Community Forums

FreshAir · 01-28-2018, 11:15 PM

Lately, last few months, Samsung Fridge ice maker freezes up every couple of weeks. What can I be doing wrong? DW says we need to change filter which we have not done in 2,5 yrs, Is she right?

All suggestions appreciated. Tk's.
pat

saddlesore · 01-28-2018, 11:21 PM

Yup,

FreshAir · 01-28-2018, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saddlesore

Yup,

That response has got to be worth a thousand words, I'll probably be eating a little crow soon. Good one.

twinboat · 01-29-2018, 03:48 AM

We changed the filter on our Samsung because the change filter light came on.

The ice maker still freezes up.

patmsp · 01-29-2018, 04:05 AM

Are you talking about the ice maker in the freezer or the one in the refrigerator?

I have an RF197 Samsung refrigerator. A few months ago my ice maker in the freezer started dropping LARGE clumps of ice into the bin. On closer inspection I found a white rubber tube hanging free next to the ice maker. It became dislodged because I overfilled the freezer. The end of the tube has a thermostat that tells the ice maker when to drop the ice. I found a video that showed me how to put the tube back in place. I put it back in place and all works well now.

There is a second icing problem in the Samsung refrigerator due to a poorly designed defrosting system. The indication is water/ice in the crisping bins and ice underneath the bins. There is a fix for it available on Amazon, but the fix only works for a few months and then you have to go through a manual defrost to get it working again for a few months. The drain hole plugs up again and the icing starts all over again.

voltdoc · 01-29-2018, 05:19 AM

It's a known issue with a number of Samsung models that have the icemaker in the refrigerator door (icemaker is in the fridge compartment).

There is a class action in the works about the problem (separate thread on that in the Entegra forum).

Had mine "fixed" a few weeks ago and it seems to be holding. Symptoms were water dripping out of the dispenser, mushy and broken up ice cubes and abnormal noises.

The techs replaced the icemaker, the auger motor and fan assembly at the rear of the compartment, the dispenser chute, the ice bin because it was cracked and sealed the gaps between the ice maker shell and the inside of the fridge. They also cleaned out the drains at the back of the fridge.
Some of the new parts were an upgraded design. There is a way to get diagnostic codes from the fridge front panel but I missed how they did that.

The crux of the issue is that water drips onto various icemaker components freezes up and clogs up the works. A temporary fix is to fully defrost the icemaker compartment. The preferred method is to use a steamer, according to the techs a hair dryer or heat gun can deform the plastic parts.

Call Entegra and see what they say. They told me to call Riverpark (the distributor) and since I was out of the 1 year Samsung warranty, but within the 2 year Entegra warranty, Riverpark agreed to fund the repair, but I had to do the leg work.

Next call Samsung and open a ticket. They will send out a service team to do the repair. In my case that was Service Quick (don't even try to talk to the repair service directly, they won't do anything until you have a ticket from Samsung).

Service Quick charged $200 for the visit and for some unknown reason covered all the parts for just $200 more. That was about $800 worth of parts. Not sure but perhaps this is an effort bt Samsung to make things right. Now I just need to get Riverpark to refund my $400. My repair took two visits from the service provider and a lot of time waiting for them to show up.

So the service provider will likely require the fridge to be pulled out to get to the back. In my case that was another complex and time consuming project all by itself.

Good luck!

brobox · 01-29-2018, 06:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreshAir

Lately, last few months, Samsung Fridge ice maker freezes up every couple of weeks. What can I be doing wrong? DW says we need to change filter which we have not done in 2,5 yrs, Is she right?

All suggestions appreciated. Tk's.
pat

I removed my filter 3+ years ago. With 4 filters in line, including the water softener, I couldn't see that $40. filter making the ice any better....it didn't. There is already one ice maker filter on the wall next to the main filter.
I use Home Depot ice maker filters in place of those $35.00 filters. Swap the filter ends and they work perfect.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-In-L...R220/205438027

Some refrigerators the filter can be removed without water leaking, others need the shipping plug. I kept the one for my Samsung and installed it, but I don't think it seals, it's just protective plastic. My S&B GE came with a filter bypass that will need to be installed when I remove that filter. I have two better filters behind the refrigerator.

smlranger · 01-29-2018, 06:19 AM

Ahhh, the Samsung ice maker. We have a 28cuft. Samsung French door in our stick house.....3 years old and covered by an extended warranty purchased thru Lowe's. Ice maker has been 'fixed' x 3 and still freezes up, drips water into the fridge, and delivers a bolus of water as it dispenses ice. Last repair guy said it cannot be fixed it is a design flaw with many Samsung fridges. So, Lowe's is doing a buy back. They are giving me exactly what we paid for it 3 years ago. Will be replacing it with LG.

Terribeck01 · 01-29-2018, 06:28 AM

We had the same issue with our Samsung. After our 2 yr AIR in Middlebury in Dec we still had repairs crop up so headed to NIRVC after the holidays to get things fixed before warranty ran out. We were at NIRVC in Atlanta for a week and they had a hard time getting Samsung service to show up. River park said to just replace the refrigerator so obviously this is a known issue. My options were limited due to size and immediate availability but I now have a Frigidaire that looks just like the Whirlpools in the2018’s.

brobox · 01-29-2018, 06:33 AM

Wow! I didn't know there was a freeze up problem with the Samsungs. Mine had the dripping dispenser on the door, but was fixed by Mr appliance at Entegra, no problems since then. Glad I read this forum to learn there is a problem on the newer model Samsungs.

DGBPokes · 01-29-2018, 06:56 AM

A few years ago, on this forum, a guy had a fix for the freezing ice maker line: He took about a foot of bare copper wire, made a spring looking loop with half the wire, around the compressor coil, he made a similar coil around the ice maker line. The purpose being to transfer heat from the compressor system to the water feed line.
I never needed it, but thought it was a pretty smart fix. Bet it would work on the other drain lines too.

Hayman · 01-29-2018, 07:10 AM

We had all of the Samsung corrections to our fridge ICEMAKER ( 5 service calls over 18 mths ) to no avail. The fix was replacing fridge with a Whirlpool at our 2 yr visit to Entegra. Our Samsung fridge issues were well documented and Riverpark was very accommodating to arranging the switch while in Middlebury.

jestal · 01-29-2018, 09:08 AM

We have the french door with bottom freezer in our '13 Anthem. It is branded a Maytag but is manufactured by Whirlpool. This type has the icemaker at the top of the refrigerator compartment.

Most of those style reefers seem to be made by Whirlpool. Look at the literature and labels that came with the reefer and see if Whirlpool actually made it.

If so, the icemake will freeze the end of the water delivery tube and cause it to overflow. Usually happens if the fridge is tool cold or if the unit is turned off and on with the icemaker full of ice or water and it cycles and refills when the tray is still partially full already. Also can be caused by the tube extending too far into the ice maker compartment. Push the hose back or cut it off.Defrost it with a hair dryer. Unless you just hold the dryer or heat gun directly on the plastic it will not hurt it. The "do not use heat gun" is boiler plate language to protect the manufacturer and is a bit misleading.

Those reefers also will repeatedly freeze up the evaporator coil and spill water into the floor of the fridge which will overflow onto the floor each time a defrost cycle happens. The root cause is the drain at the bottom of the evaporator plugs with debris. Look at the bottom of the back panel in the fridge and if you depress it at the bottom you can barely see the little drain hole with a duckbill valve in it. The valve plugs. The u-tube procedure clears this but not forever.

The fix is to get the Whirlpool supplied retrofit kit for a drain line with a proper p-trap in it. Kits are readily available online if you google Whirlpool and water on floor.

Easy to install but you do have to pull the fridge out. Looks impossible but actually came out very easily (relative to what I expected.....) in our RBQ.

The drain pan/tray under the compressor area (that the evaporator condensate drains into during defrost) was also cracked and leaking thus exacerbating the water on floor problem. Another easy fix if the reefer is out so check it.

Hardest part of getting the reefer out of the wall was getting the cord unplugged and free and back in place. It is plugged in below the sink compartment. Tie a string to the cord, shove it thru the hole in the cabinet wall and use the string to pull the cord back into the compartment when the reefer is back in place.

Tons of info on these items on the web if you google "icemaker freezing up and water on floor."

voltdoc · 01-29-2018, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jestal

Easy to install but you do have to pull the fridge out. Looks impossible but actually came out very easily (relative to what I expected.....) in our RBQ.

You were lucky (or I wasn't), on our 44B the slide overhead fascia was installed about 3/8" too low to clear the fridge. No way it was coming out without damage to the woodwork. Entegra fix involves a hammer and smashing wood and then replacing some of the woodwork, but after a lot of effort I managed to get the fascia off without damaging it. Even so the fridge still barely cleared the slide ceiling.