Samsung RFG297AARS died

[Deldolfan]

Looking for assistance. I have a Samsung RFG297AARS french door refrigerator that my wife had to have. Purchased in May 2009. Have had a couple of issues. About a year ago I started noticing water accumulating under the Deli drawer. At times this area would freeze and come out in a sheet. Could not find a drain in the bottom and Followed Samsungs recommondation to keep fridge at 38 degrees. According to them this unit maintains a high himidity level to keep food fresher. That didn't work and have just dealt with it. Last weekend my wife noticed the ice cream was soft. I had to head out of town and by Wednesday the unit wasn't cooling at all. Out of warrantee for everything but the sealed system. I started to diagnose it. On the label on the back shows a few self diagnosis things to do. Have attached a picture. Ran the self test and the display showed 88 88 which I assume means everything was okay. Wasn't clear on how to do the other test but I think I figured it out. What the heck is compulsion working anyway??? So I opened up the control board cover in the back and saw two boards. One evidently is the main control and the other an invertor board. There is a LED on the inverter board. Plugged the unit back in an the LED flashed in two times in multiple successions. From the label this shows some SPM fault. Checked the connections and all apear to be intact. After a few minutes, the LED stayed on and I heard a few clicks and a damper moving. The compressor started and sounded fine, but then sounded like someone hit the brakes and slowly slowed down and stopped. Unplugged again and this time the LED flashed one time in succession. After a few minutes compressor tried to start but just sort of clunked a few times. Repeated this test and a repeat of the first example happened. Compressor never continued to run. So can either be an inverter board issue or a compressor I assume. Anyway to test further? I also pulled apart the inner panel of the fridge and saw the source of the water under the Deli tray. Comes from a drain pan under the coil inside the fridge. Area was pretty rusted. Maybe related to each other. I know if a home HVAC compressor looses charge, the coils will freeze up. Mayeb the same thing has been happening over time with the inside coils freezing up and blocking the drain. Sorry for the long message but in panic mode to get this fixed. Earliest appointment is Dec 31!!! since Samsung had released the majority of the authorized warrantee service centers. Thanks for your help in advance!!!

[JWWebster]

I never worked on one of these but I removed a board from a GE once and found a loose solder connection on the relay that sent power down to the compressor. I used a cheap solder iron to secure the connection and re installed the board. She is still running now for about 6 months or so. Maybe you oughta remove the boards and look for loose soldier connections. My theory is they don't put lead in soldier no more so a lot of these welds are coming loose from high temp areas on board.

[sherlocktk]

Your fridge seems very similar to mine (but not in the problem)

On the inverter board, it holds a "charge" for about 40 seconds after the unit is unplugged.  Mine got mad at me for only unplugging the fridge for 5 seconds to re-attach the motor leads.  As far as the compressor changing speeds thats "normal"  This is why there is an inverter board on these fancy fridges vs the $500 specials.  The compressor runs at 3 speeds.  high medium and low.  The fast track troubleshooting that I referenced below tells you how to force it. 

If you could do me a favor (which is entirely un-related to your problem, but would help in my problem posted in the other samsung fridge thread that is active) Can you check what size of fuse is installed on the inverter board?

Check this "fast track troubleshooting" manual.  Not for your exact model but I beleive it to be similar based on the picture you submitted. http://appliancejunk.com/forums/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=340
  That should give you some good places to start. 

[Deldolfan]

Thanks for the replies.  Sherlocktk, will check out the fuse.  This not working was driving me nuts so did pull it out again and started checking things.  At this point display was flashing both numbers and compressor not running at all.  Unplugged the unit and pulled the invertor board to check solder joints.  Everything looked normal and fuse was okay.  Plugged it in again and things sounded normal.  Compressor started and then slowed down but not to the point of stoppage before.  Forced the compressor test and I think there was a slight difference in noise at each setting  but never as full speed as in intitial start up.  Will pull it out again and check voltages/resistance etc and see if I can pin point it down.  Thanks for your help

[MajorApp]

Another SamDung refrigerator. They should have stuck with TV's and cellphones.

[JWWebster]

SamDung Lol good one

[sherlocktk]

Well if the compresssor forced test mode made it work then you know your compressor board is working properly and the compressor itself is working as expected. Basically you have something telling our main circuit board that you have bogus information.  I would start with checking the defroster circuits to make sure it's working right. I think that fourth setting in the compressor test is turn defroster on. That would be a good place to start next. If that works then you know all your physical components are working good now you jus need to test your various sensors and find the culprit

[Deldolfan]

Thanks for the reply.  Just got home from a very very long day.  Have not had a chance to dwell into it further.  I did indeed run the forced compressor test, but even running it on high for 5 minutes did not chill any lines nor coils.  Although the compressor iteself felt warm.  Could it be that it has leaked the freon?  I mean there  is nothing except the fan running and the compressor running at very low speed.  Display shows 72 degrees in freezer section and 69 in fridge (set at -2 and 38).  I will try and get the fuse info for you and will run some resistance tests  as well.

[Deldolfan]

You are not going to believe this.  Called Samsung today and laid into them about not sending a tech over as promised yesterday.  They saw from my file that this was supposed to be done.  Evidently with Samsung removing most of the certified techs, the closest one was over 40 miles away.  I got escalated to Priority personal service who said the reason was that there was not a tech in the area that was willing to come.  They tried to call a few others and same issue.  I live in Wilmington De, but podunk UT (sorry UTians).  So they escalated it to the executive personal service who said their only option was the exchange program.  Huh??!  Asked me where we purchased it (Best Buy) and said hold on.  Got back on the line and told me Best Buy in North Wilm would be contacting me about an exchange.  Exchange?  Holy Shit!  I said you know this unit is 2 1/2 years old and out of warrantee.  They said yes.  They will exchange it.  So went there tonight and the new one will arrive on Next Tuesday.  Had the option of going with the second drawer but wasn't sure.  Any thoughts?  Looks more organizable, but also looks like you lose both freezer and fridge space.  Sad thing is I may never know what caused this one to fail.

[AJ]

Exchange?  Holy poop!  I said you know this unit is 2 1/2 years old and out of warrantee.  They said yes.  They will exchange it.

That's awesome. 


You going to purchase the extended warranty on the new one?

[MajorApp]

  The good news is you get a new refrigerator. The bad news is that it's another SamDung.

[whirlpooltech]

  The good news is you get a new refrigerator. The bad news is that it's another SamDung.

lol... see if best buy will give you in store credit for it and you can buy a different brand.

[wildimaginations]

The reason you got the new one is because your problem is sealed system related.  Since many of Samsung's authorized servicers have been canned and no one is willing to go to your area, they're better off replacing the unit.  I've seen this problem before and the Samsung tech support tells us to replace the inverter board first.  If the board doesn't resolve the issue, replace the compressor.  There is no test procedure to see if the inverter board is good or not.  The flashing LED light says it's trying to start the compressor.  That's all.

Since Samsung cannot provide warranty service for your area, you may want to follow the advise of whirlpooltech and see if you can get store credit towards another brand that warranty service can provide.  Ask the sales rep who can service the different models and call that company to see if they will come out to your area before buying the product.

Good luck.

[Deldolfan]

According to the guy at Best Buy it had to be another Samsung.  But will check into that today if it is indeed the case.  If I can go with another brand, have you had better luck with LG or something like that?  I know my wife is determined to keep the french door style.  Thanks to all that tried to help.  I will get the info on the fuse before they haul it away.

[wildimaginations]

I work on LG's a lot because people know me as an authorized servicer.  As for Samsung, even though I'm still an authorized servicer, I get no work from Samsung.  The work I do get is referrals from Lowes stores because I'm more local and know the department manager there. 

Hope everything works out for you.