GE Profile Arctica Refrigerator (PSS255GNA) - repair or replace?

12 years ago

We came home from vacation to find our fridge had died. We "think" the kids who were dog sitting left the door open, but we can't be sure. It was about 8.5 years old.

At what price point would you say forger the repair, just replace it? I have no idea as of yet what the repair will cost. Luckily, we have a second refrigerator so I can wait until Monday to call for a repairman.

If you were to replace it, what would you recommend purchasing? Our space is very limited. We will need the same dimensions as this refrigerator- approx 35.75"W x 69"H

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Comments (8)

dadoes
12 years ago
Your model seems to be PSS25SGNABS (the 6th character is an S, not a 5).

Leaving the door open theoretically should not "kill" the unit. It may get iced-up beyond what the self-defrosting process can handle due to excess moisture getting in with the door open, but that can be dealt with by shutting it off and manually defrosting (may have to remove the evaporator panel for access to blow a hair dryer at the coils, which is somewhat difficult to do because of the molded-in freezer shelf supports).

However, something may have coincidentally gone wrong at the same time. I have a similar GE model, 6 years old that I repaired in December. Needed the freezer evaporator fan and motherboard replaced. Bought the fan at an online parts source that I often use for $45. The board was $200*, but I found one (new in box) on eBay for $125. $170 is MUCH less than a new refrigerator, although of course I saved the cost of a service tech by doing the repair myself. Even $400 is considerably less than an equivalent-featured new unit, but you have to make that decision.

You'd have to investigate the details of what's wrong to determine if it's something you can repair DIY. I could send service diagnostic info but you don't have an e-mail contact on your GardenWeb profile.

* Your board is $148 at SearsPartsDirect.
workingmomx3
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks again dadoes. I sent you an email. I would greatly appreciate you sending me the service diagnostic info and anything else related to my model. And thanks for the correction on the model no. I couldn't read my own handwriting and I was too lazy to check it.
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I've had the same problem (temp fluctuations and not holding the set temp) as described by the original poster (Avian) with my GE Profile Arctica of about the same age. I believe I have helpful information to offer. I had a couple of service calls by the tech who was recommended by the appliance specialty dealer where we bought the fridge. After several visits without success he diagnosed a bad main board. He ordered a board and replaced it. It worked better for a while, but still would not hold the set temp. Eventually I decided to bring in a genuine GE repair tech despite the $90 travel fee (in addition to any labor and parts charges). My thought was that the "real" GE tech might have specific knowledge about the problem. Well, it turned out he did. I can't say the board did not need to be replaced, but that wasn't the basic problem. It turns out that there's a unit in the top rear of the refrigerator side (against the back wall behind the center light) that is the culprit. This large molded plastic unit has (inside) a small "door" that opens and closes to allow cold air from the freezer unit into the refrigerator side. Basically the fridge works by sending cold air into the freezer, then this door opens and closes to bleed enough cold air from the freezer to the refrigerator side to maintain the fridge temp. That "door" was broken. The GE tech went right to the problem (he seemed to have seen it before), showed me the broken door, and replaced the molded unit containing the door. It was expensive (of course) but the tech showed me the price then cut it in half for me. He also fixed the ice-maker line (which had basically disintegrated) and cleaned out the coils (though they weren't too bad). Total cost was about $400 (but new higher end fridges were about $3K). Now (a few months later) it holds the 0 to 1 degree freezer temp and 38 or so fridge temp. Hope this is helpful.
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Caddidaddy55
12 years ago
I'm with dadoes on the manual defrost thing my daughter left the door on our upright self defrosting freezer open for half a day. Fortunately we had just got a new FD fridge and had the old one plugged in in the garage, so we moved everything into the freezers of the new and old fridge and unplugged it till it thawed. Gave us the chance to do a much needed cleanout though. I did have to replace the defrost timer $26, but I attribute that more to it being a Fridgedare. The unit was built in 1991 and the first timer lasted 10 yrs or so. That was the old Fridigedare. The replacement timers now only last 2-3 years, that is the new Fridgedare.
workingmomx3
Original Author
12 years ago
We have a GREAT appliance repair service we use. I called at 8:45 this morning, they had someone here by 11:15 and it was repaired by noon. Had to replace the control board (WR55X10942), Could have gotten the part for much cheaper elsewhere (Amazon - $100), but the guy was already here and the job would be done.

I've had this refrigerator for 8.5 years (with three growing, hungry boys) and this is the first issue I have had with it.
workingmomx3
Original Author
12 years ago
Bummer. for the last month, the freezer has been cycling from 0-15 degrees. Not certain if this something new, but my first guess is the replacement board is bad. I remember coming across some posts elsewhere about service bulletins for this? I'm off to google again. If anyone has anything at hand that they could share, I would appreciate it.
workingmomx3
Original Author
12 years ago
Also, the ice dispenser auger broke. Got a piece of plastic in my cup. Used appliancepartspros.com for replacement of just the auger (WR17X11939). Ordered after 5 on Thursday evening. Arrived 9am Saturday morning. Great service.

I ran the diagnostics and got error 0 3 - Temperature control panel to dispenser board communication failure. What does this mean? looking for information on the dispenser board but not having much luck.
dadoes
12 years ago
The temperature control panel (WR55X10390) and dispenser board aren't properly exchanging electrical signals ... one or other is bad (trick is figuring out which), or maybe there's a problem with the wiring between them. The dispenser board (WR55X10298) is the Water/Cubed/Crushed/QuickIce/etc. buttons on the freezer door.
workingmomx3
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for the response dadoes. How do you figure out which one is bad?

Thoughts on this being related to the main control board (WR55X10942) in some way or fashion. It seems odd that our problems with the temperature control and now water dumping over the ice cube tray started at the same time the main control board was replaced.

GE Profile Arctica Refrigerator (PSS255GNA) - repair or replace?

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GE Profile Arctica Refrigerator (PSS255GNA) - repair or replace?

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