A few weeks ago, I bought a new filter for our refrigerator’s in-door water system. A day after the install, it stopped working. I thought it might be the filter, so I ended up trying the old filter again. Aaaand… no dice. It just wasn’t working.
This led to a number of Google searches over several days (whose usefulness was largely killed thanks to crappy SEO practices) and a chunk of time diagnosing the problem. The ice maker worked, but the water didn’t. I soon found that water gets to the freezer’s door through two very long tubes: one comes from the filter in the back of the fridge and connects to a second tube below the freezer door. I learned that the tube in the freezer door… froze. Yep. As it should, because it’s in a damn freezer, right?
As it turns out, GE fridges – including my Hotpoint – have this design flaw. This lengthy forum thread revealed that GE has a fix for it, available for free from their customer service if you are firm with them (as my wife was.) Hilariously the fix is to install a small heater on the line which keeps it from freezing.
I installed it last night, and it worked. Of course I broke a small plastic piece in the process, which made the 15 minute install take 90 minutes, but that’s my bad. In the end I saved $80 for the part (which can’t cost more than 5 cents to make – it’s trivially simple) and a couple hundred bucks in labor.
So, good job GE for designing a freezer which freezes things! Next time, though, remember that water freezes. Thanks.
Posted in Everyday Life