[sbfw4]

I have a 3 year old Samsung refrigeator RS2544SL which I bought at Costco. For the last year or so I have been having problems the condenser (or evaporator dont know the exact name it is in the refrigerator compartemnt and it is where the freon flows through) keeps freezing up and water eventually spills out the front of the refrigerator. This refrigerator has two evaporators one in the freezer and one in the refrigerator (it is a side by side) with one compressor. I brought a technician over and he told me the PBA Main was bad and not going throught the defrost cycle. So I purchased a PBA Main on the internet, and I also placed a voltage regulator at his recomendation (I did this myself). Also I replaced the fan motor in the refrigerator compartment (as this is how I know the fridge is starting to freeze as the blades of the fan hit the ice build up and start to make noise). The ice still builds up and the drain clogs with ice and I have to take it apart and empty it out it forms a block of ice of about 4 inches high and 12 inches wide at the bottom of the evaporator where the drain is. I thought that maybe the drain was clogged but I keep cleaning it to no avail, plus it is hard to do as the drain curbs and is narrow and it is hard for me to it (any suggestions on what to use to clean it are welcome). Also this does not explain the ice build up on the fan which sits above the evaporator and on the plastic cover with styrofoam, as this always freezes. I noticed there is a heating element on the cover where the fan is attached to and between the plastic cover and the styrofoam could this cause the freezing it sits exactly in front of the condenser after the styrofoam. I do not want to keep buying parts and maybe I dont need them, I never had this problem before as the defrost cycle wasnt happening and all of the ice build up was on the evaporator, but know that the defrost cycle seems to be taking place it now freezes above the drain and freezes the drain also. Hope this is enough info and your suggestions are most welcom :

[denman]

Here is a link to the parts breakdown
Maytag RS2544SL

Here are some links
RS2544 series service manual- http://www.servicematters.com/maytag...cs/SAM0060.pdf

RS2544 wiring- http://www.servicematters.com/maytag...0309033301.pdf

RS2544SL defrost heater info- http://www.servicematters.com/maytag...0051129001.pdf
This looks like bad news, seems to indicate that the defrost heater is not replaceable.

I did notice that in the parts breakdown it shows a Drain Heater Item 42 in the Freezer Compartment section but could not see this in the manual
Could not locate a heater by the fan diagram just shows a sensor

The ice buildup you have seems excessive
I would check the ice maker for a leak and also the door seals for air leakage

The defrost was working when the unit was new otherwise your freezer would not work after a couple days, it is probably not working properly now.

The first thing to check would be to run the diagnostics
Force a defrost cycle, freezer should be cold for this to work
If the defrost heater does not go on, next would be the thermal fuse/heater continuity. The thermal fuse would be the prime suspect.

You will need a volt/ohm meter to check components.
You will have to be fairly proficient at DIY repairs, this is a complex unit.

Hopefully the above info will be helpful and with a little luck someone with experience on this unit will jump in and give more precise help

[PS Staff - Sheila]

sbfw4

Please post your response back on the forums or it will not be seen.

[jay1028]

I have a Samsung RS267LASH from Lowes and have the same problem. It is just out of warranty at one year and one month. The tech came out and replaced the thermal overload device with a resettable bi-metal device. While he was working, I got out my old Simpson 260 and checked the old part. It was not bad. When I told him that the part he removed and replaced with a generic part was OK, his reply was that was what the was told to do. I did not think anything was going to change.

It is now over four weeks and still no frige. It froze up in three days after he left. All I get from the service center is that Samsung is not giving them any help. He spoke of a defrost timer part and the defrost heater. I ohmed the defrost heater ( the silver tubing in front of the evaporator coil and an integral part of the evaporator coil) and it read 250 ohms.

As denman has posted a similar wiring diagram, I found the defrost heater is powered from the line voltage (110v). After unplugging the defrost heater connector, I applied 70vac from an old transformer I had lying around and the defrost heater melted the ice buildup in five minutes.

So the only conclusion to draw is that the PBA Main board is bad since it directly (through a relay) controls the defrost heater cycle. I will be getting on a conference call this morning with Samsung and the service people to get this resolved. Will post results.


http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/g...47/RS267L1.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg52/jay1047/2.jpg
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg52/jay1047/1.jpg

[PS Staff - Sheila]

When you applied power to the heater was the defrost bi-metal still in series with the heater?

Check the continuity of the bi-metal.

The bi-metal must be cold to be checked.

If the bi-metal is good then it is the control board that will have to be replaced.

Here is a link to your fridge model RS267LASH.

[jay1028]

The heater, an integral part of the evap assy, has a two pin connector and I applied power to the connector once it was unplugged from the inside back of the fridge. The bi-metal has it own two pin connector that plugs in next to it and also the defrost sensor (45). The repair tech replaced the thermo fuse with the bi-metal per {he says] Samsung directions. The bi-metal reads zero ohms as it is cold and is attached with two tie wraps to the evap coil.

UPDATE: Yesterday the tech showed up with the PBA DA41-00104W control board which I asked him to bring after looking at the wiring diagram to determine that this circuit board controls the defrost function. Well, I don't have a good feeling about the PBA he installed. It was in the usual anti-static bag that static sensitive electronics are distributed in. The bag was already opened and was showing a little wear. I fear that the board could have come out of another unit or was tried to repair another unit and may not be fully functional as there is no way for us to test it other than wait to see if the defrost function returns. The tech stated that they still have two other Samsung fridges with the same problem that they have been unable to resolve.

I refuse to give in and go out and buy another brand fridge. This one is only 14 months old and is repairable in my opinion. If the PBA doesn't resolve the problem, it is simply a bad PBA unit. It can be seen from the wiring diagram in my previous post that the PBA is the only thing that controls the defrost heater.

[jay1028]

Four days after the PBA Main board was replaced, there is no longer a solid block of ice at the bottom of the evaporator. There is frost and ice more toward the top of the coil, see evap2.jpg link below. I am not knowledgeable enough to know if this is normal looking. Should there be no ice formations or is this acceptable? Sheila?
Or is this going to get worse with time?

The fridge and freezer are at their set temperatures and no strange noises are noticed. Don't know if this is fixed or not. It is a good sign that the bottom of the coil is not blocked like the other photos have shown, but I am concerned about the icing in the new area.


http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/g...1047/evap2.jpg

[PS Staff - Sheila]

Well it is not as bad but you should not have clumps of ice.

There should be an even frost pattern over the entire evaporator coil.

Was the evaporator completely defrosted when it was start back up?

[jay1028]

Yes. It was defrosted and dry. There was frost all over the coil that may not be visible in the photo. In the time it took to get the camera ready ( 4 mins) some frost had gone away.

[PS Staff - Sheila]

You will likely have to wait and see how your fridge works for the next little while but that much ice does not look right.

Keep me posted on how it is working.