Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

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Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

June 17, 2022, 10:15:03 am

Has anyone experienced their Samsung only cooling the freezer? Mine seems to be kaput up top but working just fine in the freezer. I'm not really sure where/how to start troubleshooting.

Re: Samsung MKv172c Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #1 – June 17, 2022, 10:19:41 am

Most Reefers cool from freezer. Top is cooled via a duct from freezer with a flapper valve to control temperature. My old Maytag worked for nearly 20 years with a matchstick stuck in flapper when the valve quit opening by the thermostat. Yours may just be stuck.

Re: Samsung MKv172c Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #2 – June 17, 2022, 10:20:35 am

Check to see if if is all iced up. Maybe the defrost system is not working. I have had the
defrost timer quit.

Re: Samsung MKv172c Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #3 – June 17, 2022, 10:34:33 am

We just had that happen to our Daewoo (Kenmore) French door fridge. It's almost new but the fridge stopped cooling but the bottom freezer and ice cube maker were working fine. I went online and found several people with the same problem. The fan that sends the cold air up to the fridge had a big chunk of ice stopping the fan. I just unplugged it for four hours and put a fan in the freezer during that time. All is fine now. Some owners have cut a round hole in front of the fan and put a clear plastic piece over the hole so they could do a visual inspection. The back panel is easy to remove on ours.

Look up yours online and see if others have had the same problem. Use the serial number as the first few letters will bring up the manufacturer. I called a local appliance repair guy and gave him the serial number. He said it was a GE but unless GE has partial ownership of Daewoo, that's not correct. We loved our LG and were searching for an LG, Samsung or the Daewoo we found. This family moved into a new house but the wife started running and wanted a fridge with ice on the door. They sold it to us for pennies on the dollar. Not even the smallest blemish on it.

Fingers Crossed for you!

Pierce

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #4 – June 17, 2022, 11:02:20 am

We have the same issue. Basically if you let it run continuously, it will freeze up and the freezer stays cold, but the fridge doesn't get below about 50. It will need to thaw out. Ours is good for at least a month between thaws (never tried it longer). Just turn it off, pull everything out and let it sit for a day.

We found this when we first bought our coach and the service guy said it was cheaper to replace than to try to fix it, so we just turn it off between trips.

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #5 – June 17, 2022, 12:06:36 pm

On my original Dometic in my '95 I found the narrator temperature band that worked for me.
Set at 37 in the fridge during the day, At night it would have a thin coating of ice on the fins. I set the temperature up two or three degrees (can't remember) but it maintained 38 through the night because the door wasn't opened but fins would defrost. In the morning I would set the temp back to the daytime setting.
Did that every day. Fridge stayed cold.
Play with it. Go up a degree or two each night until you find the setting that will melt the ice on the fins and see if still maintains an excceptable temperature in your fridge.

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #6 – June 17, 2022, 12:36:09 pm

Quote from: Elliott – June 17, 2022, 10:15:03 am

Has anyone experienced their Samsung only cooling the freezer?

Our Samsung RF18 just died. It started out with the opposite problem - freezer was warm and top fridge section was cold. I tore into it and checked all the stuff mentioned in the Youtube videos. In our case, it was not anything freezing up, and it was not a problem with the fans getting jammed by ice. When I couldn't find any obvious problem, I put it back together and the freezer still didn't get cold. The fridge did cool down, but never to the set temp. I finally decided that the compressor has lost it's charge due to a tiny pinhole leak. The symptoms our is showing - compressor runs, condenser and evaporator fans run, but nothing is getting cold - are correct for loss of coolant. We are now considering the options for what to replace it with.

If you go on Youtube there are many good videos on trouble shooting Samsungs, and how to check the cooling components with a multimeter. People are not kind in their opinion of the french door models. Since we bought ours 8 years ago the company reputation has been going down hill. I think we were fortunate to get 8 trouble-free years out of ours. I do NOT want another Samsung french door model, but we're having trouble finding alternatives that will fit in the same sized hole.

Pics below show what the top and bottom evaporator units look like with the covers removed. Have fun!

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #7 – June 17, 2022, 12:46:44 pm

Remember on the Samsung RF18 there is no air circulation between the freezer and the fridge. One of their big selling points. There is one single motor/compressor (with condenser and fan) that circulates coolant in a single loop that goes first to the freezer and then to the fridge. Or maybe the other way - I'm not sure. Whatever. Both compartments have their own evaporator and fan that are controlled individually by the CPU. All the brain bits are located on a circuit board in a compartment on the back side.

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #8 – June 17, 2022, 12:52:37 pm

Some refrigerators have two evaporators, others, only one. Ours just has the bottom evap. Yes, good videos on YouTube!

I've not heard any good long term review on any newer fridge. Fortunately, we have an old two door fridge in the apt downstairs. Just plugged it and loaded the food into it for the half day.

I still have a Japanese RV fridge from 1978 that still works on propane. No leaks. I bought a Trace inverter back in 1989 that still works like the day I bought it. Found the receipt for it last month.

Pierce

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #9 – June 17, 2022, 12:54:21 pm

Quote from: WS6_Keith – June 17, 2022, 11:02:20 am

We have the same issue. Basically if you let it run continuously, it will freeze up and the freezer stays cold, but the fridge doesn't get below about 50.

We have the same symptoms, so I shut it off and will see what happens.

Quote from: Chuck & Jeannie – June 17, 2022, 12:36:09 pm

I think we were fortunate to get 8 trouble-free years out of ours.

Naturally, our 21 year old chest freezer in the basement of the coach is still running like a top. For all the technological advancement we've made as a society, it sure seems like coach stuff only gets worse.

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #10 – June 17, 2022, 01:09:29 pm

I've always found that anything automatic failed far more often than manual stuff. Nothing ever went wrong with my old ex-Greyhound in all the years I owned it (and wish I still did). Electrics and boats are X-10 worse. Complex costs when it goes bad and soon or later it does.

Wonder if anyone is still selling ice boxes?

Pierce

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #11 – June 17, 2022, 02:25:34 pm

As mentioned above, your Samsung should have seperate cooling in the fridge n freezer sections...I would definitely google troubleshooting your specific model...

I had a problem with one of mine (French door Samsung counter depth) that I was able to troubleshoot and fix-it involved an issue with the fridge section not evaporating defrost water properly.

If you list your madel and it's year someone may be able to help better.

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #12 – June 17, 2022, 02:46:54 pm

I was expecting to change out my original dometic fridge to the Samsung model but in reading I am second guessing. Has any one researched the fridigaire model FRQG 1721AV I stainless?? Same dimensions and counter depth
Price is Canadian dollars

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #13 – June 17, 2022, 08:32:48 pm

Peter, several have used the samsung I used a LG to give me room for additional pantry slide outs My suggestion is measure the hole and get what fits that makes the DW happy. If you have the larger door it will go through door with enough man power
It took 4 of us to get Juicesqueezer's refrigerator in but we made it
Chris

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #14 – June 17, 2022, 09:47:35 pm

Chris
What size of door do you mean?

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #15 – June 17, 2022, 10:01:49 pm

Quote from: dicksop – June 17, 2022, 09:47:35 pm

Chris
What size of door do you mean?

It fit through the door on our 2000! Took all the doors off fridge and unlatched the door of the coach. Passenger seat was removed to facilitate the job! Pulled up under canopy of a Lowe's and did the install of the fridge and set it in the middle of the coach and drove back to Chris' place to install in the cavity!

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #16 – June 18, 2022, 12:30:18 pm

I believe Foretravel made a change in door sizes from 96 and 97 by a few inches.

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #17 – June 18, 2022, 12:39:57 pm

Keith was right. Everything I've read on the Internet says many months or even up to a year between freezes so I'm hoping this will get us through the trip and then I can start throwing parts at it when I get back home this fall. Not an uncommon issue.

The new version of this Samsung is readily available at every big box score for $1500 but it doesn't have any handles on the cabinet doors so we would have to get a fridge fixer before moving along.

This thing has been running nonstop for a year and a half so Who knows when the issue actually started

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #18 – June 18, 2022, 01:39:50 pm

Be careful with the heat gun. That white plastic on the wall behind the evaporator is very thin!

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #19 – June 18, 2022, 02:49:04 pm

Quote from: Elliott – June 17, 2022, 10:15:03 am

Has anyone experienced their Samsung only cooling the freezer? Mine seems to be kaput up top but working just fine in the freezer. I'm not really sure where/how to start troubleshooting.

Elliott,
Two years ago we had the same issue with our Samsung. I replaced the heater metal sheath #DA47-00424L
and the Thermo Fuse-Assy # DA47-00301D. I ordered the parts from https://www.appliancepartspros.com/
It's been working fine since. Hope this helps.

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #20 – June 18, 2022, 03:18:28 pm

Quote from: Chuck & Jeannie – June 18, 2022, 01:39:50 pm

Be careful with the heat gun. That white plastic on the wall behind the evaporator is very thin!

When we had a problem with our home fridge the tech used a steamer to melt the ice. Much faster and safer I suppose for the components.

Mark

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #21 – June 18, 2022, 03:31:24 pm

Quote from: MAZ – June 18, 2022, 03:18:28 pm

When we had a problem with our home fridge the tech used a steamer to melt the ice. Much faster and safer I suppose for the components.
Mark

I was told to turn the fridge off and use a fan, never a hair dryer or heat gun on the ice around the fan/motor. Don't know about the evaporator. Steamer sounds good.

Pierce

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #22 – June 19, 2022, 12:06:52 pm

Before breaking out the tools, you should be able force most Samsungs into an extra whole unit defrost mode, or for the fridge alone, by simultaneously pushing the "power freeze" and "fridge" buttons and holding for 10 seconds until the menu screen replaces the temperature displays and you get the door open "bing, bong". Press the "fridge" button to cycle through the menus. "rd" is fridge defrost, "fd" for both the freezer and fridge. Here's a couple video descriptions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUm6dCIDb5E
This second video shows the defrost modes as well as disassembly and tips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Kr-el2exdY

Just thought I'd throw that out there before you throw out the fridge. p.s. I've kept my fridge on "E. Saver" mode for the entire 3 years I've had it full timing, and have yet to experience a freeze up. Woody.

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #23 – June 19, 2022, 01:02:21 pm

The heat gun worked fine. I just went slow and had it all thawed and back together within an hour. We're back in business. Thanks guys.

Re: Samsung Rf18Hfenbsr Fridge Warm, Freezer Cold

Reply #24 – June 19, 2022, 01:15:05 pm

Like every thing Elliott use properly it works and if used improperly things get wrecked.

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