I realize this is not a home repair board, but I’m thinking someone here might have a quick answer:
My friend has a GE side-by-side refrigerator/freezer, model GSH22JFTACC. He says when the power goes out and then comes back, the refrigerator does not turn on immediately, but it does eventually. The observed recovery times have been several hours-- more than
36 hours in one incident. He asked the GE tech whether the defrost cycle might be to blame, but he didn’t think so. My friend writes:
The “Use & care manual” https://www.geappliances.com/search.php?search_query=GSH22JFTA&tab=manuals
does mention “Setting the controls to the 0 (off) position”.
but when the freezer is dead, so is the control panel.
My refrig matches the bottom diagram on p. 5, with the control panel
on the front of the freezer.
There is a Power switch (p. 9), but it only affects the ice maker.
In the user’s manual troubleshooting section (“Before you call
for service”) there’s only one relevant entry:
Problem: Refrigerator does not operate
Possible Cause: Freezer control in 0 (off) position.
What To Do: Move the freezer control to a temperature setting.
Possible Cause: Refrigerator in defrost cycle (FrostGuard).
What To Do: Wait about 30 minutes for defrost cycle to end.
[The fact that it turns on eventually on its own is weird.]
Maybe check the control board, I don’t know your model, so I can’t really help.
Just a story to tell. I once had a problem with power problem with my Siemens fridge, it went off randomly for no reason. I remember before this problem appeared, the repair guy has checked other problems and he has looked at the mother board above the fridge, probably he touched something or something became loose before he closed the lid. The repair guy came several times and couldn’t locate the problem, the company was about to ask a senior technician to come. Then we noticed the cat stepped on the fridge (yes it was his way to some back windows on some cabinets), the power sometimes went off. The solution was to put an upside down serving tray to cover on the board to prevent the cat’s weight on the lid. The problem was solved.
The control board is warm, the cat used to love staying on it in the colder days.
Hmm, I have a GE and sure enough we’ve been having a rash of power outages. 3x last week due to windy storms and the snow storm. I have not noticed this with the GE fridge. When the power came back on, I can hear the fridge kick in shortly thereafter. I have a small fridge downstairs (not GE) that takes a bit longer to kick in, but it will within 20 mins. 36 hrs sounds ridiculous! Even one hour sounds ridiculous to me.
