GE Refrigerator Water Dispenser not Working?

GSS25IRFR ge refrigerator

GE Refrigerator

Recently my water dispenser simply quit working on my General Electric side-by-side refrigerator. We’ve had the GE refrigerator for roughly 5 years and never had this issue.  The ice maker was still making ice so I knew it was still receiving water.  The  ice dispenser worked fine when tried to dispense water, I heard a click and the light came on so I assumed the electronics in the dispenser control panel were ok.

I spent several hours reading forums and testing various theories.  I eventually determined that the water line inside the door was frozen.  You see, the water line comes in from the wall to under the refrigerator and splits.  One line goes up to the ice maker.  The other coils around in a water line behind the vegetable tray to cool the water then out the back, under the refrigerator across the bottom of the front then up the inside left of the freezer door by the hinge.   Ultimately the insulation inside the door quits insulating the water line and it freezes near the dispenser control panel.

So there you have it, your problem is likely a frozen water line.  Now how do you fix it?  Many users in the forums suggested replacing the door for $500 or adding their own insulation to the door.  Other users suggest temporary fixes such as threading a weed-eater trimmer line through the water line.  When the line freezes simple pull the trimmer line and clean it out.

Ultimately, I found a simple and inexpensive permanent solution.   GE apparently released a $30 part below, item WR49X10173, a water dispenser tube heater which easily connects to the dispenser control panel to heat the water line just enough to keep it from freezing. You can purchase it from Amazon below for $40.

You may want to purchase something like the water line buddy that will help you unfreeze the water line but shooting hot water up the line.

If this doesn’t work for you then you might consider replacing the water filter or water valve as both of those can slow or stop the flow from the water dispenser.

Update: A couple of years later and the water line problem is still solved. The water heater in the line seemed to fix the issue and we never saw it again. Granted, we had other issues with our GE refrigerator but the water line was never frozen again.

Let us know below if this worked for you (or not) so we can all help each other fix these annoying refrigerator issues!

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Customer

The dryer fix is temporary – kinda like having to blow dry your car’s radiator every few mornings to get the coolant flowing. You are using a bandaid, not solving the problem. Get the water line heater. It should be a permanent fix. I will be ordering one, very soon.

Steve

I’ve been fighting this problem on and off for as long as I’ve owned my side by side (6 years). It seems to get worse when the filter is old. I the past all I would do is leave the freezer door open for 30 minutes or so and it would warm up enough to unfreeze the line. The hair dryer tip is a good one to speed things up. I think keeping a new filter on hand should help too since it happens more when the filter is old. I’m also ordering the water line heater from Amazon to… Read more »

Bob Cedro

water line was frozen did the hair dryer trick and it worked. did it a couple of times and when I came back to it 2 hours later water was flowing. thanks for all the tips.

Robert

Frozen line resolved with hairdryer heating freezer door where line exists to dispenser. Also, do not overload top shelf of freezer under ice maker. Took two hours to identify cause 2 minutes to fix! Thanks for the tip.

Kraig

Thank you! Hair dryer fix worked. Had to buy a new hose couple, which was $4.95, but all good.

lisa casperson

How do I know how to install the heater???? I don’t want to buy it and then what…

Penney Stevens

My husband and I just had this problem in our GE profile side by side. The very top shelf in the freezer is a “quick freeze” shelf and should be left open at the top to allow air to flow in the freezer – we stuffed the freezer through the holidays and forgot about this. One my husband took the hairdryer and stuck it up the dispenser for about 3 or 4 minutes on high, then tried the water lever – and wha – lah! water. I hope this helps

Cecilia sparks

Penny Stevens, “Stuck it up the dispenser” how? from outside the refrigerator door?

Daniel Jones

Yeah.

Anonymous

Thank you, thank you, thank you, ours has not worked for a year now and today I decided I was going to try to fix it, my husband has tried in the past with no success and he has too many other things he is working on, so I started researching and came across your suggestion first, i tried to use the hairdryer on the actual dispenser part and it didn’t work, so i opened the door and used the hairdryer on the inside of the door and it immediately worked!!! Thanks again for the advice!!

Marjo

We used both the hairdryer and a piece of weed eater line. We alternated between wiggling the piece of line and blowing the dryer up the dispenser from the outside.It took a little longer than some other people said, but it did work. Just be patient and don’t use the high heat on the hair dryer.
We aren’t always successful with the do it your self fixes, but this time we were. Thanks for all the posts.

Barb

THANK YOU!!!!! Was not looking forward to paying GE for the repair. Tried the weed whacker line and the blow dryer on the opposite side of the door and IT WORKED!! Thank you for sharing the tip.

Anonymous

My water stopped working for a day….starting googling, fixed it! I just unplug fridge for about 20mins

Anonymous

Hairdryer. Totally worked for me to on our 2006 GE Monogram side by side! The GE technician charged $99 and told us we needed to replace the whole door! What a rip! thanks for the advice. Should have looked here first!

Mike

I tried the hair dryer solution and it worked fine. Saved me a bunch of money. Thanks for the tip,

Peter

Penny,
Thank You! I used the hair Dryer and a pipe cleaner and my family has water now! FYI the upper freezer was blocked causing the freezing problem. Also when using the hair dryer be careful not to melt the plastic.
Peter

Pat

I used a hair dryer to defrost my water line also. However, I used an old washing machine drain hose to channel the air into the water dispenser tube. I put one end of the hose over the tube, and used the hair dryer to blow air through the hose and into the water dispenser tube. I did this 3 time at 30 seconds each time and about 10 minutes apart, because I didn’t want the hair dryer to over heat and to test the water dispenser after each time. If it does not work immediately after this, wait another… Read more »

Anonymous

The hair dryer worked.

Anonymous

The blow dryer for 10 minutes on the inside of the refrigerator worked for me.

Dan Wolff

Yup – 5 minutes with the hairdryer and flowing again.

Tiffany W

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! So glad I googled and found these responses right away! I turned the fridge off for 20 minutes, ran the blow dryer on and off on the inside and outside of freezer door around the dispenser area, then finally pushed a thin plastic weed liner in the water dispenser outlet and finally the water came pouring out. Again thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

choloe enak

well our was not frozen – just kept pressing “water button” because my husband read somewhere that there might be Air in system, although we did also find too much ice – so took excess clumby ice out and Voila! water.

Jen

Thank you soooo much for this suggestion! Worked for us. We put the hairdryer on inside the door behind the dispenser and it worked! Ge wanted to charge $80 to come look at it on a week day between 1 and 4. Would have been waisted money and time away from work! Thank you!

Carlos

Great. Took me a little longer, maybe 10 minutes, after second attempt of blow dryer on back of door, this time only behind water dispenser and working a weed eater line about 3 inches up the dispenser, I had given up, when I closed the freezer door, a spurt of water shot out a little chunk of ice! Now works fine. Thank you.

El chico

Tks a lot hair dryer & weed eater plastic line works great 10/15 min. No problem

Anonymous

The hairdryer worked for me as well. Thanks k you so much for sharing.

Dolly

Thanks
The blow dryer worked

Terri Moses

Thank you for the hair dryer technique. My water is flowing now. My rake away us to not put the hair dryer in the hold and let it sit there. The wall shape changed. So hold it and direct the heat into the ice chute on the inside of freezer. I had it on low fir 5 minutes and on high for five minutes. Then waited 5 minutes and kept it donwhat it donand it did what it does. My top quick freeze shelf being so full could gave been part of the problem. Don’t overstuff that area. So happy… Read more »

Terri Moses

Sorry for not proofreading my reply and having so many errors. Just wanted to say THANK YOU FOR HAIR DRYER TIP!

Brooke F

Hair dryer worked for me plus clearing the top shelf – thank you Penney

David

I used a hair dryer from the front with no success. Then my wife held the hair dryer behind the water spout from inside of the door. Water started dripping after about 2 minutes. So she tried pushing the water button. Haha! Jokes on her. I melted the hose and it straightened out a bit from the heat. She got squirted. Had to heat it up from the front again and use a piece of wire and bend the water spout back down. Now it’s okay.

Teresa

I’m in the same boat. Need to reshape the hose because the water is now coming straight out! I worked the front and back of the door with the hair dryer and it didn’t appear to work, until a couple hours later when I tried it again and the water was flowing.

Anonymous

Or just unplug overnight.

Anonymous

Hair dryer worked for me too! Thank you!

Minh Nguyen

it works for me as well. After using hair dryer, then wait 5 minutes to let ice in dispenser melted out.
thanks for the tip.

Liz Hartwig

Thanks so much! The hairdryer worked beautifully! Took about 8 minutes on inside of freezer door. Also removed frozen items from top shelf for better air circulation! What a relief not to have to call repairman.

Larry

Thank,thank,thank-you. Running water at last, 3 to 4 mins worked fine with hair dryer

Josh

Hair drier worked. It took about 5 minutes then waited about two more, waterline started to drip, from the melting and then it worked.

Charlie K

Wow, glad I checked this site. I took a hair dryer set at highest temp setting and warmed the left door from the inside for 6 minutes, I also warmed the the inside edge of the door from the bottom hinge to the ice shoot, then I took a wooden spoon from the inside, pushed it into the ice shoot to hold the rubber flap opened and used the hair dryer from the outside and shot hot air into the ice opening where the water tube is located…….not too long, don’t melt the plastic……… THE WATER IS FLOWING AGAIN……… Now… Read more »

Chris

Thank you for the help! We have water.

Deb

Most helpful. Took me about 30 minutes working on the outside of the door and the inside of freezer door. We have water. It’s been about a year!

Chanterelle

Thank you, OP, and everyone else who took the time to write about their experience. I have a GE profile arctica side-by-side fridge, about nine years old. When the water stopped dispensing, I found this site and read all the posts. Then it dawned on me what my problem was. I never hooked up my ice maker. In fact, I took it right out of the freezer and I just use the room for storage. On the inside of the freezer door is the opening for the Ice cube chute. I had just put a large freezer ice pack into… Read more »

Debbie Frohna

Water dispenser was not working but ice dispenser was. Used the hair dryer and my husband used paper clip unfolded as stated below. We unplugged fridge and worked on it on and off for about 20 minutes and yep…water is now flowing. We have had our fridge at least 10 years and this has never happened. We used hair dryer to front of door, side of door, inside of door but I think unplugging is also something to do to just let it warm up a bit. So interesting….

Michelle Prehoda

The hair dryer and weed eater line worked for me too! I used a funnel to direct the heat on the water dispenser (low heat, high speed) for about 2 minutes then used the hair dryer (high heat, high speed) on the inside of the door for 5 minutes. Then I used the weed eater line. It took a little force to push the line more than 3″ but instantly had water at that point. Thank you for the great advice!

Cecilia sparks

I tried the blow dryer, just now, and all it did was melt the plastic tubing and bend the actual press bar… If anyone does this, do it with caution. It did not fix the problem.

Anonymous

My plastic tubbing melted also. Help my melted also so NOW what?? ?

Cecilia sparks

whoops! yes it did work… it just took a few minutes for it to thaw more, I guess! Thanks Penney. Word to the wise, just be careful that you do not melt anything with the blow dryer!! 😉

Paul Wilson

My ice maker suddenly stopped working also. The line is not frozen. I undid the line coming into the refer and have water to the refrigerator.

Paul Wilson

Correction — not the ice maker. the water dispenser.

Anonymous

I put a hair dryer to the door still no at the top but have water at the bottom hose

Anonymous

I got a plummers quick repair. Get an 8 inch weed wacker line put it in hoie were the water comes out then take it outits done it should work

Anonymous

Yup, weed eater string and blow dryer on inner side of door worked for me! Thanks 🙂

Anonymous

Same for me. Listen for the click in back to determine if dispenser works, attempt to string trimmer more than 3 inches (if not, frozen) and blow drier right to back of dispensing arm for 5-10 minutes, and yahoo!

brian

Thank you!! A few minutes with the hair dryer and gentle pushing with a pipe cleaner up the dispenser hole fixed it for me.

Thanks , I have recently been looking for information approximately this subject for a long time and
yours is the best I have discovered till now. But, what about the conclusion? Are you sure in regards to the supply?

Colleen

If you call GE, at 1-800-386-1215 Opt. 6, you can get the part free of charge, or at least I did anyway. They asked for my model #, serial # and I explained that I continue to have issues with the water dispenser line freezing. The instructions included for item WR49X10173, the water dispenser tube heater are horrible, but there is an awesome step by step video on youtube by wernerpd that outlines how to install the heater. I simply typed in the search bar, how to install a dispenser water tube heater for a ge side by side refrigerator,… Read more »

Colleen

Also, if a frozen line isn’t your issue, I’ve been told that you first check out the water filter, put in the filter bypass piece if necessary especially if you don’t have a new filter on hand, if it isn’t that it could be your water inlet valve found on the back of your frig., and last but not least your control board might be bad. Good luck…I changed my heater last night and am still waiting to see if the water dispenser line will thaw. I’ve been told it can take up to 24 hours to thaw. If not,… Read more »

Matt

My GE side by side was having the same issues with not dispensing water, but the ice maker was functioning properly. I used a combination of the blow dryer and weed Eater spool trick. I’m pleased to announce that it worked like a charm. Just use a blow dryer on high heat for about 4 minutes, applying heat to the inside of the freezer door, directly behind the dispenser. Run a 6-8 inch line of spool into the dispenser. After a few minutes, press the water lever and watch the flood gates open!!

Joe

From the Makers of Hothands I purchased a Box of Insole Foot Warmers at BJ,s ( Hothands.com 1 800432-8629.)
I attached two on the Insoles inside of the freezer door and covered it with a 10in x 16in piece of 1/2 inch Fan Foam insulation .
I checked in two hours and the water system was back to normal.
No damage to door.

David

I replaced the filter last night and the water dispenser worked. There was no water flow today from the water dispenser. I have warmed the outside and inside of the freezer door. I can not pass the suggested nylon line or even fin gauge wire more than 3-4 inches into the output nozzle. I have also removed the filter and placed the bypass plug into the filter housing. Any suggestions?

Stephen

I had the exact same issue. What I realized was that I was pushing up against the blockage. I tried to heat the interior of the door with no success, so I did more research and found this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwJ_EatXJ9g Following the directions to remove the kick plate and check the supply from the bottom was helpful. Since I was getting water at the kick plate, I knew the line was frozen. Applying heat from a hair dryer from both the bottom and top and trying to push the nylon line up eventually broke up the blockage and the water… Read more »

James

Using the hairdryer on the inside of the freezer door for a little more than 5 minutes and then poking the weed eater cord up the water dispenser tube on the front of the door loosened up the ice plug and now the water is flowing once again. Worked like a charm! Just be patient and warm the inside of the freezer door with the hairdryer slowly. It will take a little time, but it really does work. Thanks for providing the easy fix!

james russell

Contacted GE on water dispenser line heater, wr49x10173, and the service tech acted as he had never heard of that part and that there was never any program to replace it. Any suggestions where to go next? Thank you James

Anonymous

Amazon

Sue

I have a 22 cu ft GE side-by-side refrig that is a little over 5 years old, and just had the line freeze up in the freezer door too. Got it thawed by leaving the freezer door open and keeping a blow dryer on the lower inside part of the door (closest to the hinges) for about 30 min. Also will adjust freezer temp to be a bit warmer. I called GE at 800-386-1215 to get the part #WR49X10173 (water dispenser tube heater) and they “discounted” it to $15.00 plus $5.95 shipping. I will wait to install it, want to… Read more »

B

Hello,
Experienced the same issue, which was resolved be installing bypass tube assembly (WR17X11920). Issue was not water freezing in door.

joe

WORKED LIKE A CHARM. FOUR MIN WITH BLOW DRYER. TKS

Ray

GE Model GSH25 JSTA SS, A two door upright refrigerator. I just paid $69.50 for a service visit. He told me there was a heater part that would heat it up to keep from freezing. I covered the freezer opening with aluminum foil to keep the food cold. I stuck the blow dryer in the opening for ice from the inside side on low heat. I left the freezer door open for 5 minutes. I checked it and the water started running immediately. I filled two large cups of water to run it through without a hitch. Save your money… Read more »

Anonymous

An 8 inch piece of whipper snipper cable inserted up the water line/cord at the dispenser works fine. Leave about 3/4 of an inch hanging out and when the water stops, wiggle the cord back and forth, presto.

Shannon Farrington

Hair dryer worked like a charm. Happy Easter.

chuck

Here is the solution, never never buy GE again

Anonymous

I also will never buy any more of ge junk I also tell every one looking for appliance not to buy ge they dont stand behind there product

K. Harper

I am on my second GE Profile Refrigerator in just seven years. My dishwasher almost caught fire and they gave me $400.00 to replace my three year old $1000.00 top of the line model. My first GE Profile flooded my new hardwood floors and then the whole ice/water dispenser unit had to be replaced. When that unit went bad as well they offered to fix it or give me around $700/800 to put toward another refrigerator. I figured I had a real lemon model on my hands so I bought another one (because the money had to be used for… Read more »

Anonymous

My water and ice stopped working. The panel blinks when the button is pressed?

KB

This is happening to me now as well. Water and Ice dispenser not working, no light comes on when the lever is depressed, the panel temp lights start to flash, do not hear any motor coming on when dispenser is pushed in. Interior ice maker is still working. Is this a frozen line issue or something else?

KB

Read a comment about the frozen line and turning on the “Light” for a while to heat up the line. When I did that, the light did not come on, but the panel started flashing and I heard a clicking sound behind the refrigerator. I could not make this stop by pressing light button again. Had to unplug. Any ideas?? Original post: This is happening to me now as well. Water and Ice dispenser not working, no light comes on when the lever is depressed, the panel temp lights start to flash, do not hear any motor coming on when… Read more »

Joey P

Did you find a fix for the lights not working and ice/water dispenser not working? My lights flicker as well.

Angie

Did you find a remedy? Mine is doing the same thing. No water or ice dispensing?

Anonymous

Hairdryer worked and weed whacker string!! Can’t imagine how much money I must have just saved. This could be the case on most fridges, but I didn’t know I needed to have the door closed for the water to flow. So I originally didn’t think it worked. Probably a “duh” moment, but I have zero handy man skills.

James

Worked for me! Blasted hot air from hair dryer thru small funnel up the water
tube for 2-3 min… all is well!

Pat

Have a GE side by side. It’s the worst appliance ever! Never buy GE products. The 1st through 3rd year, struggled with freezer shelves not staying in place–they continually fell out of the side slots. GE finally sent “spacers” which are currently working. The 4th through 5th year, the ice-maker stopped working. Cost over $200 out-of-pocket to replace ice maker. GE Service tech admitted that there were problems with the original ice maker design! And, he indicated that my freezer’s insulation was probably defective! Now the water is not dispensing. Will try the hair dryer . . . refuse to… Read more »

Pat

Follow-up to earlier post, the water line defrosted by using the hair dryer. Thanks for great advice!

Ray R.

The tip worked great! Used hair dryer down the funnel and at the same time fished the string up into the external water outlet, moved it up and down until the frozen water in the spout was removed.

Thanks to everyone!

Ken

Hair Dryer worked Great! Thanks!!!!

nick

Have the same problem. GSH25JFXL model which is a side-by-side. I called GE today and they said that my refrigerator does not have the defect with the water line freezing up! Hmm, Guess I made it up! I’m never buying GE products again! I also have the noisy fan issue. Guess I will have to buy a replacement for that also! ~75$ in parts and a few hours of my life I cannot get back!

linda

We bought the side by side GE Adora a year ago. The water dispenser has always been slow to fill a glass, but the one we replaced did too. It got worse when the change filter light came on and after I changed the filter it’s almost nonexistent. The ice maker appears to be working. Suggestions?

Wanda

My water had not worked in a few days seen the post about a hair dryer and weed eater string… Didn’t need the string hair dryer worked like a charm … Water running great !!! Thanks

Melissa

Don’t listen to your boyfriend. This really does work! Took 20min of hair dryer time I guess because I just have a small travel hair dryer. I pointed it on the inside of the door right in line with the dispenser line (on the outside). I kept gently jabbing the weed eater string in the water hole and eventually the ice gave way & a bit of water rushed out. (We hung a towel over the freezer opening while we did this to conserve as much energy as possible.) Thanks for the advice!

Bill

I had the same water line problem with our side by side GE. After reading about using a hairdryer and weedeater line I tried it and it worked like a charm. Seems this is an on going problem with GE. THANKS!

absone

This was an awesome and helpful article, thank you very much to everyone who contributed their advice and knowledge.

Kim

I couldn’t figure out why the water dispenser wasn’t working, but the ice maker was. The water stopped working after the last freeze of winter and I haven’t used it since because I didn’t think it was worth the service call. I just used the hair dryer and it worked!!!! I’m so glad I did some investigating of my own before making a service call. Thanks!!!

Michael

This worked perfectly! I was doubting for the first 9 minutes but then…ahhh, water. Thanks for this great solution.

Anonymous

Hair dryer worked like a charm. Checked water lines under kick plate to make sure I had water, and it was a frozen line issue first.
I think it froze up because my freezer door wasn’t sealing properly. I had noticed a bit of condensation the day before. I fixed that problem by spreading a thin layer of Vaseline on the seals. Viola all problems fixed. Thank you for the tips!

Terry

When I use my water dispenser I get water on my side-by-side refrigerator, I get water leaking out from under the fridge shortly thereafter. I took off the back panel & asked my wife to dispense water. I could not see where the water was leaking from. Help!

Barbara

Same thing here Terry. Did you figure it out?

Barbara

Now I am wondering if it’s just frost on the line that melted after the hair dryer now dripping down the line. The hair dryer worked though!

Ray

I
used the hair dryer but didn’t have any weed whacker cord so I used an 8″tie wrap to push into the opening and it worked, I got water!

do

water dispenser broke on one side need to replace can u tell me how

don

the water dispenser broke on one side can u tell me how to replace

Sarah

I have a GE side-by-side that is 12 years old. This last time that I changed the filter I let about 2 quarts of water out through the dispenser (per the instructions). At that point, the water dripped/ran continually from the cradle. This has never happened before when I have changed the filter. Obviously it is a problem. We had to turn off the water supple to the refrigerator. Ideas? I don’t know what the problem is, therefore cannot fix it.

Rebekah

We changed the water filter on our GE refrigerator and immediately the water dispenser stopped working. The water line to the ice maker isn’t working either, although the dispenser will dispense if I put ice in the bucket. We tried putting the old filter back in, but no improvement. We can see that the machine is getting water from the supply but it appears to not go past the water filter area. Is it possible that something broke in the water filter area to stop the water from getting through? And if so, does anyone know how to fix this?

Kris Nieberlein

My water stopped coming out of dispenser. Ice was still working and water was getting to where filter was. Read a lot of these posts….figured it cost nothing to try hair dryer…tried it up dispenser and inside door…few minutes…didnt seem to work…went back few minutes later and pushed button to try for the heck of it and water came flying out…didnt need weed whacker cord….AWESOME!!!!

Andy

Hi,
I’m an appliance repairman and thought some of your readers might be interested in a tool that I created to help with this issue.

It’s a tool that allows you to spray microwaved hot water directly on the ice inside the waterline. You can thaw the ice in about 30 seconds! It’s called the IceSurrender Frozen Waterline Tool.

Thanks!

http://www.GraceAppliance.com/IceSurrender

joyce lee

Our water line was frozen and used a hair dryer, got it thawed out but the water line keeps blowing off at bottom (at the solenoid I think it is called) spraying out water.

Jim

I had similar problem, checked the “connector” at bottom of freezer door and when paddle was pushed for water, the water DID flow, indicating freezing was ABOVE the connector and IN the freezer door. SOLUTION: Turn the dispenser LIGHT to ON and leave overnight (possibly longer) and the heat from the light thawed the frozen line close to the light. This has SOLVED my water dispenser frozen line problem….at no “repair” or parts cost

Mare

11-8-2015, I had turned up the freezer, then my water dispenser stopped working. I followed the suggested repair using hair dryer and pipe cleaner……………..worked like a charm. thanks to all who suggested this, saved me a repair call and payment.

Mare

Remember to turn the freezer back down, will see it that keeps the water tube from freezing again.

Julie

Hair dryer alone worked for me – only took a couple of minutes – thanks so much for the advice!!

mike

the water line on my ge freezer door keeps freezing. Installed a heater from ge, that worked for about 6 months. Now it is freezing up again. Any other fix besides the heater?