Refrigerator Keeps Running

If your Refrigerator Keeps Running Check the Following


FRESH FOOD COMPARTMENT TOO WARM

The temperature in the fresh food compartment is too warm; this can be the reason your refrigerator runs continuously. It should be about 34-39 degrees Fahrenheit.


AMBIENT TEMPERATURE TOO HOT

Ambient temperature is too hot; this can be the reason your refrigerator runs continuously Refrigerators are designed to run 60% - 80% of the time at room temperature. So if the room the refrigerator is in doesn’t have air conditioning, it will run all the time if it gets over 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the room.


FRESH FOOD COMPARTMENT TOO COLD

The fresh food compartment is too cold. If your refrigerator is refrigerating properly with proper airflow and it’s running continuously the food in the fresh food section will freeze. This is caused by the cold control being stuck on most of the time (“stuck on” meaning that the control contacts are stuck together causing the refrigerator to run continuously). If the cold control is stuck on the temperature in the fresh food compartment will be too cold; therefore, freezing the fresh food. If this is happening, replace cold control. If you have a newer refrigerator there won’t be a cold control, instead there will be a thermistors and a main control board. Main control boards go bad much more than thermistors.

Thermistors
Thermistors don’t go bad very often but if they do, some have four or more thermistors depending on the model. If any of the thermistors are bad the performance of the refrigerator will be greatly reduced or it may not run at all. Although they don’t go bad often the first models had thermistors that were consistently out of range. If you don’t have the faulty thermistors but you are still unsure if the thermistors are good or not this is the best way to check them. Remove the thermistor and place it in a cup with ice and a small amount of water for at least five minutes. This should bring the thermistor to 32 degrees. Using your ohmmeter, check resistance across the thermistor with it still in the ice water. Refer to the tech sheet or service maual for the proper reading. Most GE's should read around 16.6 K ohms or 16,600 ohms +/-5%. Replace the thermistors if out of range.