GE Refrigerator Not Cooling After Power Outage

16 Replies

It is a common problem with GE refrigerators that the main controller board can malfunction after a power surge or power outage. This can result in the refrigerator or freezer no longer cooling or making odd surging or whining sounds from the back.

Fortunately, there is a relatively simple and inexpensive solution by ordering and replacing the main controller board. It is about $130 and takes just 30-40 minutes to replace. This is much cheaper than calling the GE repairman or buying a new refrigerator.

Below is the part you’ll need from amazon but be sure to enter your model number to ensure you are ordering the correct one for your fridge. You’ll be up and cooling again in no time!

Let us know below if this worked for you so you can help other GE refrigerator owners who’ve experienced a power outage or surge.

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Ojie Eghobor

My GE profile refrigerator conduct power but both the freezer and the fridge not working at all. I’ve called in two technicians both with different diagnostic result. One said it’s licking refrigerant and the other said the compressor is gone. I don’t know who to believe and difficult to ascertain the actual problem. As I read on this platform, the mother board could be the problem. What should I do in this instance.

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Betsy Danielle

We had this exact same problem a few weeks ago so i hurried up and ordered a fridge for delivery the next morning. Well low and behold the next morning it was working just fine. Now this after being without power for over 12 hours and then realizing that it wasn’t cooling (all the lights worked) we did however leave it plugged in the entire time never unplugged it not once.

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W.B

The same thing happened to my GE fridge. We were without power for 24 hours- when it came back on, our light turned on in the fridge but the water did not work and either did the fridge/freezer- it was not cooling. We tried everything to get it to work- even places a claim with the power company. However, the next day- it started working again. So crazy- it glad it didn’t cost us a lot of money to repair.

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Jorge Garcia

Did replacing the control board help?

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Jorge Garcia

My GE fridge also takes a couple of days to come back on after a power outage. It just came back on today and I have the new control board. Does anyone know if after installing it, will it take some time to come back on?

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John

I followed the instructions after my GE fridge didn’t come back on after a power outage. I needed a slightly different part number for my fridge, but the steps worked for me!

Last edited 4 years ago by John
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Karen

OK. So does this suggest every time there’s a power outage, you will need to replace that part?

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tangorom

CAN ANYONE ANSWER THIS QUESTION FOR GOD’S SAKE? SO FRUSTRATING! SO EVERYTIME WHEN WE HAVE A POWER OUTAGE I SHOULD BUY THE MAIN BOARD? MAYBE I SHOULD BUY A DOZEN… WHAT A STUPID ENGINEERING DESIGN!

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Vad

The Control board can be repaired. There are services on ebay that do it. I am requesting it right now. Have the same issue as others in this post. The repair cost around $40 including shipping. Will post my feedback on the service once done.

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Vad

I got my control board back from the repair on ebay and it now works perfect.

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John

where did you find someone to repair board. thanks

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Notrab

The power in my area goes out several times a year. Replacing the board would become too costly a fix. I had a video about resetting it by simply pressing the light buttons inside the fridge in some kind of routine, but no longer have that video, but it did the trick previously.

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Andre

I’ve ordered my 4th GE controller board (WR01F00261) due to yet another power surge death on my 2008 fridge. Doing some forensics tells me the Microchip 8 pin microcontroller https://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/devicedoc/41190c.pdf is partially zapped such that the internal timer works but the A/D watching the temperature monitor thermistor is fried. My solution for this controller and all other ones a) Never buy GE b) I’m adding 2000ohms resistance to the primary winding of the on-board power transformer so the voltage on the secondary side, where all the sensitive electronics are, drops by 10%. A 2K 0.5watt resistor costs 1 cent. You… Read more »

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Markthis

My GE fridge also takes a couple of days to come back on after a power outage. It just came back on today and I have the new control board. Does anyone know if after installing it, will it take some time to come back on?

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JohnnyG

Hello, I have a GE GSH22JSTASS. The power went out last week and now only the internal lights work, and when I turn the ice machine on it makes sounds. I hear a clicking sound from the motherboard too. The display panel is completely shot and the fridge and freezer wont cool. The fans and compressor will not turn on. I replaced the motherboard and the control panel board but it didn’t solve the problem. I checked the wiring and didn’t see anything wrong. Does anyone have any ideas on what I should do next? Disregard. I put the old… Read more »

Last edited 1 year ago by JohnnyG
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Mary DeRae

Our side by side, has done this a few times now. After a storm or we lost electricity. Usually in a couple days it was working again. My husband figured it out a couple days ago. For some reason, it puts the fridge to think it needs to defrost. So yesterday.. we emptied everything into a cooler. Left the freezer door open.. 20 minutes the fridge started again.

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