I have a Samsung RS2556SH refrigerator that needs a new defrost heater on the refrigerator side. Does anyone know if I can buy JUST the defrost heater, or do I need to replace the entire evaporator?

Dear Fellow DTY,

My Samsung RS253BASB/XAA needed a new defrost heater according to the authorized repairman, and he said he would have to cut coil( it is called evaporator combo, #52 part AP4136651, $39.48 in diagram #10) lines if he fixed it. I bought the evaporator unit with defroster attached(about $43.00), That is only way to get it, and gently bent fins to release heater and reattached it to unit.
It then worked about 3-4 months and started to freeze up again and temp in refrig went up to 50+F. I ran a fan inside it at times and was able to get it to defrost and then work a few days at a time, but hard to keep temp constant and worried about safety of food. Not sure now what it needs unless defroster keeps burning out. First sign of trouble for us was water stopped since it was frozenat first replaced thermo defrost, temp probe, water heater then defrost heater as I mentioned above. Now thinking it may be defrost clock which I believe is a circuit board that costs around $70.00.

Samsung has been no help at all and our unit was only a little over 2 years old when this all started.

Hope this helped and you get it working. We finally bought a new refrig Sunday when the water filter broke and flooded the home. I may still try to repair but unsure if it is worth it.

Just found this great link by ER where he has pictures and show sand tells how to replace defroster.
Samsung Refrigerator Heater Repair (RN's site)

Sincerely,
Rick