Brand:Samsung Model Number:RF4287HABP Main Symptom: What happens & when:Food in refrigerator & flex drawer freezing
Error Code (if any):
Parts or tests already tried:Flex drawer set at warmest setting, refrigerator set at 45. Initially it started with food in flex drawer freezing, but getting worse with vegetables in crisper drawers now freezing. We shut off the breaker for about 20 minutes to allow control board to reboot. We would like to try a manual defrost, but user manual does not give instructions for this and what I found on AI (hold Freezer & Lighting buttons for 8 seconds until you hear a beep, then toggle to RD (Refrigerator Defrost) is not working. Please send instructions on doing a manual defrost for this model, an exploded parts diagram and any tech sheets to assist. Possibly damper door is frozen open so wanted to try manual defrost, if this does not resolve issue, considering the motorized damper door is malfunctioning or temperature sensor (thermistor) could be bad. Please also send your comments on how to resolve this issue. Is this a common problem with Samsung Twin Cooling refrigerators? Trying to save my fresh produce from freezing. Thank you!
Photos / video link:
This is an update for the technicians to my question sent yesterday. We were never able to initiate a manual defrost, but turning off the breaker for 20 minutes has kept the bowl of water I put in the flex drawer as a test not to freeze. But I will explain why the freezing in the flex drawer and refrigerator is not fixed. A month ago, all the produce in the flex drawer froze and remained frozen for a couple weeks. We were going out of town, so I just left the frozen produce in the flex drawer. When we returned the produce had defrosted and was slush. We get a lot of power outages where we live and I believe that a power outage allowed a reset or something to defrost in the unit allowing food in the flex drawer to defrost. After returning, I threw out the spoiled produce and put fresh produce in the flex drawer which started to freeze again. Turning off the breaker (or power outage) keeps food in the flex drawer from freezing for a short while, but eventually the food starts freezing again. I am attaching photos taken today showing frozen water in the bottom of the refrigerator cabinet (just under the vegetable crispers) with refrigerator set at 45 degrees and freezer at 2 degrees. Please note where my finger is pointing that it appears to be mold on the back wall where water has run down the back wall, indicating this problem has been going on for awhile. My suspicions are either the motor on the damper door is not working or the damper door is being frozen open or the temperature sensor is not functioning but we would like your detailed input on what to test first. My husband has several Fluke meters, was an electro/mechanical technician and has repaired our washing machines and electric ovens down to board level. We purchased the Samsung service manual for this model (RF4287HABP/XAA) but need your assistance on where to start.
Update: I removed the ice from the bottom of the refrigerator cavity to expose the pool of water underneath. I came back several hours later to clean up the pool of water but it had drained somehow. I used full strength white vinegar and a white nonabrasive scrubbie pad to clean up what I thought was mold, but it did not come off so it does not appear to be mold. Waiting for your direction to diagnose the problem. Thank you!
These had a know issue with the fridge section drain getting clogged, causing ice build-up on the fridge evap, water under the crispers, and causing the fan to stop, but that usually results in a no cooling situation.
It makes it easier since you’ve already got the service manual. The first thing I’d do is go to page 59 and run the self-diagnostics to check for codes.
I’d suspect that either the flex room’s temperature sensor is reading incorrectly or the flex room damper is stuck open.
That temperature sensor is built into the flex room right hand rail DA97-08809C and the damper is DA97-08430A at the bottom of the fridge section.
If you access the damper you should be able to visually check if it is open or not.
We followed the instructions for 2) Self-diagnostic function during normal operation on the bottom of page 59. When we pressed the Energy Saver Key + Lighting Key simultaneously for 8 seconds, we got the buzzer sound ‘ding-dong’. The attached photo is what displayed. It does not appear to be an error code, but a display function of load condition. The code in the Freezer position is 88 as the segment at the top of the second 8 is burnt out on our display.
Previous to your initial reply, I had tried several times pressing the Energy Saver + Lighting Key simultaneously. If anything had appeared it was so quick that my brain could not register it.
The service manual states “If there is an error, display of error will be operated for 30 seconds and then return to normal condition whether problem is corrected or not.” Does this mean the error code will be erased? If so, possibly the error code was erased when I tried this step several times before receiving your initial reply.
Otherwise when the manual states, “If there is an error, display of error will be operated for 30 seconds and then return to normal condition whether problem is corrected or not.”, does this mean the display will return to normal function, but the error code will be saved/stored until the problem is corrected?
The manufacturer made this diagnostic mode overly complicated but I’m not finding anything indicating that as a code or function, so I’d say whatever codes might have been in there have been cleared.
At this point I heavily suspect that the thermistor for the flex room is reading out of range and causing it to over cool which eventually causes the fridge section to over cool as well since it is supplying the flex room.
You might try going to the main control board in the back to take a resistance reading.
I would sandwich a thermometer between items in the flex room first. Then, unplug the fridge and access the control board.
On that board you are looking for connectors CN76 and CN30, disconnect those. The wiring diagram for this model is on page 126 of the service manual, that should help in identifying the connectors.
Take a resistance reading on the disconnected harnesses from the grey wire on the CN76 connector to the yellow wire on the CN30 connector, this resistance reading should be in the kΩ range. Reference the reading you are getting to the thermistor chart on page 67 of the service manual to see what temperature the sensor is reading, then reference that reading to what your thermometer in the flex room is reading. If that sensor reading is more than 5°+/- of the actual temperature then the thermistor is bad and that right side rail I referenced in the earlier post will need to be replaced.
Thank you for sending these troubleshooting steps. We haven’t had a chance to try it yet. In my previous messages, I described and sent photos of the pool of water and ice that was sitting in the bottom of the refrigerator cabinet (under the crisper drawers). I cleaned the water up a week ago and checked it a day or two later and no water had returned. But last night, I removed the right crisper drawer to see if the water had accumulated again and IT HAS! This time there is a pool of water but it was not frozen like last time. I am attaching new photos and as I mentioned previously, please notice where my finger is pointing in the photo to the dark discoloration on the back cabinet wall where it appears the water is flowing in from. Where is this water coming from? And what is causing it to do this? Please send troubleshooting steps and/or page references to the service manual for this model. Thank you!
I will also say that the issue you are experiencing with the middle drawer is probably exacerbating the water under the crispers in the fridge section.
