'American Style' Samsung Fridge Freezer (merged threads)

NRR

Hello, I hope this can be of use or at least give some hope to those of you with the same problem. We had the usual Samsung problems on this thread, detailed in my post early November. They started September 14th.

The attitude of Samsung was what spurred me onto contacting the retailer, Sainsburys, who, especially Benita, have been fantastic. They were horrified at the attitude of Samsung, and having spent a fair amount of time trying to get a response, escalated through Samsung management until they got an agreement to uplift the fridge. They offered a FULL credit on the appliance that was by now 23 months old, to spend the same, more or even less (with a refund!) against another brand. (It didn't stop a call from Samsung 2 weeks after the agreement asking which new Samsung fridge I wanted to swap my old one for. I was polite somehow!!). Sainsburys are still pushing for some sort of gesture/compensation from Samsung, but I was more concerned, as someone with 4 young kids under 7, to get a working fridge again, after 13 weeks!

Anyone else in the same position; try and speak to the retailer you bought it from if it is within the warranty period. If it worked for me, then it may work for you.

It is also worth mentioning again that Sainsburys were great at getting it resolved.

PS I changed it for a Siemens one. Less gimmicks, but 2 warranty, and £120 to make it 5 years.

frankchap

Thanks to Terry Nuttall for his useful and constuctive advice. Our RS20 developed a fault after 18 months. It wouldn't defrost, so it gradually ground to a halt. The fridge went to room temperature. Three visits from Comet engineers didn't fix it, and getting really close to Christmas, something had to be done, and quickly. Basically I wrote to Comet customer services in Hull, and not content with that, I went to the store where we bought it to say we must have a replacement. I have to say that all the staff I spoke to were very helpful. There was an LG American f.f. in the store on display, and we said we'd have it. It was delivered the next day. So far it's great!

sjcuk

Well the instructions given in this thread are easy and simple to follow, however they don't include how to change the sensor or the fuse! Which is a !!!!!! as I guess I've got a problem with one of those as there is no ice build up on the fan (I already had a visit from an engineer earlier in the year to mod the unit as fitted (by hollowing out the drainage to allow for the water to escape.) I've seen the Whitegoods page with pics but it's not explicit enough for me to go ahead and order the parts, especially given that we move in 2 weeks, without the appliance!!!!

Any ideas for a quick and reliable fix, the defrost method didn't even last 24 hours before the temp started to rise again.

vansboy

As this thread has been running so long & there still does seem to be concern amongst other Samsung Moneysaver Owners, despite me only having good things to say about the one we left at our old house, we're nearly ready to buy another, for the new place & it might well NOT be Samsung.

BUT, looking at the ranges in store, where they have a selection, they do look SOOOOOOOOOO similar, I can't help thinking that they ARE the same - just like lots of appliances!

So how many do come out of the same factory, but just a higher price ticket & a posher name??

Currently our fav, is the black LG GWL 227Y, 'cos they seem to have the smoothest paint finish - but it looks just like a Samsung!!

Confusing, or what!!

VB

kwatt

The LG isn't the same as Samsung as the two are rivals.

There are similarities though I can't really say we've had what you'd call decent support from LG in the trade.

Many are re-badged. Smeg is now a Whirlpool in a dress, used to be Maytag as are many others simply re-badged Whirlpools or whatever as it is not practical or cost-effective to produce these machines for many manufacturers in low volumes. In fact, it's not possible, especially in the sub £1500 price bracket.

Oh and the new Hotpoint that they've supposedly spent millions developing... it's a Whirlpool.

K.

eglons

The water stopped on our machine yesterday. I traced the water into the machine, could prove it got to the ice maker but didn't get through the machine to the water pump. I assumed a kinked pipe inside the machine and was preparing for a big job.

Found this thread and although the fan was working I wondered whether this was linked. So I took the machine apart as per the instructions and sure enough the drain hole was iced over. I deiced it and widened the drain, put it back together and, after a brief panic when the fridge temp showed 30!, it's now down to 9 and falling... and heh presto the water works again!

I took a few photos of the operation but there doesn't seem to be a way to upload them to this site.

A couple of gotchas to be aware of.

- When removing the fan house panel you need to remove 6 screws rather than 4 (2 of them hold the cooling coil which you need to be careful with when you remove the panel).
- When refitting the fan house panel try and gently bend it and let it spring into the gap. The first time I did it, it didn't seat properly, luckily I noticed this as the veg drawer didn't go fully back, but has I not then it is likely that I'd have had more problems as condensation would have got into the panel and blocked it up). Take careful note of how it looks before removing it and ensure it goes back as snugly.
- There are 2 sets of wiring to detach and re-attach. I took photos of them to ensure I put them back correctly, but there is no need as each clip only fits in one place.

Thanks to gfb for taking the time to write the original guide, without it I'm not sure I'd have found all of the screws, nor had the confidence to "ease" the fan housing panel out.:T

Basin_Bob

samsung.tech.guy wrote: »

defrosting the appliance/fan assy will only delay the problem, it will come back,

you need to replace 3 items, to ensure a repair success,

1st cover assy
2nd defrost sensor
3rd thermal fuse,

these can be replaced if you are diy minded,and can be sourced of the internet, but you need to make sure you get the latest versions of these spares as samsung have made about 3 different versions and theres a lot of spares out there that are not the latest version.

we can supply a kit with everything you need to cure this fault,
but im not sure i can list my email add,..
if theres a demand for our repair kit, and we can post email add i will ??

ps we are authorised samsung agents, so we know what we are talking about??

tech guy,

Hi

Can you please advise how to contact you for these parts, prices etc.

Thanks

unhappy_lady

Hi Bob
I guess we are all in the same boat. My husband stripped our down on New Years Eve, made the drainage hole larger etc. I have water coming into the bottom of my main fridge compartment again and my water supply has stopped. I know mine is more than making a drainage hole larger but I am not sure we are knowledgeable enough to fit new parts I would also be interested to know how we can obtain them from Samsung Tech Guy and if they are able to be fit but ordinary people. I did look at a thread on White Goods

http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=209
I have posted the link below not sure this is of help to anyone but what I do know is what everyone is saying the defrost is a very short term repair.
Any help and advice would be appreciated
Thanks

zebidee1

eglons wrote: »

The water stopped on our machine yesterday. I traced the water into the machine, could prove it got to the ice maker but didn't get through the machine to the water pump. I assumed a kinked pipe inside the machine and was preparing for a big job.

Found this thread and although the fan was working I wondered whether this was linked. So I took the machine apart as per the instructions and sure enough the drain hole was iced over. I deiced it and widened the drain, put it back together and, after a brief panic when the fridge temp showed 30!, it's now down to 9 and falling... and heh presto the water works again!

I took a few photos of the operation but there doesn't seem to be a way to upload them to this site.

A couple of gotchas to be aware of.

- When removing the fan house panel you need to remove 6 screws rather than 4 (2 of them hold the cooling coil which you need to be careful with when you remove the panel).
- When refitting the fan house panel try and gently bend it and let it spring into the gap. The first time I did it, it didn't seat properly, luckily I noticed this as the veg drawer didn't go fully back, but has I not then it is likely that I'd have had more problems as condensation would have got into the panel and blocked it up). Take careful note of how it looks before removing it and ensure it goes back as snugly.
- There are 2 sets of wiring to detach and re-attach. I took photos of them to ensure I put them back correctly, but there is no need as each clip only fits in one place.

Thanks to gfb for taking the time to write the original guide, without it I'm not sure I'd have found all of the screws, nor had the confidence to "ease" the fan housing panel out.:T

The water in our Samsung f/f has stopped this morning. It was working fine last night. There is definitely water getting to the filter inside and the ice cube tray filled up but it wont come through the dispenser and there is a whining noise coming from the centre back of the machine.

As the machine is 18 months old it's still under warranty but before I phone them out, might there be a simple explanation for this first?

goldfingers

I have only just found this thread .. I have one of these RS21's and from the first few months had nothing but trouble. The problem is exactly as is stated in this thread. Funny enough we have yet another fella coming out to fix it next week. Up to now it's been fixed 7 times in 3.5 years. 3 times with parts and twice with a steamer [yes Samsung engineer lol] once with a hair dryer and once running the back part of the fridge under the hot water tap. Lucky enough we took the 3 year extended warranty out . I told the woman on the phone we have had enough of it it's a piece of junk.She told me to get the engineer to make a full report this time and see if i can get him to right it off. So thats what i will try to do next week...