Samsung sr-s2028dvw freezer compartment not keeping it's cold

[skulkerboyo]

Hi
Samsung sr-s2028dvw
S/N :887343CWA00458 L

I scoured the net looking for answers and this was the forum that stood out as the the most professional.

My woes began alst week when I noticed that some of the food didn't feel frozen. A few days ago I noticed a bag of ice I had was melting. A forum suggestion to turn it off for half an hour only helped it to rise to 4 degrees and stay there.

I had a look at the back by the condenser coils and it was very dusty - hoovered most out but haven't popped the back off yet.

All food was transferred to the spare.

Since then it's started to cool very slowly - a rate of 1 degree each twelve hours.

I'm more than happy to start fettling if I need to but have no idea what I'm looking for to make a diagnosis.

Other useful info - it's stopped doing the thing where it makes noise for a short period - i assume the condenser or a fan not activating anymore although it is cooling very very slowly.

Holding the top two buttons for 8 seconds gives no error codes - it just lights all lights then goes blank for a few seconds then back to displaying the actual temperatures.

Fridge compartment is operating flawlessly.

If anyone has a diagnosis procedure or any other info or the manual i'd need to get cracking that would be a great help.
Thanks

[Glenn Moore]

Hi
Behind a cover inside the unit is a small fan motor. This motor is near the cold evaporator coil and some times the ice on the coil becomes to much and encroaches onto the fan blade and stops it rotating. So the first thing to do is turn the power off and leave the doors wide open so that the fridge and freezer can totally warm up and defrost itself . Approx 24Hours. After 24 Hours turn the power on and see , feel and listen to see if the fan motor is now running and circulating cold air. If you cant feel any air movement , then you need to turn the unit off and remove the fan cover to see if the fan is OK or not ie it may be seized ?. If the fan is now working , it may be that the defrost heaters are no longer working and allowing the coil to freeze up to much . Try that first and see what happens BoL

[skulkerboyo]

Well I've stripped her back and there was an ice build up at the top but it hadn't affected the fan.

I de iced with a hair dryer and set about testing what I could.

I followed a guide on testing of all the components - http://www.ukanfixit.co.uk/content/samsung

The only one that came back with a reading inconsistent with the guide was indeed the defrost heater giving the wrong resistance

This is all assuming the guide I followed was correct.

Resistance across the two wires that disappear into the silver thing seemingly stuck on the back of the freezer was 1.27 rather than 2.

So could this be the problem - I reassembled and it's working well but I suppose it will just happen again and again and again.

If those readings do indicate an issue then what next? Replace the component?

it looked to be behind the coils and not something I could easily remove . . .

One other thing - the thing under the blue bit at the back - I assume that's the temp sensor? Its resistance rose as I warmed it so that seems to be functional. Be nice to know what it is. Is there an engineer's manual anywhere?

[skulkerboyo]

Well came home today and the temp was at -3

Hmmm

Opened freezer and held door switch - fan came on - scratched head - walked off

Ten minutes later it was minus 7 - ten minutes later at -14

Turning her off and on again shows a temp of minus 1 in reality - so what am I up against here??

Its the twin cooling model according to the text on the shelf

[mikeref]

Well I've stripped her back and there was an ice build up at the top but it hadn't affected the fan.

Sounds as though it recently has a defrost. When defrost heaters fail, they either open circuit or short to earth and trip the earth leakage or a circuit breaker.
Could you provide one or two pictures of the freezer coil, and the ice buildup after running your fridge for 48 hours?
Give the Freezer compartment something to chew on. 5 Liters of hot (50 C) water in open containers is a start.
Edit: Twin cool? Alright, place a Glass of water in the fridge...er, Non freezing compartment on the right hand side. Hot or cold won't matter.

[skulkerboyo]

Well it got weirder

The fridge started warming up - now I have a fridge sat at 9 degrees and a freezer sat at -1

I can take a picture later but I have one of it post defrost - reason for posting is it seems to look unlike any pictures I've seen elsewhere of this model opened up

20160209_215249.jpg

For now my priority is obtaining a cheap spare

In terms of repair cost if it is just the defrost heater - how much roughly?

Although now the fridge is playing up as well I suppose it's a wider issue?
#
Thanks for the responses guys

[skulkerboyo]

BTW - Obviously that's with most bits unplugged for testing.

I think she's a pretty old model - came to me second hand and looks as though some work has been done - back of unit at bottom was badly bent and fitted wonly

[skulkerboyo]

It looks very much like this is the style of defrost heater it has.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/American-S...gAAOSwxH1T0oKA

are the rs21 and 20 the same?

Can anyone confirm if this is the correct part?

I've see elsewhere the stick on type but this looks identical to the tray at the bottom of my system.

Also will this issue affect the fridge in the way it's been behaving? Or is my compressor shot?

[skulkerboyo]

Just found out that the drain bit has a heater and that is the connection that is connected in-line with the defrost heater so I revert to asking - is replacement of the defrost heater on this model something I can do?

I didn;t pull the whole assy out because I was worried that those copper bits on the top right were gassed and breaking them would ruin it - how does one get to the defrost heater to replace?

found that info in a post by a member here called R600a.

Will dismantle again tonight anyway and look at ice build up.

[skulkerboyo]

http://www.partmaster.co.uk/defrost-...ng+sr-s2028dvw

This ... . .?

[mikeref]

Pictures in posts #8 and #10 aren't your evaporator coil defrost heater.
Look underneath the bottom of the cooling coil There should be a black part clipped to the aluminium.
Your problem isn't the heater.

Inside the fridge compartment, on the left hand wall is the fridge specifications. Read the refrigerant type. R134a or R600a...
Remove the screws on the outside rear panel. This exposes the Compressor, condenser coil and condenser fan. Is the compressor hot and is the fan running?
Look for a black box that isn't attached to the compressor but has a single cable going to your compressor.
( Hoping this isn't a fridge with a variable frequency drive.)

[skulkerboyo]

I'll take the back off tonight and report back.

Many thanks

[mikeref]

VFD would look something like this. Ours are black and rated at 220 to 240 Volts

[skulkerboyo]

I've been advised to replace the defrost sensor and as it's a cheap part have ordered one in the meantime.

I'm trying to understand the system while I fettle away at it. I'm fine with circuit diagrams etc but would like to understand the reasoning behind these checks.

I bow to the expertise on these forums but I'm also the kind of person that needs to understand the whys of this system I call my fridge freezer.

[skulkerboyo]

From memory when looking at the back last night there was warm air coming from a vent on the bottom left.

Will confirm tonight

[skulkerboyo]

Hi
So I installed the part on Friday - it started to get to where it's supposed to over the weekend. Had my -16 and 2 degrees then last night noticed the -16 was flashing.

Turned it off then on again with 10 second pause to reset the circuit and the fidge side displayed a 3 (error code) and the freezer side displayed nothing then it went on to display an actual temperature of 1 for freezer and 2 for fridge.

This morning there was a pool of dirty water by the front right of the unit on the floor.

At my wits end now. Looked up the 3 error and it says it's a problem with the defrost circuit. Am I chasing a red herring here?