Samsung rs21dgrs fridge problems....

richardesigner

Hi there,

A few days ago our trustworthy Samsung RS21GDRS decided to trip out the RCD on our fusebox. The house RCD would not reset unless the fridge remained switched off. I tried the fuse on the fridge plug (it was fine) and I also plugged it into a different ring main (it still tripped the RCD). Looking inside the fridge, one of the deodoriser air vents (on the left) was completely frozen over with ice. After defrosting this I got both the back panels (inside the fridge) off and the bottom half of the evaporator, and evaporator heater were locked in solid ice. I slowly de-iced and removed all the ice, and noticed that the defrost heater seemed rusted and the drain hole was completely full of ice. Eventually after leaving it for a day and putting warm water down the drain hole, the ice finally melted and the water drained away to the back of the fridge. I then tried to diagnose what was wrong with the fridge, by removing and slowly plugging in the little plastic plugs of the components inside the fridge. Doing this I discovered that it was the defrost heater that was tripping the RCD on the house fuse board. I ordered a new part, together with a new defrost heater. Last night I removed and inserted these new products. All good I thought until I closed the fridge door and then heard a large humming should coming from the 'electric field box' at the back of the fridge. As the fridge had been turned off for 4 days I though maybe this was something to do with the fridge re-calibrating itself. When I opened the fridge door the noise stopped. I then thought that maybe the light wasn't going off inside the fridge. With the door open I held down the light switch and the lights remained on. They almost flickered a bit when the switch was held in (as if the door was closed). I put my iPhone inside the fridge on video mode, and watching back the footage the lights did in fact stay on when the door was closed. I wondered if maybe the light switch had failed, but having tested it this morning with a digital multimeter it seems fine. To be honest I don't know (and couldn't find out on the web) what happens if a light switch fails. Does the light stay on or off? Anyway I am loathe to order a new switch as I don't think its broken. As a further test I took the light bulbs out and for the short time the fridge was on it did start to cool down. BTW the freezer part of the fridge seems fine. One thing I am wondering is I don't think I've ever heard a fan noise inside the fridge. I believe it's supposed to come on when the door is closed. Is this true? We inherited the fridge when we bought the house, so I wouldn't know how it should sound when its functioning properly. Anyway I'm wondering if the fan and lights are sort of connected i.e the light comes on when you open the door and the fan goes off when you close the door. I'm therefore wondering if the fan has never worked and if this would cause the light circuit to stay on. Also there is the thermal fuse, which I didn't test, but seemed fine. Lastly there is also the defrost sensor. Could that be the problem. I suppose if this was faulty it wouldn't turn on the defrost heater. So sorry lots to think about. It does seem weird that I've replaced the part that was causing the RCD to trip i.e the defrost heater and now I'm having problems with the light staying on. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

returnofghandi

The fan should be running during the cooling cycle and only when the interior light switch is depressed (door closed). If you look at the back panel of the fridge you will see air vents for cool air distribution, blown by the fan over the evaporator coil.



I had the icing up problem with my RS21KGNS, it's a known problem, and I changed the heater, thermal fuse and defrost sensor which sorted my problem. Unfortunately I couldn't obtain a wiring diagram so don't know how the light switch links to the main control board.


Here's a link I used for testing the bits I changed, its on ebay.



***/gds/samsung-rs21-fridge-defrost-repair-problems/10000000005678075/g.html

silvercar

Welcome to MSE.

There has been a long discussion on this issue. Find it here.

I had a similar problem and even though out of warranty, Samsung sent an engineer to modify the fridge. I have something similar going on now in that the fridge fan is making a noise, suggesting it is icing up. Defrosting it for 24 hours seems to help for a few weeks, though obviously this is a pain.

richardesigner

Thanks for that. I'll check it out this evening when I get home.

richardesigner

Thanks Silvercar. I read the thread, but it s not quite the same thing I'm experiencing. I just need some advice about why the light is constantly on and if its an interior fan issue.