Model Number: PSS26LSRE SS
Brand: GE
Age: 1-5 years
My freezer seems to get stuck in a state where the evaporator fan won't run, leaving the ice tray at the top of the freezer melting. I believe this is always happening after a defrost cycle. Whenever I reset (unplug and plug it in) the fridge immediately starts working properly, with the evaporator fan running and quickly cooling the freezer to single digit temperatures. It seems to consistently go through a defrost cycle or two of working properly, quickly cooling and running the evaporator fan after finishing the defrost cycle, just as it should. However, after about a couple days, it seems to go through a defrost cycle and the evaporator fan will never turn on again. The condenser will be running properly, and the evaporator coils are plenty cold, but the fan never turns on to cool the top of the freezer where the ice is.
I have replaced the defrost heater, thermostat, main board, and checked the thermistors, but the problem persists. In particular, I verified reasonable resistance levels (10-12K ohms right after defrost and it was a little above freezing, 25-30K after the condensor had run for a bit and it was well below freezing) from the plug directly at the main board (4th wire to 5th wire on the J1 plug). The fan seems to work properly after a reset, so I assume it is not a mechanical issue. It shows a resistance of 2.5K ohms from lines 3 to 8 on the J2 plug (and about 6K from lines 4 to 8). When the fan is running I see a voltage of 12.5v from line 3 to line 8 and 13.6v from line 3 to line 4. When the fan is "stuck", and not running, I see a resistance of 13.6v from line 3 to line 8 and from line 3 to line 4 (same potential). The defrost heater seems to work properly now that it has been replaced (glows during defrost cycle, defrosts the coils, and shows about 18 ohms resistance). At this point, I don't know what is left to replace or try to fix.