two year old GE fridge making LOUD humming noise...

fieldgrade

fieldgrade

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till I opened the doors, and it stopped. WTH?

Loud as heck, like it was going to blow up.

I do have an extended warranty but until it’s making the noise all the time, or craps out completely I expect I won’t be able to exercise the warranty.

Now that my truck is in the driveway due to the new bike hogging it’s space in the garage, I have room for a beer fridge. Guess I’ll get one. Left the last one behind at the last house.

Anyone with any theories on what the heck that noise was? Seems to be running fine now.

@Timfoilhat @Metalliman27055
 
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BloodRunsThicker said:
Some of them will frost up on the fan in the freezer at the back behind the plate. Fan cuts off when you open door.

Try a full defrost and make sure to check under that cover where the fan is.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
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I had a GE Profile that would do that at the last house. My freezer in this one is in the bottom but the sound seemed like it was coming from the fridge compartment above.

I took the shelves out of this one but I couldn’t figure out how to remove the back plate. Guess I’ll defrost it by shutting it off and see if I can avert another panic in the house.
 
Google Fu the model number and you might be able to watch videos on how to remove it. Thats what i did.

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I was going to ask if your refrigerator is running, but my memory took me back to the last time I asked that question...it was to a random stranger over the phone.

My brother and I both giggled when I told the guy he better go catch it before it gets away.

The amusement came to an abrupt halt, though. My dad heard it all and both of us earned a well-deserved ass beating.
 
I just unplugged the offending beast. I don’t need that effer waking me up at 3AM. I put some towels down just in case it defrosts all over my engineered wood floors (read: “fake floors that bubble up when one year old dishwasher piddles all over them”). Yea, I already replaced that, too.
 
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If it is froze up then something caused it to freeze up. Either the heater is bad or a thermistor is bad. Google the model number and basic symptom.

There's so much info out there now we can all be experts.

The parts houses want to sell you parts, they don't care about the service aspect, so they show you how to diagnose and repair.
 
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Try cleaning the outside coils and see if that helps.

If the outside coils on back or bottom get clogged with hair, dirt, or other matter the unit can not property work.
 
If the defrost thermostat is bad, it's an easy repair. Getting to it (removing the back panel of the freezer) is the hardest part. You can test the thermostat by putting (not installing, just placing) it in another freezer to get it cold, then checking continuity - when cold, the switch should be "on". Then let it warm up and it should go from on to off. The two I have had to deal with both failed open, and would not allow the defrost heater coil to come on, so eventually the coils completely frosted up and the refrigerator compartment would not get cold enough. Caveat: your noise may not have anything at all to do with this.
 
BloodRunsThicker said:
Some of them will frost up on the fan in the freezer at the back behind the plate. Fan cuts off when you open door.

Try a full defrost and make sure to check under that cover where the fan is.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
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That is a major Samsung issue. We are about done with Samsung appliances. We have some friends using our mountain place this week. They texted me to let me know the microwave fan turned on by itself. I told yeah that’s normal. That Samsung microwave has a flaw where the steam from cooking messes up the electronics. Freaking brilliant design work there.
 
I plugged it back in last night. Blew out the dust bunnies this morning with the air compressor. Running fine so far. I scheduled warranty service through a Bangledesh call center. First two dates available were the day before, and the day after Thanksgiving. Uh, No.

Scheduled for Monday following.

I’m not performing surgery on this one while it’s under warranty.
 
So now, it’s not running at all. And the warranty service appointment is two weeks away. I guess i’ll be a getting a new beer fridge sooner than later to stand in while we wait on the warranty repair.

f6c.jpg


Edit: And now it’s running. Maybe it was in a defrost cycle.
 
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fieldgrade said:
So now, it’s not running at all. And the warranty service appointment is two weeks away. I guess i’ll be a getting a new beer fridge sooner than later to stand in while we wait on the warranty repair.

f6c.jpg


Edit: And now it’s running. Maybe it was in a defrost cycle.
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If it was frosted up due to a bad defrost thermostat (which, again, may not be your problem, but if it is...) when you unplugged it for awhile the frost would melt, allowing the refrigerator to run normally again, but the frost would again build up until you were back to the same condition. Be alert for too warm temperature in the refrigerator section, and/or barely frozen ice cream as a symptom.
 
Pack72 said:
If it was frosted up due to a bad defrost thermostat (which, again, may not be your problem, but if it is...) when you unplugged it for awhile the frost would melt, allowing the refrigerator to run normally again, but the frost would again build up until you were back to the same condition. Be alert for too warm temperature in the refrigerator section, and/or barely frozen ice cream as a symptom.
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I just hope it can limp through bird day. I’m sure some chi-com component is kaput in there.
 
I just went through this. Ice build up caused the evaporator fan to lockup, which was a symptom of the root cause.
In my case, the root cause was a clogged drain line, ie nowhere for the ice buildup to go after a defrost.

The other low hanging fruit would be a bad tstat, bad heater element, or bad fan motor. All of those things are easy to troubleshoot with a meter once you get access to them.
 
Well, it’s been six days and no repeat performance. Warranty service appointment is still eight days out.
 
BlackGun said:
was the noise coming from the bottom or top area?
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Mine stopped making noise within seconds of opening it. It is a bottom freezer model and best I recall it was coming from the middle of the back of the fridge section inside, but I never had a chance to open the freezer to listen before it stopped. I can’t get a lint brush under it but I did blow out the bottom and rear vents with my air compressor the next day.
 
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fieldgrade said:
Mine stopped making noise within seconds of opening it. It is a bottom freezer model and best I recall it was coming from the middle of the back of the fridge section inside, but I never had a chance to open the freezer to listen before it stopped. I can’t get a lint brush under it but I did blow out the bottom and rear vents with my air compressor the next day.
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That would be where the fan is. Hopefully you blew air thru the drain line so it would not build up ice. You also can blow thru the drain line from the back bottom upwards which will dislodge scum and allow the water to drain back into the pan under the frig. But make sure to put the drain line back in the pan. If a drain is blocked the water in the drain catch pan (directly under interior evaporator and can rub the fan blades. It also will wick back onto the evaporator and freeze insulating the -15 degrees evaporator to a 32 degree ice chunk. A tech will not find the problem if the sound doesn’t occur while he is on the call.
 
I’ve had an older GE Profile apart in my last house, but I’m not seeing what I’m looking for here. Removed the beverage tray at the bottom of the fridge section. No drain that I can see.

3DA45C4F-65B6-4477-82EA-0F3E313F6139.jpeg
Removed the freezer tray in the bottom of the appliance and not seeing any drain there either.

4A93B957-2140-44D9-ADB4-F503D2589EF0.jpeg85C6F858-78F2-4147-86F4-7BFA9F247B8D.jpeg
I looked beyond what can be seen in the pics.
 
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frakncylons said:
frakncylons said:
It’s going to to be underneath the evaporator coils behind some plastic bits. In the freezer compartment.
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There are no *apparent* removable panels inside. I’ve really looked. My last GE Profile was pretty easy to take apart inside, and to see underneath.

frakncylons said:
You can also see it from the discharge side underneath the fridge where it dumps into a tray.
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This two year old GE fridge does not have a front kick panel that can be removed. The bottom freezer door goes down to within an inch and a half or so two inches above the floor. You can only see the bottom half of the white rollers. That’s it. The back goes down even closer to the floor.
 
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Okay, now this gets interesting. Son #2, who moved out last week, kept store-bought fishing worms in their container in the fridge. I found two in the fridge, one at the opening to the drain hole behind the plastic covers.

1F177D26-88E4-401E-ACDC-9A14095ACCCC_1_201_a.jpeg

I blew out that hole with compressed air. It splattered what little water was in there through the back vented panel and onto the wall so I am pretty sure it’s not blocked. There was no debris, just a couple of tablespoons of water. Removed the back panel and blew out that hole from the bottom. Nothing came out top side.

91778801-7B21-4197-9F02-AB09ED92DD6A.jpeg
That is the “after” version of the coils. They looked like this “before".
D3097ED9-5191-41D2-9202-E3E4D2392C06.jpeg

Their are two fans inside the fridge section, and I’m not quite seeing how they would have iced up.

6A2EB487-3A86-4870-9FD8-8E396442500F.jpeg59A92FAA-A83C-437D-B271-CAA9222A409A.jpeg
And this little on over one the left
EB38A562-7D92-42C6-B287-7FAA692BF5FE_1_201_a.jpeg

Anyhow, the thing is cleaned up and blown out so hopefully it’ll run through Thanksgiving.

Hopefully the service tech can check any thermostats, thermistors, uranium centrifuges, electron accelerators, etc. when he comes next week.

@frakncylons @BlackGun
 
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You did well getting that taken apart without destroying it. Never would have thought worms would seek water in a frig. When you get it back together make certain there are not gaps in the panels. Refrigerator diagnostics on newer units is not easy.
 
BlackGun said:
You did well getting that taken apart without destroying it. Never would have thought worms would seek water in a frig. When you get it back together make certain there are not gaps in the panels. Refrigerator diagnostics on newer units is not easy.
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It’s all together. I wonder if I should mention to the service tech that I blew out the drain line and blew off the coils? I’ve got a factory extended warranty and don’t want it voided.
 
fieldgrade said:
It’s all together. I wonder if I should mention to the service tech that I blew out the drain line and blew off the coils? I’ve got a factory extended warranty and don’t want it voided.
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Not sure. Not any of their business. Depends on if labor is covered. If not covered I would tell him. No way a warranty can be voided for doing what the owners manuals says to do like clean coils and lines.
 
fieldgrade said:
It’s all together. I wonder if I should mention to the service tech that I blew out the drain line and blew off the coils? I’ve got a factory extended warranty and don’t want it voided.
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Nope
 
ronn47 said:
Nope
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They’ll have to disassemble the entire interior of the fridge, again, to blow out that line. I hate for them to do that again.

Although @BlackGun suggested they might not do that.
 
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fieldgrade said:
They’ll have to disassemble the entire interior of the fridge, again, to blow out that line. I hate for them to do that again.

Although @BlackGun suggested they might not do that.
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Well it depends if labor is included as @BlackGun said then.
 
So, the frig has run fine since November when I posted this thread. It started making that racket again last night which I am sure is ice in the fan. I disassembled the interior again, find a few bits of ice near the fan but not IN the fan. Anything else that might have been frozen is thawed at this point. I blow out the drain line. It’s clear. Put it all back together. No noise. What a PITA. I wish I knew what was causing it. I think next time I’m either just shut off the breaker for a few hours, or roll it back out to just unplug it for awhile, and damaging my soft “engiturd” floors further,.
 
Check the fan shaft with blade on it to see if it has play in it. It may be ribbing the shroud panel. If it slips a 1/4” it may be rubbing.
 
I don't know how I missed this from the get go, but here's my input. @BlackGun has the correct mechanical guidance.
He's stated the extent of my experience assuming it's mechanical. It's also possible that the problem manifests due to loading...user error. The previous time that the fan grew some ice and made noise was when it was likely packed full prior to Thanksgiving. If air cannot flow through and around the things it can cause freeze up. This is typically a problem from the freezer section being overloaded.
 
Timfoilhat said:
I don't know how I missed this from the get go, but here's my input. @BlackGun has the correct mechanical guidance.
He's stated the extent of my experience assuming it's mechanical. It's also possible that the problem manifests due to loading...user error. The previous time that the fan grew some ice and made noise was when it was likely packed full prior to Thanksgiving. If air cannot flow through and around the things it can cause freeze up. This is typically a problem from the freezer section being overloaded.
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Another thing that ices up a fan is pitting hot food items in the refrigerators. If you make tea and put it directly in the frig it will prematurely ice it up. Same with foods off the stove. Add ice or let it cool first.
 
It’s just me and the missus these days, so fridge/freezer overload is not the issue, and it wasn’t loaded up last time either since that was almost a couple weeks before Burd Day. Beyond that, I think I made a breakthrough about 20 years ago when I convinced the missus to let things cool before they go in the fridge.

I’ll have to check the fan free play on the shaft the next I have it apart, assuming it will misbehave again.
 
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