ice on the Evaporator Coils and it did it's job. Screwed back panel, put food back in the freezer and I am very happy!! Thank you!!!

After checking the compressor and finding it running at a normal temp I did some online research. Realizing there was no airflow in the fridge I unloaded the freezer and pulled the back panel to find the fan running but the coils all froze up. After testing the temp sensor and finding it closed I defrosted everything with a heatgun and then checked the 2 heaters finding 1 bad. Another google and I found a complete kit with both heaters, wiring and the sensor at AppliancePartsPros. It arrived in about a week and took 15 minutes to install. Since I had restarted the unit while waiting for the kit to arrive it had maintained temp but started icing up again. After installation I reopened the back panel to check 3 days later and the ice buildup was all gone and it has been working perfectly for over a month.