After making this video, we started manufacturing many of the parts to fix this for customers and affordability: bens-appliances.com/products/refrigerator-secondary-heater-kit In general, you want the moisture kit + heater for $49.99 to solve all of the issues.
THIS is the fix that actually works!! I did it 3 months ago and the problem is finally, consistently solved. The secondary heater fix was new to me but it made all the difference. I also moved the defrost sensor form being clipped onto the copper line and covered in mastick, to a new location on the evaporator coil. There was even an area on the upper right of the coil that looks like it was made just for that--the sensor fit perfectly and snapped right on. Thank you so much for this info!!!!
I had this exact issues a few years ago actually. I just replaced the evaporator clip and havent had an issue since. This video is saying its the ultimate fix and it makes sense to just replace any parts that could give you issues, but the clip alone did the trick for me. They mention it at 8:10 that it could just be a temporary fix, hopefully thats not the case for me. Im at about 3 years now without an issue.
Ben, I simply cannot thank you enough for this repair video. As a senior citizen on a fixed income I was looking at laying out a huge chunk of change. I have been fighting with my Samsung fridge for the last ten years. After the water line between the reservoirs ruptured I was ready to pack it in and buy a new fridge. Thanks to your video I replaced the drain heater, added the insulation strips, the drain tubes, and added the top heater as well as fixing my ruptured water line. Finally after years fighting this fridge it’s fixed and I have you to thank for it.
I am so glad its working better for you! Samsung wont put the heaters in stock due to energy efficiency but other brands like LG have. Units with these "French Door" style systems seem to be a magnet for this issue, and companies are really reluctant to solve this.
7:10 - those self-adhesive strips has to be attached from outside of aluminum cover. You gave people wrong recommendation. It has to be between aluminum cover and fridge body !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@@bensappliancesandjunk Heh Ben I followed your fix to the letter but I’m now getting a flashing error code on the display and don’t know how to clear it. After much googling the errors seem to be related to the ice maker, which I don’t have. Can you help?
Ben, thanks for the video. I have done the repair & it has only been 3 days, but it is working ok, so far. I do have a few suggestions: 1. Before doing any of these repairs, try the following: clean out both of the drain tubes in the bottom back of the fridge. There is a mode for the fridge that manually turns on the heating elements ( Ben's video shows it) . Turn it on to defrost the coils. It was not documented in any manual I saw, but it is there. This means that you might be able to force the coils to defrost without completely turning off the fridge. worth a try. if the water is still draining into the Fridge, that means that the drain tubes are not clear. 2. do not trust the temp display on the Fridge. you can get an inexpensive Bluetooth thermometer and put it in the fridge and track the temp. I have a Govee Wireless Thermometer and it works great. It gives me a graph showing history. I can see the temp on a min by min chart & even see when the Fridge thermostat turns off & on. (btw, I have nothing to do with the company, I just like the product). This thermometer is very accurate & I can see the the Samsung temp is way off (pos). this is the only way I can tell that temp the fridge really is. 3. Easy way to get that metal clip/heatsink off. Do not bother with a wire clipper. It is held on with a aluminum rivet. just drill it out, the fastener/heatsink will then easily pull off. 4. Learn your lesson ( I have), Do not ever buy a Samsung POS again.
Ben . . . I did your fix 6 months ago, and it has worked like a charm. Thanks for the video. One tip for clearing the frozen drain line: To thaw the drain line I hooked up about 5 or 6 feet of 1/4" flexible vinyl tubing (with a makeshift adapter) to a wet vac, and poured boiling water into the drain line while advancing the vinyl tubing into the drain line to suction the column of water. This allowed hot water to melt the top surface of the ice column without allowing the ice to render the water too cool to melt the ice. Amazingly, this technique cleared the frozen drain line within 10 seconds! I hope that helps your viewers, because I haven't found anything on the Internet -- although I haven't look exhaustively -- describing that technique.
Thank you for your post. For those is you facing this issue, water in your fridge is not necessarily from ice buildup. After removing the back panel and surprisingly not finding any ice, I did notice that the aluminum shield was corroded around where it funnels water into the drain. And the top of the drain hole was partially blocked with pieces of aluminum and a brown gritty substance that appears to be rust from whatever material the shield is made of. I cleaned up the rust, installed the drain kit that I had ordered and repaired my corroded shield with aluminum tape. I buttoned everything backup and seems as though problem solved. While my issue was not ice buildup, your video was very helpful and have me the confidence to tackle and overcome the problem without paying a repairman $75 p/hr plus parts.
Thanks Ben, bought your kit, it has been 2 months now, no issues with the refrigerator. No ice build ups, no water leaks. Saves me couple thousands and will avoid samsung refrigerators from now.
This literally saved me hundreds of dollars (maybe even thousands of my floor had to put up with any not leaks) and I feel great having been able to fix it in my own. Thank you so much for your knowledge and help. And don’t talk down on yourself, you literally bring light into many homes by sharing the gift that is helping reduce stress and making home repairs simple and easy. Thanks again!
Amen, I still see what kind of advertisement is it for Samsung when you walk into a nice house, and every single one of them has prostate issues, either excessive water marks, running down the front of your fridge if you don’t wipe it every day or puddles on your floor that’s good advertising Samsung. It’s only been a problem for 15 freaking years. Venice figured it out. It’s obviously a scam. That’s good advertising yeah, that electrical appliance over there with the puddle of water that you have to stand in front of in touch the metal? That’s how Samsung views word of mouth
I want to say a huge THANK YOU! It's people like you who make me at least TRY to fix things myself. My husband and I spent an afternoon fixing our fridge, and, thanks to you, IT WORKED.
I'm glad it worked! This is one of the STUPIDEST and most insane fixes we have to do. There's no reason this issue needs to happen on a $2,000+ fridge, yet they do so often. Other brands fixed this by *gasp* installing a small heater on the fan but the $5 fix eludes the manufacturer... Costing you, a homeowner, $80 in parts to fix totally, or $300+ from a tech. Nuts.
@@bensappliancesandjunk I’m going to try this w my sons help so we both learn (I have a visible ball of ice ant constant water/ice under the drawer) but all of the ‘in hindsite’ suggestions make me very nervous!
Thank you Ben for such a detailed video. My husband applied this fix today to our Samsung refrigerator. Thank you for saving the cost and frustration of dealing with Samsung or with one of their technicians. This is a Samsung design flaw that they refuse to fix or acknowledge. Ben, you're the best. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thanks for the clip. I have fixed the drain freeze issue twice by now. The water still builds up regularly and I need to clean out the pan below crispers every two weeks. May be an extra heater is the answer; will try it now. How sad it is that Samsung has advise on how to properly mount the foil backing to fix their own poorly designed defrosting and drain system. It is truly ironic how consumers spend thousands of dollars of Samsung appliances but Samsung fails to accept their design mistake, to apologize for the troubles their customers face and to send free repair kit to all buyers. This is the last Samsung purchase I am making.
Just came here to say that this solution worked for me! It’s been 6 months now and no ice build up so far. I was ready to throw out this fridge and spend $2000 on new fridge. This video and the kit has saved me.
I bought and installed Bens' kit on my refrigerator. I installed it 7 days ago and it looks fine. I'll monitor it for another week. I'll keep you posted. Thanks, Bens!
Thanks Ben, best trouble shooting, what to do, and what is needed video thus far!!...Saved a bunch of food, and made my wife happy!!..YESSS!!...DONE!!!
Thank you so much Ben. You saved us almost $2,000! Buy the kit...it worked for us on our RF18 in our RV. EDIT: Well, come to find out, this was not our problem. The problem was the Thermal Fuse Assembly. When we first put in the heater we didn’t have an Ohms meter to test if everything was working. A week later it froze up again. A friend came and tested everything and the heaters were not getting power. After further searching we heard someone mention this fuse and so we found ours on the left side behind the coils. Ours had condensation in it and was not working. $10 later and we are back in business. We did leave the extra heater installed. Hopefully all is corrected now.
Thanks a million. I have been looking for a fix for this problem for three years - about one year after buying the refrigerator. I really appreciate all the work that went into the video. A bit too much for my repair skills but at least I can speak intelligently with the person I hire.
Great vid! I've had the icing problem on my 2010 model and have removed the back interior panel several times through the years. Your fix is next on my list. My internal components are the same as your video. Samsung seems to keep manufacturing the same bad design year after year.
Just ordered the kit for our 2014 RF263BEAEWW French door model which looks pretty similar to the one you worked on. I tried to fix it about a month ago after watching a less than adequate home video and removed the ice which had completely enveloped the back side of the evaporator cover assembly. This worked until the past two days when that familiar rattling returned and my wife threatened to buy a new one, but not a Samsung! Hopefully this does the trick as well as restore my wife's faith in my handyman abilities. As they say you are only as good as your last fix it job. Keep you posted.
@@jakemf1 So far so good. I installed a new defrosting element along with Ben's defrosting mod for good measure. His instructions where spot on and easy to follow. Just take your time when defrosting the whole thing, the cover can be pretty water logged and frozen tight and the Styrofoam it is made of will break before the ice does. Now on to the next honey do.
Great video. This refrigerator has driven us crazy with routinely building up ice on the floor of the freezer and ice behind the crisper drawers as well as leaking water. I have changed the drains twice and recently had a repairmen who did the same plus a couple other things but I don’t recall what the “other things” were. His fix lasted longer than mine but we are back at it again now with the crisper drawers. The freezer compartment seems to be holding its own. With your help, I am going to try one more time to fix this thing. If that doesn’t work, the junkyard will get a new fridge and so will my wife. The wife’s will NOT be a Samsung.
I just wanted to thank you for this video I’m currently in the Samsung training to become a service center and I haven’t heard mention of this fix ever. Thank you
The Samsung factory fix is their moisture service kit. The secondary heater is an adhoc add-on that techs came up with that definitely isn't OEM. It'd change the EnergyStar rating which is *probably* why Samsung never attempted it. The other fix not mentioned on icing is putting the code into the interface that forces it to change from adaptive to timed defrost - that specific step is VERY prevalent on the Whirlpool FBDM iteration that ends up having this same exact problem, too.
Just ordered the full kit. Your instructions (and thought process) are so thoughtfully presented I'm confident that this is way to go. Thanks in advance!!
Finally a fix that works after years of struggle. I bought the 201 heater on line and the high temp tie wraps and clips at Home Depot. Different Sammsung Model (Side by Side) but located the brown wires and clipped it in tested it by forcing it into defrost and it worked. Been 2 months and no upper iceburgs or fan noise. Thank You so much and I will never buy a Samsung appliance again.
Thanks for this! I was able to get everything unfrozen and back up and running. Headed to check out the kit now, as I just needed my fridge to work until it arrives!
I am going to be defrosting my fridge this weekend and was thinking I just needed to clear the drain, but now that I found this video I ordered all the stuff and will be doing this whole repair. Thanks.
I'm actually doing this fix right now Ben, thanks for this helpful tutorial. The only difference I've made is I'm using stainless steel wire ties. My thinking is by cutting the tails a bit long, they may increase the heating wire's surface area by acting as heater extensions themselves. If nothing else, the tie locks should act as extra heat nodes. I'm currently trying to get the Samsung replacement heat tab far enough down the drain so that it sits properly on the lower heater element. Right now, it sits about 1/4" above the element and bottoms out on (I'm guessing) more ice. So far, so good... Thank you again Ben, this was really well done, and more thorough than any others I had seen.
Quick update: I had to make a 90' twist in the Samsung heat probe to get it to fit. My drain has a 90' bend about 1/2" from the fridge opening, going off to the left when facing the front of the open fridge. Making the twist let it drop down and follow the bend, staying tight to the back, then bottom of the drain. I'll have to check it to see how this works out. The rest went great. Because of availability, I went with the Supco SH201, which is a metal braided heater with the leads on each end, but otherwise is functionally the same as the SH502. I ran a forced defrost to confirm the new wire indeed warmed up properly before putting the fridge back together (I'd rather only have to go through this once). It heated up and got hot enough I could only keep my fingers on it for 1-2 seconds, and I did find that the metal cable ties also heated up enough that they were uncomfortable to keep my fingers on by about 2 seconds. Your fingers may vary. All that to say, so far so good!
I ordered this kit and my refrigerator works great now!! Unfortunately I feel the company should have had a recall due to this problem! The ordeal has been a big headache until I received the parts to fix! Thank you for your kit and the information to fix this problem!
BEN... You are my HERO! Just ordered your kit. Cant wait to try it out. I have been manually defrosting my fridge every couple weeks for the last year. I tried doing a similar thing by adding a short piece of heat trace tape but it didnt really get hot enough. Hoping this fixes my frost issue! THANKS for taking the time to make such a great video and offering such a complete kit.
I have everything but the the new drain tubes. Are the necessary? The originals are faulty? I hate to put all this back together and it freezes up again. I wouldn’t know if it was Bc of tubes or I messed up elsewhere! Thx for the vid
@@dennybug2 when I replaced my drain tubes, I thought it to be unnecessary until I pulled out the old ones. One of the tubes was completely clogged with gunk and I noticed that the plastic fittings became very brittle and crumbled when removed. Good idea to replace them especially, if your unit has some age. My Samsung is approaching 10 years.
So, I thought this was another BS fix, but dang, it really did work. I had this issue show up all of a sudden after 4 years of ownership and cleared it out. There was a bunch of frozen mold and other nasty crap under the crispers I had never realized was there. Two weeks later, it happened again and again every week. I replaced the clip which didn't do anything. I bought the Samsung kit which had insulation and that didn't do anything. I bought the kit from Ben as a last ditch effort before getting ready to trash it, and it's now been 2 months since I bought the kit with no freezing or water under the crispers. Great work, Samsung should be ashamed of themselves for having this design issue. Seems like there should be a lawsuit against them on this. I'm sure tons of people out there have replaced their fridges because of this, total trash.
I wanted to thank you so much for sharing this with us. I’ve been dealing with this issue for over a year now. And have tried so many ways to correct this problem to no avail. I surrendered to defrosting it once a month because I don’t have the funds to buy a new one. The only thing that came out of that was a clean refrigerator that really didn’t work LOL I did the fix about two weeks ago with a little doubt that it would work. I would keep looking in the back vents to see if there was any build up of ice and was getting hopeful one day I saw a little frost back there and said to myself here we go again. Till I went back the next day to see it all clears up that made me sure that it was doing it’s job. Thanks again it really is a blessing to us
I see tons of these units on a weekly basis. I can also add that I've fixed them without this method by simply getting a flashlight and putting it inside the fridge section: turn off all lights in kitchen and close the fridge doors and check for light escaping at top or bottom between the french doors. If you see light, that probably means that you have a damaged door gasket (the rubber flap on the sides of the door gasket on top and/or bottom) even if the actual gasket itself is 100% sealing perfectly. That small torn flap will allow humidity to enter the unit just above or below the mullion heater bar, and cause the compressor to work harder for no reason because of the response of the several thermistors (temperature sensors) in the fridge section. That and literally every samsung I work on, almost always has a ridiculously dusty condenser coils. I use a ryobi one + compact workshop blower to clean off these style of coils because vacuum extensions and brushes cannot get to everything (and they always look like new afterwards) and its easier and faster to vacuum the aftermath around the fridge too (lay towels around the opposite side to catch big dust balls from pluming into the air) The dust clogs the drain tubes and there are typically 2-3 tubes to check the nozzles for clogs. This is ultimately the catalyst for most samsung ice-buildup/defrost/leaking issues. These compressors are not designed to function with the extra heat, so this spreads excessive particles of compressor lubrication oil throughout the sealed system in some cases which can eventually lead to partial clogging at the capillary tube before it enters the evaporator (the areas where the frosting is about to happen). This is mainly because on select models of samsung and LG alike thought it would be a great idea to crimp the very end of the capillary tubing there because it acts as a noise damper when the pressure equalizes so people don't hear the refrigerant gurgling or 'water flowing' sounds. Also, if your samsung icemaker stops working, some models are actually designed to shut the icemaker down if your compressor/condenser gets too hot. Just clean the dust off condenser coils and the control boards 'ambient thermistor' will be satisfied and restore regular icemaker function. To speed it up, look for a blue button on your icemaker and hold it for up to 10 seconds to reset/force harvest. Not all icemakers have the blue button but most french door styles do.
Ben, you saved the day. Your explanation was comprehensive and concise. You saved me at least a $150 service call and helped me do it myself. Thank you very much.
Update: Since making this video, I've seen a lot of people use this fix, successfully buying all the items mentioned below. I've been able to build a custom-made package, so viewers didn't have to spend the full $80-100 that Amazon is now charging for everything (the heater, the drain kit, and over-buying certain parts). I've packaged the heater with ties and connectors for sale at this link: bens-appliances.com/collections/all/products/refrigerator-secondary-heater-kit for about $25 less than buying it thru Amazon. Use the code "RU-vidKIT" for an extra 10% off on the entire kit. Also, since RU-vid doesn't let me update VIDEOS, one revision I wish I could make involves the foam strips: You want to put those UNDERNEATH the metal drain pan, not inside of it. This way the water channels behind the pan and doesn't get stuck during defrost.
Ben I had a warranty call on January 15 same exactly refrigerator issue u know the build ice on back panel so I replace the temperature sensor that’s it then today bump same guy call me same issue so I decide to do this trick here u showing put a extra heather up wish me luck because I don’t really wanna hear that call again lol Plus ima order couple heathers from u and the clips thanks for this video
@@juansanchez-kb4ij use the code Appliancetech on the 10pc kit and it'll drop the price more for you. I did another video doing this install with positaps. I swear it took all of 10 minutes even with a camera in my face. You do it two or three times and its easier than just about anything, and it's big money with few callbacks.
Or if you want the whole kits, the code will drop price some percent. Order a few and I'll see if I can't throw an extra set in or two. This mod is to help homeowners, but I don't want to take profits away from techs either, so I want to make sure you guys get good margins
I made the changes 5 months ago after purchasing the kit you provided. It took me approximately 7 hours to complete it after waiting 24 hours for the fridge portion to dethaw. Probably should have held out longer, but I still had stuff in the freezer. I spent the last few hours thinking I did something wrong but the fridge took about 5 minutes to kick back on. I haven’t had any leaking issues since, and have been able to use the ice maker. It works just like how I’d expect a $3k fridge should. That said, the next one won’t be a Samsung.
Thanks for all the extra detail and explanation for the 'nuclear option' of fixing this annoying leakage problem with the auxiliary heater Ben! I'm hoping I can get away with just upgrading the little aluminum tab but now know what I'll have to do if that's not sufficient... Best, Matt
@@walnut_trail_farm Cool about you watching NLC videos... thanks! Where the Samsung fridge is concerned the answer is yes, no and sort of🤔 Following your instruction I bought and replaced the little aluminum tab thingy but even after I did that, water wouldn't flow out of the tray. Turns out the root of the problem was snot wads of dust in the little drain tube cap slots so I think I could have just got away with cleaning the drain tubes and not replacing the tab? No matter, I'm glad I've got the upgraded/longer tab installed so I don't have to worry about future freezing of the coil. Bottom line is that now overflow water is not leaking down and freezing under the drawer causing it to jam up. Now I've got to resolve a leaking ice-maker chute. I tried adding foam to the seal/boot which helped a little so I bought a brand new OEM seal and installed it. Sadly I've still got the leaking problem. Next step is to remove calcium build up from the chute door seal but I don't think that will be a complete fix either because the whole ice tray is now totally frozen into place. I've been procrastinating fixing that because, near as I can tell, the only real fix for this problem is to remove the ice maker unit and seal up gaps in the housing to prevent 'warm' air from the fridge from leaking into the -5 degree ice maker/freezer compartment. All pretty frustrating for this ol' nail bender... I'd much rather be in the shop making something cool and shooting video about it for viewers like you! 😉😎 Best, Matt
@@NextLevelCarpentry replace the tab too or the drain will re-freeze at that point. Some use a copper wire snaked down into the drain hole 3 or 4”. Idea is to get heat into the hole to keep the condensation water flowing. Mine froze solid 4” at least. It takes over an hour to thaw this tiny drain because there’s no access but at the top. Speed up the process a little by squirting the hole with a turkey baster with hot water repeatedly. And/Or let the fridge thaw overnight. You can hear when this ice plug is finally thawed and running clear. Then that water drops down into the tubes at the bottom rear of the fridge. The bottom outlet of this drain line is what you see in the back rear with panel off. That’s another issue..those tubes must be cleaned or replaced, but they’re cheap. I’m putting in a secondary heater up near the fan too.
@@chilitoday Thanks for the additional info! So far I've solved this problem with the longer/aftermarket "tab thingy" and by cleaning out the bottom of the drain tubes. Still have problems with the ice maker freezing up but hesitate doing the full heater upgrade and crack-sealing procedure I see recommended in other videos. Sad all these problems arise with such an expensive and otherwise pretty nice fridge IMHO. Best, Matt
Works - once I figured out I needed to use a screwdriver with a magnetized head to get the screws out. Solved the problem completely for a couple of weeks, until the issue started again. Next step will be to see what is going on with the drain tubes. Thanks for this video.
Thank you! My drain was completely frozen and I had a huge ice block by my fan as well. I purchased - DA82-01415A water leakage kit from Amazon and your link, and I am trying the drain tubes along with the new larger drain heating element and insulation first. I also added insulation around the copper pipes at the top right where the ice formed. Getting the clips off the back was difficult, so thanks for pointing that out. I think my additional insulation made the replacement of the panel slightly difficult as well. Now to see what happens....
Thank you Ben. I have been fighting this problem for 5 years. All the repairmen want to do is charge an arm and a leg to do this same fix I can do for $75. I can't wait to see how it works! No Samsungs for me in the future!
I installed the kit this weekend on a Fridge very similar to what was in the video. Here are some tips based on my experience: 1. Drawers/Shelves out -- some are a big pain, worth to research videos just on that. The side with the ice maker is difficult as each shelf seems to have a different method for pulling it out. 2. Removing the shelf above the water filter. Need to get a small flat blade screwdriver INTO the LEFT side tab (the plastic tab you can see on the shelf itself does nothing) and push in, this releases the shelf from the water filter housing. Take your time as you do not want to break any plastic. 3. Program Mode -- Took a couple tries to get it to work. Not sure why -- fingers not in the exact place or pushing at the exact time? You know it works if you hear the BEEP and then when you push only on the LIGHT button (middle button on right side) the codes show up. If you get the standard screen of the temperatures, you need to try again. 4. rd or fd mode -- in this mode, the fridge with BEEP non stop for about 30 minutes. I had so much ice I had to redo this mode 4 times so I could remove the panel. I had ice coming out of the vent slots and when I finally got the panel open (being very gentle to not force it!) the ball of ice was more like a WALL of ice -- 4x the size! Wow! I was too impatient to just let the fridge defrost on its own. Carefully removed all the ice and cleaned the fridge before installing the two kits. 5. Watch this and the other video at least 2x before doing the job and then keep it running when you are actually doing the job, take notes. I also did the same thing with the Posi-connectors! If I had only seen this video sooner. 6. Secondary heater wire -- mine was not as long as in this video, but it was sufficient to go over all the copper line. You want to go over all the lines. 7. Temperature Probe (yellow wire on right with White end) -- I did not replace, but as suggested moved it further to the right. Will see if there is an issue down the road and if I needed to secure it more. 8. Test your work -- after the install, I let the fridge get cold -- just a few minutes is enough and then went into rd mode. Use a temperature gauge of any style to check, not your fingers! 9. Put everything back in the reverse order. After the install, I started up the fridge and in just an hour or two it was running perfectly! It has been only 24 hours, and no issues so far. Thank you Ben for the videos and the kit.
I solved my water/ice problem on my Samsung!!!! After a year of this problem and calling SAMSUNG who would not help, I did the perfect repair job!! I threw my Samsung fridge out and purchased a new one of a different brand!!!!!
Thanks Ben! Your steps and instructions were incredibly helpful. Fingers crossed for a complete fix. Wish I had seen your video before I dropped $300 on a first fix. The repair man should watch your video, I ended up fixing his mess too.
Why do we have to pay someone to do all of this when we have already paid thousands of dollars for these expensive fancy refrigerators? For the price, shouldn't they just make. them with better quality? Mine started this immediately. Repairman said it's a mechanical design flaw that Samsung refuses to own. Many service people won't touch them.
The true answer is that Samsung is a garbage company that does not stand behind their product. They're known to screw techs out of warranty fees, screw customers out of refunds, and screw you out of a good fridge that you paid thousands for. They are the epitome of good-looking, horribly-designed products. Their design teams are better than the competition. They have (I believe) low wholesale prices and bonuses to the places that sell them, since they aren't putting money into warranty fixes/ect since most units start to fail just after the 1yr period.
@@andrewmayer4401 I have a older whirlpool and I had to put in the defrost kit to keep it from freezing up too. The main component was the little finger that attaches to the heater and drops down into the drain tube. A cheap fix $12.50 but should have been there to start with. How many people will junk a refrigerator just because there's water inside the refrigerator? Once the thing gets a few years on it a 250 to $300 service call just isn't worth it. These crappy designs are adding to our landfill problems. There's no reason a refrigerator cannot last 35 years. My parents philco from the 1950s and the General electric that was original from the house in 1962. The GE lasted until the mid '90s when the compressor failed. The Philco was sold and could still be out there running. It's truly amazing how many 1940s and 50s philcos still run. A completely sealed system with no fans heaters or other things to fail. The only active components were the thermostat and the compressor. Okay the light bulb and the light switch but you can live without that and it would be cheap to fix.
Followed the instructions on this fantastic video. My fridge is the Samsung model RFG297AARS. Was dealing with the issues described on this video for a few years. Kept having to defrost regularly. It’s been over 7 months since I did the mods in this video. No ice no water. Fridge runs perfect! Thanks !!
@Ben The foam pieces are supposed to be applied to the REAR of the metal pan, not the front (according to Samsung's Service Bulletin ASC20171005001). As I understand it, the point is to insulate the metal pan from touching the back white casing of the fridge so that the pan has a thermal break from the fridge body. Without it, the cooling coils transfer too much cooling to the fridge body and that stays cold and prevents the heater from being as effective when defrosting. The way you pictured applying the foam, on the front of the metal pan, does not accomplish the intended purpose. Aside, the service bulletin also notes that this foam kit isn't needed for fridges manufactured after January 2013 (though I did mine anyway because it probably won't hurt to add it). Hope this helps!
Interesting, given the installation instructions I was given had it in-the-pan and that they'd even keep that part of the components w/ the package. Probably should then phase it out.
@@bensappliancesandjunk Yes, Samsung could be more forthcoming with their customers and publish this information more readily. They seem to only publish this information for use by their authorized service technicians, but a lot of fridge owners seem inclined to attempt fixes themselves, no doubt tired of paying expensive service fees for what is clearly a lemon of a fridge. Anyway I very much appreciated your video! Thanks for making it. I think installing the supplemental heater like you did here might be the best solution to prevent the fan from icing over. I've tried insulating the copper tubes (in the top right beside the fan) and we'll see if that is enough. If not, I'll probably have to do add the extra heater cable. Aside, that 2nd heater still doesn't fully address the drain issue though and the water pooling (and icing) inside the bottom of the fridge section. I suspect the drain line is also freezing further down beyond the reach of even the new style defrost heater tab. I think adding a 2nd supplemental drain line heater would be an interesting experiment. Maybe you would consider doing a video on that too? :-) I saw in another comment you suggested a longer copper wire (or even a coat hanger), but I don't think it's possible to actually fish a stiff wire like that far enough down (at least I wasn't able to). Q: Do you think the power draw would be too much for the defrost heater system to have two Supco 15w heaters, one for the top and one for the drain hole? The Supco heater you suggested in your description (the SH501) is 15w. There is also the SH500, which is 11w, and I imagine a heater in the drain line wouldn't need much power to do the job in such a narrow space. I wouldn't want to fry and of the fridge's electronics. Thoughts? Q: Also, why did you use the SH501, which is 120v? I think the fridge operates at 115v. Is this an issue? Any reason why you didn't choose the SH201, which is the same 15w but 115v? Thanks again for the great video Ben! Your instructions are easy to follow and I like how you explain everything and your video is clear.
Okay, its not clear which one is correct. Place it on the front as per the video or On the back as indicated above............. Reasoning would be helpful too!!
@@Anavllama It's supposed to be applied to the back. The reasoning was already provided above by Figs North -- purpose is to insulate the metal from the back of the fridge, which is why it goes on the back of the metal pan, so that it's between the metal pan and the back of the fridge. Search Google for "Samsung Service Bulletin ASC20171005001", which has the instructions.
Ben, upgrading the air circulation fan to one that pushes a larger volume of air goes a long way to fixing the problem with the defrost cycle. Also repositioning the defrost sensor can help. I like your idea of adding a new heater or a secondary heater. The pics I've mentioned has kept my refrigerator frost free for nine months when I was defrosting it every three weeks. I'm letting it go for 6 months, it idiot show much icing. Checking it again at 9 months
Thanks for this video, I've been battling with this fridge for years but I've had luck recently and with making sure the fridge is tilted back on it's feet not the wheels which seems to be working to prevent fan noise but I still see a block of ice and occasional water in the bottom of the fridge. What is the point of new drain lines? Do they handle more liquid?
Just used the complete kit with the moisture addition for a Samsung RF267AARS/XAA. A bit different than the Samsung in Ben's superb videos, but everything fit well. Took me more than a couple of hours as there was a fair amount of ice in the drain tube, rust, cracks in the refrig backwall, and double sided tape on the styrofoam. Working well now. Thanks Ben for the kit and videos!
Before putting on the silicon sealant for the posi-taps, test the new heater and the main heater by: The refrigerator is unplugged. 1. Connect wires from the cover fan and thermostat, but leave the cover off. If you don't connect the wires the internal computer will stay in error mode not letting you put it in defrost mode 2. Now plug in the refrigerator 3. Touch and hold the Freezer and Lighting icons on the outside control panel for 8 seconds until it beeps, a continuous beep means the refrigerator is in defrost most, wait about 5 minutes. 4. If you have a heat thermometer, or even a Covid thermometer gun you can check the lower heater (it would just say high if a body thermometer or 200F if it was a surface one), you can even touch the small heater Ben supplied, it will be warm to the touch or you can zap it too with the heat gun. If you don't have a heat gun, a drop of water will sizzle on the main element and you can feel the heat with your hand for the newly installed one Ben supplies, it won't burn you. 5. At this point I would feel comfortable putting on the sealant because after all if you screwed up and put the sealant on too soon your in for a mess if you need to unscrew the taps because maybe you didn't connect them to the BROWN wires on each side of the panel area. Assemble the fridge and go for it or let it go for a couple days with the cover on (not bolted in yet) and check it after several days to see if you need to move the thermistor around (white bulb thing on the right side connected to the yellow wires) because it may still not defrost when you want it to, so you will want to move it to where the coldest spot under the cover is (area with the most frost).
I am literally just finishing assembling my Samsung from my annual defrost due to ice. Too lazy to disassemble again to do this, but will do next time. Thank you so, so much!
Hi Ben! I just realized I got an SH203 instead of a 201, which looks like it has a higher wattage (55W). This might be a silly question, but do you think it’s still doable to use this heater instead? What risks might there be? Thanks!
I did the mod. I made sure my line was clear and I still have the issue. I am thinking of paying to ship it to Samsungs headquarters with a note that says F YOU
Sorry, for a $2000 + refrigerator I don't feel I should have to re engineer it. I had this problem plus ice maker issues. And after only seven years, it stopped cooling. Mine went straight into the dump. Very informative video.
Are you having 100% success with simply foam-taping the lines? I have a roll of that silver foam tape wrap leftover from wrapping my central air ductwork in the basement...is that a suitable type wrap for the fridge remedy?
@@PureBlood42 I tried the foam tape 6 months ago (I did a seriously thorough job too), and the fan is starting to ice up again. Too bad, as I thought I had fixed it. Now I'm going to install the heater. Foam insulation is not enough to keep ice from building up. I recommend you bite the bullet and do the heater.
GREAT tutorial. Just did the back hoses and the drain heater extender without any problems! Fingers crossed for a few weeks out to see if any more water/ice shows up. Thank you!
We have this problem on our RF22K9581SR in each freezer section. Can I do this mod on that to permanently fix it? Also have the ice buildup in the back of the ice maker. Would this help?
Great kit, easy to install and with your tips and being candid about what you would do differently all went well and after the forced defrost and both heaters worked fine, i put the unit back together and all is good. Can not thank you enough for the help and wish Samsung would own up to the lousy design .
7:10 - those self-adhesive strips has to be attached from outside of aluminum cover. You gave people wrong recommendation. It has to be between aluminum cover and fridge body !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@@bensappliancesandjunk I think he is correct. Can you please post a response or modify your top post to let folks know if the fool/foam strips should be on the back side of the oan between the fridge plastic body and the pan? As an engineer, it seems like that is where it should go.
@@bensappliancesandjunk Ben, can you please pin a correction to the top of the comments about the foam strips being incorrectly applied in the video? See Samsung's Service Bulletin ASC20171005001. The foam strips are supposed to go on the BACK of the metal pan, not the front. Why allow people to be mislead any longer? Let's correct the record!
So, you may ask, why does this work ok for the first several years... Mmm. Ok it is because samsung used shit foam. It allows water to sink in the foam on the outside of the evaporator. This water that builds up freezes hard and does not ever defrost. You need to remove the panel, take it apart carefully. Set the whole thing in the sun for a day. Weigh the foam panel under the aluminium plate. It should be less than an ounce. Mine was 11 ounces when it came out because it was full of ice inside. Once dried out and light again, apply liquid car wax to the foam to deal it, reassemble carefully and reinstall.
@@bensappliancesandjunk yea, over 3 to 4 years??? ... it is more like samsung picked the wrong foam. I am going to seal the foam so that it no longer will allow water penetration, including on the new panel. This problem happens to styrofoam stuffed boats all the time. I have been able to reduce the weight(water in the foam) by 5 ounces over night by using a hair dryer. I will use power of the sun in Florida today. This is a bad design by samsung period and they need to be held to the fire for it.
Just completed the repair today. Got a bit of a scare when I went to test the heater and got a flashing error code “2 C” but all it meant was I hadn’t plugged in the fan. 😅 Put the fridge into forced defrost mode and I could feel the new secondary heater working. Thank you so much for this awesome video, you saved my $3000 fridge!!
How to repair a cracked back panel and the cracked styrofoam? It’s frozen so hard, after thawing 24 hours, I still can’t remove the panel. Boycott Samsung.
Bought a house and it had one of these fridges in it. 6 months later fan is making a noise and the fridge isn't cooling. Upon finding this video, it looks like its had this issue before and has mylar tape on the copper pipes. it did nothing to prevent the ice ball. Mine was so bad, the back panel was frozen stuck. Thank you so much for this video :)
I hope your video surpasses mine in views. This is a “real” fix video instead of temporary like mine. I’ve tried to explain the design flaw in my video and that there’s no broken parts, but I never explained a long term modification fix like you did. I’m going to find a way to forward people to your instructional. I’m not a technician but you couldn’t have done it better. Now I can actually follow your vid and fix MINE once and for all! Thanks Paul
Awww, thanks! These are garbage units, and I can't claim I invented the fix - I've seen other techs do it. However, I tried to do the video as good of justice as I could.
After following this video and installing the kit... a week later I woke up in the morning to find that my refrigerator door was left slightly ajar. There was wet humidity and moisture covering everything in the fridge and I even noticed a little bit of ice accumulation coming out of one of the vents. I put the refrige in defrost mode for 20 minutes. After that the fridge has been running perfectly and I did not have to disassemble the fridge to remove the ice ball build up.! I've had to disassemble the fridge three times to remove ice buildup over the years for similar reasons ..The kit works
Ben I bought the repair kit with heater also the drain tubes,,, i installed the kit in February now 2 months later and the pantry door tray is getting a small amount of water and frost under the drawer ! No more fan noise with extra heater but water on the floor also ….. what do you suggest now?
Great video. I admire how you mention as you video through the permanent fix, in hind site. That is a unique quality and appreciate all you’ve shown here. I too bought the entire kit. Off to set away the food from spoiling, but no big deal. I too have enough insulation to get through this. Thank you so much Bro!!!
Just a follow up to my comment on Ben’s other video on this same topic. I ordered the RU-vidFix kit from Ben and installed it according to Ben’s videos. I commented that it would have been easier if instructions came with the Kit. Ben replied that the instructions were in a link in the parts order instructions. What is more important is that Ben said there is an Error in this video on where to install the foil strips for the drain. They go behind the pan between the pan and the plastic cabinet not between the evaporator coils and the pan. I’m still not sure if the ones by the bottom go on as shown or if they also go under the pan (I emailed Ben on this but have not gotten a reply yet). I followed this video to do my install, I now have to completely take the unit apart to correct the incorrect foil installation . I am grateful that Bens Appliances has figured out how to fix this Major issue with Samsung refrigerators but he needs to take this video down and put up a corrected version. Finally I want to make clear that his online KIT is well worth the price and I believe will fix the issue but the instructions for the foil strips needs to be better. Charles Meyer
Ben: I've been fighting this issue for years. I have tried multiple things that were suggested and had my warranty service on the refrigerator many times. I ordered this retrofit and installed today. Other than the back panel (of which I also ordered because the Styrofoam was damaged) in the fridge being hard to re-install all seems good. I don't have a heat sensor to check that it's working but I did check continuity on the heater connections and it seemed fine. Time will tell if this eliminates the ice build-up. I'm sure as long as it is installed properly it will fix it. Thanks for the video.
just found this Video, I have been Frustrated for 7 years with this piece of crap, I will never, ever, buy another Samsung Appliance.... TV and cellphones are okay, Appliances NO!!! thank you for putting the Kit together, just ordered it with you RU-vid discount offer. John
Bought this fridge used, last year for 400 dollars worked fine for 8 months then this happened. Its a really nice fridge, nicer than the one in my kitchen actually I have this one in the garage, I just ordered a kit last night. Since this is a garage fridge for drinks not so worried about the water, but the ice ball stopping the fan makes the fridge part unusable, the freezer still is working fine.
Just some details, on my ref. once I opened the cover someone had moved the thermistor using some black sticky stuff and put it by the two copper pipes going through the top of the refrigerator, I moved it to the top cooling coils, the white piece was made to snap onto an evaporator coil not just hang freely. Also, I am not that bright, do not tap into the yellow thermistor wires we need to tap into the brown wire on both sides. I left the cover off to test it first, but I didn't put on the silicon sealant until I know that the connected it properly, once it tests OK then I will de-thaw and put on the sealant to the connectors. Why does the fan shut off every time the doors are opened? Why not keep it cooling while its open?
This is a great video. I think the real solution is to not allow Samsung to make refrigerators at all! 😬. Between not being able to use the ice maker because it constantly freezes up and the fridge issues thoroughly described in this video, I will avoid this brand forever more.
Thank you so much for this detailed video. I feel confident that this is beyond my capabilities, but this is good to know, because, otherwise I would have felt bad for not trying. Any suggestions for brands that are better?
Just ordered the kit and will try this fix when I get it. Hopefully this permanently solves this long term issue with this fridge. This ownership experience has been very frustrating up to this point.
I hear you. Most techs I know have these heaters out in the field for a year and a half plus and no issues as long as its installed/verified working correctly.
Ben I've installed the Kit and it was super simple, I was actually able to fix multiple pin hole leaks in my Water Tank which was as much of a contributing factor as the problem with the heater been enjoying a relatively dry refrigerator and I say relatively because I still have some moisture and ice but I think its a different issue one thing others may find is the back wall plate has rusted (badly in my case) might be where I'm getting additional moisture from. My recommendation get this kit with the POSI-TAP connectors they are awesome! Fridge has been working perfectly for 2 months now!
I just bought the parts required for this fix and based on the comments, I'm really excited that I'll finally have a fix for this stupid problem. Just wondering though, is there anyway to turn just the fridge section off, not the freezer section? I have a small fridge that I can put my refrigerated items in while I let the fridge thaw, but if I can leave my frozen items in the freezer section that'd help tremendously. And yes, I will of course cut the power completely when I do the electrical connections on the heating element.
Thank you so much for posting this. I've had technicians out to work on my fridge and it was still freezing so I'm giving the minimal upgrade a try with just the drain kit. But keeping this in my pocket with the option of adding the auxiliary heater if that doesn't work!
Fantastic tutorial! Thank you for taking time to walk us through. I’ve been struggling with my Samsung from the beginning and this was the perfect video for a diy gal fix 👍🏻
