My GE fridge is not defrosting the coils in the back. What's up?

Sorry to hear about your problem. Sounds like you have a defrost issue. Hence your unit is not defrosting. All of this apply's if your freezer side has ice on it. If not. you have other issues
Here is a list of some things that can go wrong.
1. Defective heat coil
2. Defective defrost timer
3. Defective defrost sensor
You should call a service company to resolve your issue.

Since I tried to help you, Please help me and Rate/Vote on the response. Thanks

ck the back of the freezer / look for ice build up / if evap coil is blocked the fresh food side isnot getting cold air and the tempt of freezer is dropping . is sounds like a defrost problem caused by main board failure or heater / defrost themo . / fresh food will keep getting warmer and soon the freezer will also .. mm

Hi,
There are a few reasons why the refrigerator part will not cool...here are a couple of tips that will help you to figure out why the refrigerantor is not cooling...

Refrigerator not Cooling or Fridge not Cooling
http://www.fixya.com/support/r3662945-refrigerator_not_cooling_or_fridge_not

How to Defrost Refrigerator Defrost Timer Problem
http://www.fixya.com/support/r3771673-defrost_refrigerator_defrost_timer

heatman101

Hi!

First of all you need to clean the coils (condenser coils under the unit or evaporator coils inside the freezer). The coils inside could be iced over because of failure of defrost system. Now check that the condenser fan under the fridge is working properly. Check that the fan in the freezer work which pulls cold air from the coils inside freezer and blows it to the fridge side. Are the temperature control knobs in the fridge adjusted correctly? It actually just opens a vent to let more or less cold air in from the freezer. It takes a while for the ice to build up in the freezer enough to affect the cooling.

My first guess would be the defrost timer. You can manually turn it to engage the defrost cycle and observe whether or not the defrost heaters come on. Now use a hair dryer to speed up melting the ice when there is lots of ice buildup. Most timers are 24 hour timers. It will turn the defroster on every 6 or maybe 12 hours depending on the model.

Before testing the defrost heater, unplug the refrigerator to avoid an electrical shock hazard.

The defrost heater is usually located at the back of a side by side freezer or under the floor of a top freezer. It will be necessary to remove obstructions such as the contents of the freezer, freezer shelves, icemaker and the inside rear or bottom panel of the freezer.

The heater is connected by two wires. The wires are connected with slip on connectors. Firmly pull the connectors off of the terminals (do not pull on the wire). You may need to use a pair of needle-nose pliers to remove the connectors. Inspect the connectors and the terminals for corrosion. If the connectors are corroded they should be replaced.

Please do rate this solution as FixYa and revert for further assistance.

Thanks
Rylee

automatic defrost its not coming on check the heather or hi limit

it can be two things the refrgerator probably has a small refrigerant leak therefore it ices up, or the defrosting heater on the begining of the coil is faulty.

Hi,

Check out these tips...they can help you figure out whats going wrong with yourrefrigerator and why it is not cooling

Refrigerator not Cooling or Fridge not Cooling

How to Defrost Refrigerator Defrost Timer Problem

Water Running in refrigerator from Freezer

Refrigerator or Freezer not Cooling or Getting Cold
heatman101

most of the time on ge its the defrost heater or defrost sensor in the freezer,that's why its freezing up.you can go to sears .com click on prats put in your modeal number and get yours parts-mike

Your refrigerator needs to be turned off and aompletely defrosted. Overnight if possible. You have a large amount of ice built up on the freezer coil that is blocking air flow.
Most refrigerator sections are only cooled by air flow from the fan in the freezer section.
Thaw it and clean it out real good and you should be back in business.

It sounds like cold air from the freezer isn't making it to the fridge compartment. This can be cause by a several things. The damper that lets air into the fresh food side is stuck in "closed" position, the temp sensor (t-stat) isn't working properly, the evaporator fan (in the freezer comp above the coils) isn't working to blow air up to the fresh food section. In some situations, the defrost cycle for the freezer section isn't working and the coils have frozen into a block of ice and air can't flow over them properly so you get not cold air to the fresh food section but the freezer still stays cold due to the block of ice.