Tag Archives: WR51X10101

GE’s WR51X10101 Defrost heater has been used for many years on many models of refrigerators.  GE used to use a single glass tube heater, and in 2007 they redesigned the defrost heater to a dual tube design that fits in the same location.  The new design spreads the wattage of the heater out over two glass tubes instead of one to reduce the number of heater failures.

*Before working on your refrigerator, make sure to unplug it.

What you’ll notice first on the new heater is that there is a yellow jumper wire on the left hand side.  Do not remove this jumper, hooking up the heater to only one of the heater tubes will cause it to burn out as soon as the refrigerator goes through a defrost cycle.  What you will need to do is remove the wire that used to go to the left side of the old heater (usually the blue wire) and run it over to the right side of the refrigerator. Both the blue and pink wire will be hooked up on the right side of the new heater.  See the above picture for reference.  In some cases, if the blue wire is not long enough to reach to the other side, it will need to be extended.  Included with the new heater is an extension wire and crimp connector to extend the wire.  The new heater should fit in the same place that the old heater went, it can be a tight fit but it will work.

If you need to purchase a defrost heater for your GE or Hotpoint refrigerator, see the link below.  If you have any questions, please post them in the comments below.

GE Defrost Heater Assembly – WR51X10101