James Conley answers:

Jon, these refrigerators with electronic controls are far more difficult to diagnose and repair than those of yesterday. You need experience, and meters, and a service manual. It could be one of several things causing it to not work. My advice is to bite the bullet and get a service person out to repair it. If it really is that panel you have, he can use it to repair it with.

If you decide to go ahead and try it yourself, make sure you unplug it a while before you dig into it. Also, be aware that some of these boards are hooked to transformers which have to be safely “bled off” of AC power or you can receive a nasty shock.

James Conley answers:

Probably a bad sensor, but GE has an incredible line of repair manuals that anyone can follow and diagnose a problem.

They’ll tell you what equipment you need, how to do it, and the difficulty level (which should tell you if you can do it yourself, the electrical minded-person can do it, or you should call a repairman).

Usually the most complex item you might possible need is an electrical tester (commonly referred to as a “Multimeter”). One of these would set you back less than $20, and besides helping you fix your dryer, you can also use it to:
Accurately test your batteries (one bad apple can cause you to toss all four)
Check your auto’s charging system
Figure out which of the 100 Xmas light bulbs is the bad one.
Use it for kid’s school projects.

These are the best appliance repair manuals I’ve ever seen! At one time I had a fridge, washer, and dryer one. Around 8 years ago, the list price was like $11. They can be purchased on-line or most anywhere that sells GE parts.

I would get one to get an idea of what it could be – even if I didn’t want to fix it.

Even if you decide not to fix it yourself, it’ll be handy for the next repair, and if you call a repairman, you’ll be better off by knowing what he has to do and how hard it is…

Actually, I moved and consequently got to use the Refrigerator one on two different models.

When my washer was leaking like crazy, the neighborhood “expert” said it was a motor seal and I might as well get a new machine (it was 10 years old or a tad more).
I followed the book, pulled the agitator out, popped the top, lifted the drum out and put the giant washer thing (forget what they called it) back on that had come lose and it worked fine again.

I used the refrigerator one to help install an icemaker in the new refrigerator, and figure out that the water in the bottom of the old one was coming from the resevour that fed the cold water dispenser on the door. Never fixed it – just stopped using it – the ice part still worked…

I used the dryer one to figure out which of two parts was making my gas dryer lite and then shut back down almost immediately.
If also warned me that the part was very delicate (ceramic) before I removed it for testing. That was nice – as it was the more expensive of the two parts,, and I’d have probably broken the old one removing it for testing, and then also broken the new one putting it in – had I not known that.

James Conley answers:

Http://www.geappliances.com/search/older-pdfs/49600371.PDF

This is the instruction manual for this refrigerator. You will need Adobe Reader to access it. It will give you all the information about this refrigerator that you will ever need for maintaining and repairing your appliance. Page 11 I think is what you are looking for. Page 21 lists phone numbers for free assistance from the company if you still need help.

Best wishes 🙂