FIXED RB217 Samsung water in bottom of refrigerator

[buzz999]

Question re: drain strap vs. Whirlpool probe, & anyone care to clarify fix?

Very illuminating thread. Same issue in my house: water pooling and then icing under produce trays, which leads to water inside the trays themselves from condensation ("warm" trays living a quarter inch above the ice). Can't see evidence of a leak coming through the components inside the panel, but I'm sure it's the same issue.

Question:

You who have fixed it on your own, are you ordering the Whirlpool probe, or the drain strap, or both? Someone posted a link to the drain strap here, but I don't see any link to the Whirlpool probe.

There is a lot of great information here, but I don't see that one post with a definitive fix. Sorry if I missed it. Would appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction.

Thank you all!

 

[Urlik]

Very illuminating thread. Same issue in my house: water pooling and then icing under produce trays, which leads to water inside the trays themselves from condensation ("warm" trays living a quarter inch above the ice). Can't see evidence of a leak coming through the components inside the panel, but I'm sure it's the same issue.

Question:

You who have fixed it on your own, are you ordering the Whirlpool probe, or the drain strap, or both? Someone posted a link to the drain strap here, but I don't see any link to the Whirlpool probe.

There is a lot of great information here, but I don't see that one post with a definitive fix. Sorry if I missed it. Would appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction.

Thank you all!

They are two different names for the same item. Good luck with the repair.

 

[ruoknow]

Finished replacing with Whirlpool 819043 Heat Probe

Just wanted to contribute to make this tread more resourceful.
Replacing part is relatively straightforward. The ice plug is pretty long, i repeatably poured in some hot water (wiped dry after the water cools down) and agitated with something flexible and long enough. It took about 20min to a full thaw. I then removed the aluminum tape, blow dry, clean up at the bottom and cover with new aluminum tape. The images posted are so helpful, so I was kind of prepared for everything I was about to see.
The caveat is after replacing with the whirlpool part and powering the system back up. There is an error with defrosting sensor part ("R1C" code by user manual = right leg blinking of the right 8). The error won't reset/clear by itself or by unplug/plug. I have online chatted with Samsung service rep and was given the instructions by unplug/plug, it didn't work to clear the code. I gave up but still kept the system running and wife called and setup a visit with appliance insurance company. The error goes away after the system reaches the default temperatures (-2F for F and 38F for R).
So, be prepared/don't panic if you have this error after service the part.

 

[kfanciu]

I got the whirlpool probe part yesterday and installed it today. What I did was slide the original Samsung probe over a few inches since I didn't want to risk damaging anything drilling out a rivet. I then put the new probe down into the drain then brought it up behind the defrost element and hung it on it. Then I took needle nose pliers to clamp it to the element as best I could. It's not quite as tight as the Samsung one but the wider width sitting on the element makes me think it won't matter. I did not bother using a screw or rivet on the probe since it won't go anywhere hanging there.

After reading your advice and that of others in this thread, I ordered the Whirlpool part and installed it today. The installation was very simple with the instructions here. Looking forward to this fixing the pooling water in the bottom of our fridge! Thanks for your help!

 

[slidxe]

I just wanted to say thanks to mikek753 for that solution.... going one week so far without any water build up. The hard part about taking the back panel off was there was ice all over the styrofoam and the fridge so I kinda broke some of the styrofoam in the process.... If you could turn off the fridge for a night and let all the ice all melt that would probably be best then install the part. Ill try to report back a month later.

Fridge Model: RF197ACRS/XAC

 

[RedX]

Samsung for some reason thought it was smart to have the ice maker over ride the cooling system. what does this mean? If the ice maker is not filling up the bucket, the unit keeps cooling to produce more ice. So if the ice maker is on with no water hooked to refrigerator, or very slow water feed to ref causing small cubes (meaning very long to fill bucket), or you have a household of 7 and ice is getting used 24/7. All of these types of problems causes the ice maker continue to try to fill the bucket. The main board sees this and keeps cooling. Even though you might have the ref set at 36 and 0, it over rides this and over cools making the unit 30 & -10. Too cold temps cause the drain to freeze

 

[Joe051060]

Hi everyone,

I have a samsung fridge with the water under the drawers in the bottom of the fridge. It is an RB195 about 2 yrs. old. It's the one with the evap mounted in the middle of the back. I expected to find a frozen evap drain but it has no ice, I can hear the water hitting the tray on the bottom when I pour it in the tube? The foam insulation behind the cover is swollen from water freezing on it, I believe the water I'm finding on the bottom is from condensation between the metal sheet and the foam insulation as it is on the opposite side of the tray/trough that funnels the condensate into the drain. Has anyone else had the water puddling up in the bottom but no ice in the drain when they remove the evap cover? Does anyone know if there's an updated cover design to direct that inevitable condensate into the evap drain? Has anyone engineered a "field service repair" for this issue maybe?
This site has been really helpful with this issue, thanks to everyone who took the time to post their experiences even though it seems this is a design flaw on at least two levels.

 

[Urlik]

I just checked, mine is still dry as a bone at the bottom.

Over a year and still bone dry on the bottom.

 

[deboyer]

A&E has a horrible reputation. I had the same problem, thought my filter was leaking. Called a local appliance repair (I'm very happy with them after this repair).

My refrigerator was soggy and the back panel was replaced however the repairman said the problem is caused by a design defect in the Samsung. The heater that defrosts the drain sits at the top of the drain only. If water freezes in the drain it will never defrost it. My guy attached an 8" piece of copper wire to the heat sink and fed it into the drain. Said he's repaired a good many of these and this creative solution usually resolves the problem.

 

[jilldlenn]

Thank you to all in this forum. I just started noticing water in the bins at the bottom of the fridge. Called Samsung and they seemed to have no idea what might be causing it. I then found this forum! That's when I checked under the bins and sure enough - all kinds of water! I intend to go back and push them but suspect it will do nothing. At least I have some things to tell my "real" repairman when he comes out!

 

[starfightr104]

OURS IS FIXED!

I had the same problem with my Samsung RF217 (water in veggie bins). I defrosted the unit, and removed the panel covering the cooling coils using the excellent guidance in this Forum. I see the root of the problem as the drain hole below the cooling coils freezing over, causing an overflow of the water melted off the coils during the daily defrost cycle. This overflow water runs to the bottom of the refrigerator and into the veggie bins.

The small tab on the bottom of the defrost element is not sufficient (as designed) to keep the drain hole clear. First, it is easy to dislodge this so it is not properly aligned with the drain hole. Second, it doesn't reach into the hole itself.

I took a short length of bare copper wire (stripped a piece of ordinary 14 guage Romex house wire, but any solid strand CU wire of similar thickness should do), and wrapped it around the screw on the tab. I then placed the wire into the drain hole, so it reached down the hole a few inches. The idea is to get good metal-to-metal contact between the CU wire and the tab. Whenever the defrost element heats up, the wire does, too, keeping the drain hole free.

I did not wrap the wire around the element itself, because I wasn't certain it would not get too hot and possibly melt the plastic drain hole. It might work that way, but I don't know how hot these things get.

This fix should be easy for the average do-it-yourselfer, and costs nothing. I've had no further problems for over a year now.

Needless to say, a well-engineered unit would not have this issue. Providing a good drain for a defrost cycle should be a no-brainer.

(click to enlarge)


Good luck!

 

[ben96cal]

Stupid question but... I have the part now how do I remove the old heating probe? It doesn't look like a screw or a small allen.. I tried pulling it apart with my hand and that didn't work either.

 

[starfightr104]

I'm not sure what you mean by heating probe. In any case, I didn't actually remove anything but the plastic cover to access the coils in the rear of the refrigerator (of course after removing the shelves etc.) As described in the advice and photos found elsewhere in this forum, there is a fragile styrofoam piece behind the plastic cover. This needs to come off also, so be careful. If you have removed this, you should see the refrigeration coils, and a defrost element that kinda looks like an oven element that runs around the refrigeration coils. At the bottom of this heating element is the little tab I refer to in my picture. I don't actually remember if the tab is attached with a screw, or a rivet. No matter, you don't need to remove this tab. Just wrap and twist your copper wire around this tab and/or the heating element, and feed the wire end into the drain hole. Any method you come up with will be fine, as long as you have a fairly tight metal-to-metal contact with the wire and the warm parts of the defrost element and/or tab.

For me, the hardest part was being patient enough to completely defrost the coils before trying to remove the cover. If there is still ice, it will stick to the styrofoam panel and you will break it. If you do break it, you might be able to repair it with some good wide tape. I used metal duct tape.

Good luck.

(There's no such thing as stupid questions...only stupid answers ;-o

 

[Jimrockames]

I signed up to this forum just so I could thank everyone. I did buy the heat probe from the local appliance repair person that I normally use but he wouldn't work on a Samsung because they won't offer any support even to the professionals! I cut the old one off with wire cutters, it was riveted together. I also tried cleaning the drain with bleach and threw in some soap in case it is a growth of some sort. The guy that cleaned it out suggested the soap and it made sense because it had only been a month since it was cleaned out.

 

[OptimusPrime331]

Hey all, I got here because I have the same problem, a Samsung fridge lol. Same water in the pantry door but mine doesn't ice up, tech pulls the cover off and its all clear. He was here yesterday or a second time and finished a sealing kit and a different drain I think. Samsung thinks every time you open the door it sucks in enough humidity to cause condensation that will find ts way to the drawer or under it so they approved the seal kit. Well, thats not it cause its not slowed it down at all, I leave the drawer out and put a big towel in the to soak it up, easier than pulling it out with water in it. Twice now he's checked it by pouring water into the drain, it disappears! I guess that means its not clogged. Any ideas???

Mine's a RFG297HDRS/XAA

 

[OptimusPrime331]

Oh and also I have had this same tech twice before to figure out why I have clear/white particles the come off the ice cubes. First they sent me a new ice bucket and then the tech came and replaced the ice maker, didn't help, still there. Get a half full large glass of cubes then pour it full with water, look at it the light, whole bunch of little dandruff-like particles floating that eventually settles to the bottom. I even went to their website and click on the "Email the CEO" button to complain...waste of time...you get a secreatary or something.

 

[Stephen White]

OURS IS FIXED!

I had the same problem with my Samsung RF217 (water in veggie bins). I defrosted the unit, and removed the panel covering the cooling coils using the excellent guidance in this Forum. I see the root of the problem as the drain hole below the cooling coils freezing over, causing an overflow of the water melted off the coils during the daily defrost cycle. This overflow water runs to the bottom of the refrigerator and into the veggie bins.

The small tab on the bottom of the defrost element is not sufficient (as designed) to keep the drain hole clear. First, it is easy to dislodge this so it is not properly aligned with the drain hole. Second, it doesn't reach into the hole itself.

I took a short length of bare copper wire (stripped a piece of ordinary 14 guage Romex house wire, but any solid strand CU wire of similar thickness should do), and wrapped it around the screw on the tab. I then placed the wire into the drain hole, so it reached down the hole a few inches. The idea is to get good metal-to-metal contact between the CU wire and the tab. Whenever the defrost element heats up, the wire does, too, keeping the drain hole free.

I did not wrap the wire around the element itself, because I wasn't certain it would not get too hot and possibly melt the plastic drain hole. It might work that way, but I don't know how hot these things get.

This fix should be easy for the average do-it-yourselfer, and costs nothing. I've had no further problems for over a year now.

Needless to say, a well-engineered unit would not have this issue. Providing a good drain for a defost cycle should be a no-brainer.

Good luck!

Thanks for the detailed instructions for those of us who don't want to hunt down the new part! I actually love the fridge (we have the low profile french door model) but this issue with the drain plug is a PITA. I'm glad the solution was so easy to find (mainly because of how rampant the problem is and the kind folks who post the solution on the interwebs. Will report back and let folks know how the repair goes.

 

[Stephen White]

Wired up and ready to go!

Thanks for the detailed instructions for those of us who don't want to hunt down the new part! I actually love the fridge (we have the low profile french door model) but this issue with the drain plug is a PITA. I'm glad the solution was so easy to find (mainly because of how rampant the problem is and the kind folks who post the solution on the interwebs. Will report back and let folks know how the repair goes.

Followed the instructions above, and added some copper wire from a spool of basic 110v household wire, wrapped around the heating coil rather than the drain plug thingy. See attached photo. Now crossing my fingers!

FYI, it did take a good 20 minutes of draining the hole with a plastic syringe, adding hot water, draining, etc... The drain hole was frozen quite a ways down. I had worried that it was blocked in some other way but when it drained, I breathed a sigh of relief. Thanks for the great postings!

 

[geofite]

Followed the instructions above, and added some copper wire from a spool of basic 110v household wire, wrapped around the heating coil rather than the drain plug thingy. See attached photo. Now crossing my fingers!

FYI, it did take a good 20 minutes of draining the hole with a plastic syringe, adding hot water, draining, etc... The drain hole was frozen quite a ways down. I had worried that it was blocked in some other way but when it drained, I breathed a sigh of relief. Thanks for the great postings!

View attachment 19171

Will the copper wire cause galvanic corrosion by comming in contact with aluminum and water? It is better to use aluminum wire. You can buy a roll of it at home depot for 3 dollars. This is what I'm going to do to fix the same problem with my samsung fridge, I bought aluminum wire and I'm going to run it down the aluminum channel as you have pictured. The replacement part for this problem is made of aluminum so using copper wire that will be in constant contact with water and aluminum for this application will cause galvanic corrosion.

But, thanks for the great tip of running a wire from the heating element down to the drainage channel. I'll post pictures of my repair with the aluminum wire.

 

[geofite]

I changed my mind about using an aluminum wire.

I repaired my clogged drain today. I ordered a drain clip and installed it. It was very easy to do.



I removed the old clip by cutting it with wire cutters, and then simply installed the new one. The new one goes down the drain hole quite a bit further than the old one.

You can buy the clip off of the internet.

In the USA.
Samsung DA61-06796A Clip-Drain Evap Ref;cull - AppliancePartsPros.com

In Canada.
Clip DA61-06796A Order now for same day shipping. 365 day return policy. RepairClinic.com