'American Style' Samsung Fridge Freezer (merged threads)

jimbob2

i have just been onto samsung.was talking to a nice lady,who advised me to contact samsungs head office.the addres is on the samsung website i was told..
so i asked her to tell me the addres to which she replied,i cant tell you that...WHATS THAT ALL ABOUT..so i said i havent got the internet,so she says well maybe goto an internet cafe,so i told her what if i was blind and could not read the internet.she said..erm i dunno.so i asked for a supervisor.
this is what i told her.
this is a common fault.allthough i have had the item longer then the 2 year warranty this does not mean the item can just break down,it is expected to last much longer and so it should,i then told her the exact fault wrong with it and also the part that samsung have modified so therefore knowing allready about the fault and that they where just not intrested in the buyer.i also said i had searched the internet and found at least 5 diffrent forums where people where copmlaining about this fridge freezer and i was not going to pay for it myself...
ok ,she says we will send you the part free and the name of an engineer who will charge me to fit it.this i agred to,as when the said engineer arrive s i will also ask him for a report to as why the fridge developed the fault in the first place,this wil lthen be sent to currys who wiull have no other option but to pay for the engineer.

it s all going to take longer then i want it too,but i am damn sure iam not paying for it,when samsung and probably currys know there is a fault..

rant over

Biff2

Had a guy out to our rc21dcns yesterday, problem being fridge not cooling - freezer working fine. Identified fault as frozen up behind fridge area including drain hole. Took a hairdryer to it and solved problem in half an hour.

His advice for the future (if out of warranty) is if fridge temp starts to flash and gain in temperature is switch unit off at wall, leave for 6-12 hours and then switch back on. Freezer food should still be frozen but build up of ice in fridge part should have defrosted. Save on an expensive call out charge.

Also IMPORTANTLY we used to keep the fridge temp at 3 deg C, which is actually pretty cold, he advised 4-6 deg C .

Hope this helps.

jimbob2

ours is at 4 all the time,am not prepared to have to defrost the back of the fridge all the time.do what i did and contact samsung and demand to speak to a supervisor,tell them you know this is a manufacturing fault as they have modified the part on newer models..i want my fridge to work as it is supposed to do..i am sure we will see more and more people filling this thread soon...

rockette

I was 90% certain I was going to buy the RS21DCSV. Does anyone know if this is one of the ones affected, or if it has been modified since these problems come to light?
Or should I just spend the extra £150 and get a whirlpool?? Or is an LG any good??

dirtydonki

• It is the fan freezing up.
  
• Once it happens it will continue to happen ad infinitum.
  
• Defrosting will allow you from 2 to about 6 weeks until it happens again.
  
• Running the fridge unit at a higher temperature is a "red herring" and will
  not help.

If still under warranty (2 year warranty and NOT 1 as your kindly C*met Sales person may have misinformed you), get is sorted. C*met or whomever should be pressured to replace the whole unit (back panel +fan) with the new redesigned version.

According to my Samsung handbook mine has a 3 year manufacturers limited warranty, whatever that may mean!.

If out of warranty rather than wait hours for it to defrost you can remove the back panels and carefully remove the bottom section and melt the ice over the sink using a hair dryer and then melt the remain ice in the fridge itself.

Be sure not to break the seals and that all is dry again before reassembly. Unfortunately, this too will only last 2 - 6 weeks before it will freeze up and stop again.

I have done mine 6 times now since the first breakdown last summer and am mad as hell about it but am so grateful to find this site as I now know I may be able to do something about it at last!:T

Many thanks

fkinugly

Bought my Samsung RS21DCNS with the fault of overheating fridge. As i'm a service Engineer for electrical & gas in the catering trade and most things don't phase me (taking a gamble).
The original fault was with the circulating fan faulty & not working, replaced with a new one from ebay £18 posted.
Worked fine for two weeks & now has the evaporator frozen up..
After taking advice from this & the white goods forum defrosted the fridge & modified the drain below the fan unit (made larger). (testing in progress)
site for samsung spares
http://www.4mysamsung.co.uk/cgi-bin/search.pl?query=samsung%20RS21DCNS&brand=samsung&model=RS21DCNS&path=111066&model_pre=RS21DCNS

Mo1_3

My RS20 model broke down on new years eve (freezer +4c and fridge +18c)and comet eventually sent out and engineer a week later! He seemed to know what was wrong with out even without looking at the unit. He got out from his pocket what he called a "catalyst" and inserted it into a vent in the fridge section (behind the bottom chiller draw- facing freezer side). The he told me to switch of the unit for 24 hrs to allow ice blocks on the freezer coils to thaw as they were blocking the cold air circulating and reaching the fridge section?! and that the "catalyst" would prevent this from happening again (so he said!)

Two weeks later I am in the same situation again :mad: . I know that switching of the unit for 24hrs would probably fix it (but why should I have to defrost it every 2 weeks!!?). Have contacted Comet and told them it was only repaired 2 weeks ago! (no sympathy from them) told will have to wait six days b4 the engineer can visit!! It seems from reading this forum and others that it is a design fault and both RS20 and RS21 models seem to suffer from it. So folks avoid Samsung and tells your friends also.

shona_2

Hi
our RS21NCSV has been doing the same thing - lots of noise, then extra noise when the door opens, then the temperature started fluctuating in the fridge too.
Called a local Samsung engineer. He said needs at least a new sensor, maybe more, maximum £200 to fix.
We swithered as replacement fridge would be at least £550, but £200 seems a lot...
Then, found this thread!
So we have emptied fridge, defrosted back with hairdrier all round sensor etc, then cut away polystyrene round where the fan turns.
All back together no... 24 hours later all going well...
Can anyone else who tried this tell us what might happen next?!

Shona
(fingers crossed)

stefd_2

fkinugly wrote: »

Bought my Samsung RS21DCNS with the fault of overheating fridge. As i'm a service Engineer for electrical & gas in the catering trade and most things don't phase me (taking a gamble).
The original fault was with the circulating fan faulty & not working, replaced with a new one from ebay £18 posted.
Worked fine for two weeks & now has the evaporator frozen up..
After taking advice from this & the white goods forum defrosted the fridge & modified the drain below the fan unit (made larger). (testing in progress)
site for samsung spares
http://www.4mysamsung.co.uk/cgi-bin/search.pl?query=samsung%20RS21DCNS&brand=samsung&model=RS21DCNS&path=111066&model_pre=RS21DCNS

Hi,
I have the same problem with my RS21.. defrosted once already, dont feel like doing this every couple of weeks..
did your modification work ? what exactely did you do ?

kwatt

I give it... here's the deal folks...

Samsung say that there's no issue with these machines. I beg to differ.

On my site, see the profile if you like, there are various threads running on especially the RS20/21 series and there's loads of issues whether Samsung care to acknowledge them or not. Basically Samsung, or someone from Samsung does read, monitor and respond to these threads although this week they've been AWOL so far.

There are various thermistor issues as well as a baffle plate/fan motor issue, this is the big slab of plastic at the back of the fridge. Ice builds up behind it, airflow problem, noise... etc.

The parts are actually available somewhat cheaper (consider the carriage charges as well) than the site mentioned but, since it's my own that sells them I dare not publish the URL in case I get zapped for spamming. However, taking a punt, there's a load of info on the basics from this link which I only published a few days ago. It was written by myself and a Samsung trained engineer. A basic guide to frost free refrigeration can be found here

I cannot claim to be an expert on these machines, but I might know one or two people that are.

I appreciate the modifications but I cannot endorse them as you're relying on this thing keeping your food safe and, in an air driven environment such as this, airflow rates are absolutely vital. The poster that works in the catering trade should know this, temperature stability is all important, adverse variations will cause accelerated decay in foodstuffs, end of story. Frankly, I will place my family being well in front of a few quid on a part any day of the week.

If you have got one of these machines and it's not gone faulty, get insurance before it does.

If you have one and it's under 2 years old Samsung products are guaranteed for two years, all you need is the purchase receipt and it will be repaired totally free of charge.

K.