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TroubleinMO  
#1 Posted : Wednesday, October 8, 2008 1:00:41 PM(UTC)
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TroubleinMO

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The refrigerator side of my Samsung RS2545SH is not cooling, but freezer seems to be fine.

I took everything out and flipped the circuit breaker, in order to try and figure out what is wrong. Everything I have read mentioned ice crystals and I haven't found any.

I took the back cover off of the inside of the freezer, around what I assume to be the evaporator coils, and they really didn't look to bad...at least not what I would have expected. There was a little frozen ice on the bottom of the coils...like a few droplets had started to drip and then froze, but nothing that made me go "WHOA, Here is a problem!" Everything I have read mentioned ice crystals and I haven't found any.

I have read about running a self test, but can't find the directions on how to do it. Does anyone know how to?

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

THANK YOU!
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libertyappl  
#2 Posted : Wednesday, October 8, 2008 1:34:10 PM(UTC)
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libertyappl

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Do you hear & feel the fan in the back of the freezer compartment?
Nat
TroubleinMO  
#3 Posted : Wednesday, October 8, 2008 1:42:58 PM(UTC)
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TroubleinMO

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I am not sure if it was or wasn't...the freezer was stocked full of food, and I still have it all apart now, so can't check it.

The food in the freezer was staying plenty cold, in fact the temp. in the freezer kept going down.
libertyappl  
#4 Posted : Wednesday, October 8, 2008 1:58:05 PM(UTC)
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libertyappl

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If the freezer is too full the air can't circulate into the refrigerator side. Might want to check that out as well. The manual is too big to post on this website, but if you need it send me an email and I can send it to you.
Nat
TroubleinMO  
#5 Posted : Wednesday, October 8, 2008 2:16:00 PM(UTC)
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TroubleinMO

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Thanks Nat.

I sent you an email.
TroubleinMO  
#6 Posted : Wednesday, October 8, 2008 6:28:00 PM(UTC)
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TroubleinMO

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I have been able to determine that the freezer fan is working.

When the refrig. is plugged in and working the bottom of the refrig. is registering a normal refrig. temp. (32 degrees), but the top was at 65 degrees. I also did not hear the refrigerator fan working...could it be the problem? Would replacing it fix my problem, or is it just a symptom of a bigger issue?
dek1000  
#7 Posted : Sunday, April 18, 2010 9:00:35 AM(UTC)
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dek1000

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You are looking in the wrong area!
The RS2545SH has dual evaporators, meaning that the compressed freon liquid splits and goes to evaporators in both the freezer and the refrigerator sections, where each has a fan that blows the cold air around their respective sections. You looked in the freezer, which is working fine, meaning that of course after pulling the back off, you found coils that looked normal. NO air blows from the freezer to the refrigerator section, unlike what libertyappl was suggesting -- what he/she said only applies to single evaporator systems (the clear majority of refrigerators out there), which do have their cooling done in the freezer section.

You found cool temps at the bottom of your refrigerator section, and warm at the top. That means the evaporator there is working but the fan is not blowing the cold air around the inside. It's blocked or not working. If you had pulled the back cover off of there, you'd probably have found that the coils were encased in a block of ice. If you didn't hear the fan blowing (which only happens when the door is closed -- or the light switch taped down), it is either stuck in ice, dead and not working, or is in fact working but you got mislead because of the door being open, which turns off the fan. (This fooled me once, too!).

That blower motor runs off of 10V DC. You can remove it after removing the back cover (which is held in place by 6 or more screws AND a couple of clips, so be careful you don't bust those clips). Don't forget to unplug the various wires near the right light socket area. They only go back one way, so you don't have to worry about mixing them up. Also, if you do have one solid block of ice, it will hold the cover in place like glue, making it hard to remove. One suggestion: remove all the food and lower shelves and put a small electric space heater (one with a fan blower) in the bottom, aimed at the back, set to the lowest heat setting, and close the door. In less than 30 minutes, it will melt enough ice to release the cover from the ice. Check on the temp inside periodically to make sure nothing is getting so hot that the plastic will soften! I use a $10 space heater for this. Better than holding a hot air gun for a long time.

After all of this and you finally getting the back cover removed, plug that fan back in, plug the refrigerator back in, push the door light switch closed, and see if the fan runs (after around a 10 second delay). If it does, and you did have a lot of ice around that coil, you might have a bad defrosting element, which is part of the evaporator.

I'm not going to tell you anymore because the best advice is found in this thread: "Samsung Refrigerator Defrost Coils Freezing" http://forum.appliancepartspros...rost-coils-freezing.html And for a replacement/repair of the heating coil, definitely look at Samsung Refrigerator Heater Repair (RN's site) Samsung Refrigerator Heater Repair (RN's site)

Also, I know I'm replying to a posting last looked at April 2009, but I figured this might help somebody else as I’m going through these same issues. I also have a manual that pretty much fits this particular model number, so don’t be worried that the model number is slightly off; this one will give you a lot of information RS2545SH Service Manual http://www.servicematters.com/m...library/docs/SAM0060.pdf (6.25 MB file). And if you know nothing about working with Freon and soldering or brazing pipes, don’t try and REPLACE the evaporator, as it is charged with Freon. Just follow RN’s advice if you want to replace the heater. A heater/evaporator part costs around $40 bucks, though currently out of stock at one place I recommend: Refrigerator compartment replacement parts for MAYTAG RS2545SH Ref - Sxs | AppliancePartsPros.com (Diagram 10, part 19). Remember: Share what you learn as you fix things (or break things). We can all learn from what others are doing, and hopefully we can save some money along the way, too!
dek1000  
#8 Posted : Monday, April 19, 2010 5:43:33 AM(UTC)
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dek1000

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You can just apply what I said to the freezer side. The freezer has one additional thing, I believe: a heater for the drain so that when it does its defrosting, the melted ice goes down the drain without freezing up and clogging it.

Good thing your freezer is empty, so you can start figuring out what's wrong right away. If the bottom of the back panel feels very cold, then it's likely this darn icing up problem. Per instructions in the service manual, you can force the freezer to go into defrost mode. You might want to give that a try, though I'm betting that that won't do anything. But if your freezer blower is bad, then you are in luck: the part is available and it's easy to install.

I love the fact that the Samsung has a dual evaporator, so that we lose only 1/2 of the unit and not all of it. In my case, the frozen meats, ice, ice cream, etc., stayed safe; I just couldn't keep my milk and eggs from spoiling except with a cooler filled with ice. In your case, you can keep your eggs and milk safe and hopefully already have a deep freezer for your freezer needs.

My water dispenser is starting to do its thing: not always passing water. I think that means that the water tank in the refrigerator is freezing up, which MAY be a sign that the evaporator in the refrigerator is icing up. OR, there's also a supplemental heater next to the tank to keep it from freezer. It could be that little system that's having issues. I'll test everything then next time I have the back panel removed, but for now, why interrupt things while everything else is working?

Best of luck.
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