This article discusses a GE refrigerator that is freezing everything and how to fix it in simple and quick steps.
Table of Contents
GE Refrigerator Freezing Everything – Solutions
If your GE refrigerator freezes everything, including items in the fridge not intended to be frozen, doing the following will rectify the problem:
1. Turn Down the Thermostat Control Knob
To correct the over-freezing problem, increase the temperature by turning down the knob. The thermostat control knob of a refrigerator allows the user to modify the temperature inside the refrigerator. It may take the form of a dial or a slider calibrated one to five or one to nine. The higher you turn it, the cooler it gets. So, turning it down reduces the tendency for over-freezing by increasing the temperature.
If after turning down the control knob, the refrigerator still continues to over-freeze, then, it could be that the thermostat has developed an electrical fault.
2. Check the Thermostat for Electrical Faults
To check for electrical faults in the thermostat, use a Digital Multimeter (DMM). The DMM is used to take a continuity reading through the main connection between the thermostat and the compressor motor.
As the test probes of the DMM are inserted in the appropriate wires, turn the thermostat’s control knob. The meter is supposed to read “O.L.” when the thermostat is turned off. It reads 0.000 as you start rotating the thermostat’s control knob clockwise.
However, if the meter doesn’t read “O.L.” when the thermostat’s control knob is properly turned off, it’s problematic. It indicates that the thermostat is stuck. In this case, you need to replace the thermostat.
If the meter reads “O.L.” when you turn off the control knob of the thermostat, then, the thermostat is good. As such, the problem must have come from the temperature tube of the thermostatic control.
3. Check the Temperature Tube of the Thermostatic Control
The temperature tube of the thermostatic control contains a type of gas that gets liquefied as it gets colder.
As the gas gets colder, its volume gets reduced more and more. The liquefying of the gas has an indirect physical effect on the compressor.
Physically, the pressure of the temperature tube presses on a certain springy contact with the compressor. The liquefying of the gas implies a reduction in its volume. Hence, the lesser the volume of the gas, the more it loses contact with the compressor. This shuts the compressor off.
Once the tube loses its charge and shuts off the compressor, there is no way it can be charged again. The only solution is for you to replace the entire thermostat control.
4. Remove Dust from the Coil of the Refrigerator
Use a canister vacuum cleaner to remove the dust from the condenser coil. It is possible for dust to accumulate on it. And when this happens, it strains the compressor, forcing it to work above optimum in order to cool the freezer.
This may bring about a situation in which all the content in your refrigerator will be frozen. All you have to do in this case is simple.
Position the refrigerator in such a way as to allow you access to its back. It is at the back of the refrigerator that the coil is visible. This will enable you to comfortably remove the dust and grime with a canister vacuum cleaner.
5. Ensure the Door Seal is Working
Check the door of the freezer to see if it has a crack or any other damage to the gasket. A little crack might hinder it from closing properly. If it is worn or broken, replace it. And if it is dirty, clean it.
Through the use of gaskets, freezers remain air-tight in order to enable them to retain the cool air generated within. In this state, it is expected to work normally.
But if the door of the freezer fails to close air-tight, the freezer continuously loses cold air. Hence, it will have to work with much more energy in order to freeze its contents.
This extra energy that the freezer exerts tends to freeze everything in your refrigerator. In this situation, you have to replace the gasket or door sealing.
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6. Get Authentic Replacement Parts
Avoid buying the wrong replacement part for any defective part of the refrigerator. For this reason, order with the model number of the refrigerator or the parts number.
Buying and using the wrong parts could lead to different refrigerator problems. These include over freezing. Therefore, it is important to get the right type for the model of refrigerator you have.
7. Adjust the Control Settings
Set the fresh food section between 37 degrees F and 42 degrees F. Set the freezer between C and 5. These are the recommended settings for the respective sections.
There are two sections of the GE side by side Refrigerator. These are the freezer and the fresh-food section. Each of them has a purpose that is different from that of the other. You should ensure that the control setting of each section is proper for the purpose of that section.
In the same way, set the freezer temperature between “C” and “5”. Problems might arise if you exceed this limit. You should, therefore, reset it within this limit if the settings are not correct.
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8. Arrange the Food Correctly
If your GE refrigerator is freezing everything, place enough content (food) in the refrigerator. But you should place the delicate items that freeze too easily away from the left side wall.
If your GE refrigerator lacks enough content, you should not put fruit and vegetables at the bottom. This is because cold air normally falls, unlike hot air which normally rises. Thus, the food at the bottom gets all the coldness, and therefore, freezes easily.
The cold air in the fresh food section comes only from the freezer. So, fresh food placed at the door of the refrigerator gets frozen if it is directly facing the freezer vent. It is through this freezer vent that cold air enters the fresh food section. Therefore, place your fresh foodstuff away from the freezer vent.
The freezer vent of the GE refrigerator is mostly on the left-hand side of the wall of the unit. This makes that area the coolest spot in the fresh food section. Therefore, endeavor to keep delicate foodstuffs that easily freeze away from this area.
Recap
If your GE refrigerator is freezing everything, the first three things you should do are as follows:
1. Turn down the thermostat control knob
2. Ensure the door seal is working, and
3. Remove dust from the coil of the refrigerator.
If the problem defies these remedies, then check the thermostat for electrical faults. And if the thermostat is in order, then check the temperature tube of the thermostatic control. If it is faulty, you will have to replace it.
Avoid buying the wrong replacement part for any defective part of the refrigerator. Order with the model number of the refrigerator or the parts number.
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