A common complaint with the Samsung American style fridge freezer, model number RS21FCNS is the fridge is making a strange noise and, is not cooling.
This issue has been well documented however, it can still occur on this style of fridge freezer. Don't worry, it is repairable.
There are various issues which can create these symptoms however, I will discuss the issue I found during a recent service visit.
The customer complained of a loud 'whirring' noise coming from the fridge also, the middle to top area of the fridge was warm in temperature.
There is a test sequence programmed into the software to assist the service engineer fault find and diagnose. This is a good guide but not always conclusive.
Press and hold the top two buttons together at the same time. Keep both buttons held in until all segments on the display flash, then go blank.
If there is an open circuit through any of the fridge components, it should illuminate a segment on the display, giving the service engineer a better idea of the issue. As you can see from the above image, the middle segment of the right hand fridge temperature display is illuminated....thanks Samsung, you made my job easier.
Next step, isolate the appliance from the mains electrical supply. SAFETY FIRST...always.
So, after stripping out the fridge panels I was able to safely test all the working components using an electrical test meter.
On inspection I found the fridge evaporator heater was open circuit. For other qualified appliance engineers this is one to remember, the segment displayed during the diagnostic test suggests a fault towards the defrost heaters. Remember to separate the evaporator and drain heaters during testing; the heaters are wired in parallel so you will still get a resistance reading if only one or the other are open circuit.
So what went wrong here?
Primarily, the defrost heater failure caused the problem. Secondly, because the defrost heater failed, it allowed ice from the evaporator to build up excessively and interfere with the circulation fan, hence the 'whirring' or 'drilling' noise. The fan draws air through a very small hole in the evaporator cover and it doesn't take much to block it, this explains why the top area of the fridge was warm. As we know, cold air drops, so the bottom area of the fridge remains relatively cold or sometimes, excessively cold.
Although this issue seems relatively straight forward to repair, there are many other things to consider. This fault in particular can have a 'knock on' effect of which, only an experienced engineer will understand and be skilled to take care of.
Thankfully, this repair was straight forward and COST EFFECTIVE to do.
If you are experiencing similar issues, Kingdom Appliance Care suggest you seek the professional advice of a local, competent Samsung service engineer.
Until the next time.
Kingdom Appliance Care