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Side by side samsung fridge. Freezer works fine. Fridge stopped cooling. Google says check coils for frost or fan but no idea how to access either.
Is this a good question?
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Hi,
What is the model number of the refrigerator?
Usually the evaporator unit and evaporator fan are behind a panel in the freezer compartment but there may be one in the refrigerator compartment as well, depending on the model.
The evaporator unit is where the icy cold temperature is produced and the fan blows the icy cold air into the refrigerator section to cool it down to the set temperature.
The freezer is icy cold because that's where the evaporator unit is located, so it cools the entire freezer compartment anyway.
Check if you can hear if the evaporator fan is running. You may have to place your ear near the fridge to hear it.
If the compressor motor is running the evaporator fan should be running. The fan will stop if you open a door, any door and start again when the door is shut. Do not confuse this fan with the condenser fan which is located outside the compartments near the compressor motor and will run whether the doors are open or shut.
Some possible causes of freezer OK / fridge warm:
If you can’t hear the fan
iced up evaporator fan due to faulty defrost components: faulty defrost heater, faulty defrost thermostat, clogged drain the melt water from the defrost action cannot drain to the evaporator pan under the fridge, so it backs up, refreezes and builds up with each defrost cycle until the fan is iced over and stops.
faulty evaporator fan
faulty sensors in refrigerator compartment
faulty control board
If you can hear the fan
faulty air damper
faulty sensors in refrigerator compartment
faulty control board
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Hi @ Lynn Chu,
If I’m reading the Fast Track Troubleshooting guide for the refrigerator correctly, from your description it seems like there is a problem with the Refrigerator defrost sensor. It is the 3rd LED up on the right side, is this correct? (scroll down to p.4 to view a layout of the error code LEDs - R= Refrigerator and F = Freezer)
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I had no idea there was a manual other than the owner's manual. Thank you! Perhaps knowing this and ordering the part will make it easier to get a tech to come out and fix it.
@Lynn Chu
The defrost sensor is connected to the board at CN40 pin 11 (as shown on the wiring diagram).
The manual also shows what voltage and resistance should be present on the sensor at any particular temperature - see p.1.
If the sensor is the problem, here's a link to just one supplier (click on the Part Type search box and scroll down and select Sensor) to give an idea of the cost of the part.
There are other suppliers online that may suit you better. Just search for "RS263TDRS parts" to get results
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3 Comments
A tech video on YouTube states that this is an endemic problem to Samsung, in reference to French Door style refrigerators, but I suspect it is true for Side by Side refrigerators too. I will avoid this brand in the future. My side by side seems to have two panels, one on top of each other, both in the refrigerator side, not the freezer side, which seems to be an unusual configuration. Watching YouTube on this convinces me that there is no way I am going to be able to fix this myself and COVID seems to have eliminated all technicians from the island of Manhattan which of course is where I live. What's more it is difficult to find appliances in the desired brand (i.e., not Samsung) for delivery right now (Sept 2021). America is on the short end of a supply chain disruption in which our dependency on China isn't working for us very well.
by Lynn Chu
@Lynn Chu
What is the model number of the refrigerator?
Knowing this it may be able to find the service manual so that you can at least perform diagnostic testing. If there is an error code produced during testing or even if there is one in the error code history stored in the refrigerator, it may help to find the problem. Samsung is a very sophisticated refrigerator with lots of technology which can generally be utilized to find out what's wrong. Also any parts that may have to be replaced can be more easily found when the full model number is known.
The problem you're experiencing may not be caused by what you have found during your research but by something else. The same problem symptoms don't always have to have the same root cause. From a repair perspective it would be great if all problems showing the same symptoms were caused by the same fault. Definitely make life easier if this were the case, but sadly it is not. ;-)
by jayeff
RS263TDRS. It is approximately 8 years old bought August 2013, manufactured April 2013. We have the manual but the manual is very obscure. We unplugged it for a couple of days then replugged it back in. Now the fridge not working at all (it seemed to have residual coldness for several weeks, earlier). The power is on, as the third LED light in the fridge scale blinks and the LED lights in the fridge work. Pressing the two left hand buttons for "On/Off" for 5 seconds does nothing.
by Lynn Chu