Non-motoring > Fridge Freezer Leak Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Bobby Replies: 54

 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
I have a large Samsung “American style” fridge freezer. Freezer left side and fridge right side.

Have noticed a small pool of water forming on the kitchen floor at the very left front corner of the freezer side. Can’t work out where this is coming from. It’s not a plumbed in unit so no water pipes etc.

Logic would say Water can’t leak out the freezer as, well, it’s ice in there and not liquid. It does not seem to be physically coming out either of the fridge or freezer sides. No sign of any wet patches or drip marks.

It’s always at the same point. I obviously can’t tilt the unit back to see what is underneath.

Anyone able to give any logical explanation of what might be going on here?

Cheers
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Zero
Yes, your fridge part has a water drain (or some other form of evaporator) in it, it should drip down onto a heated plate (on the refridgeration pump probably)

The drain is blocked. Check the back of the inside of the fridge, for where the moisture should drain.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Kevin
How long have you had it? If it's more than about 5 years old there is a known problem with the fridge defrost setup on units with dual circuit cooling.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
Have had it for 13 years now.

Zero, the back of the unit is totally sealed apart from an access compartment about a foot from the bottom. Had a look in there. Seems to have a fan that’s going, some sort of “unit” Maybe condenser? And lots of “vanes” which although had a build up of fluff on it, the insides looked pretty clean.

No sign of any pipe work of any sort other than sealed refrigerant type?
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Zero

>> No sign of any pipe work of any sort other than sealed refrigerant type?

you are looking for a drain hole, under the heat sink (the vanes)
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Fullchat
What Z says. Auto defrost involves water dripping into catch tray at rear on the inside. It’s then routed onto a tray above the warm compressor and evaporates. Some dirt if blockage like a random pea.
Last edited by: Fullchat on Sun 26 Mar 23 at 22:00
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
Just discovered on the inside of the fridge at the back there are two vents and one is blocked with a build up of ice.
Fridge is set to 3 degrees but I will increase this to 7 degrees to see if it helps to defrost this ice any.
Otherwise it’s empty fridge time and start pouring hot water over it! And lots of towels!
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Zero
3c is too cold, should run your fridge at about 5 or 6 c
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bromptonaut
>> 3c is too cold, should run your fridge at about 5 or 6 c

In my mind I'd say that was about right - milk at 3 degrees is too cold for your Cornflakes!!

However we've just acquired a Beko fridge freezer to replace the 25yo Bosch installed the day we moved into this house. The lowest shelf, over the salad bin, is expressly designed to be close to zero as a chiller space for fresh meat etc.

Unlike the Bosch though you cannot set a temperature, it's just got settings 1-5.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Zero
>> However we've just acquired a Beko fridge freezer to replace the 25yo Bosch installed the
>> day we moved into this house. The lowest shelf, over the salad bin, is expressly
>> designed to be close to zero as a chiller space for fresh meat etc.

Fridges do have zones of temperature*. Which is why they try and direct you to stick various foods in various parts, by design or instruction. Means set it at 3c at the sensor, some other part of the fridge is going to be below 0c to keep it there.

*Food is in the way to disrupt airflow, door is opened more frequently, foods have different mass and are in and out, so a fridge cant maintain a uniform temperature. Unlike a freezer set at say -18c, you can be sure most of the stuff has a good chance to cold soak down to that temp.
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 27 Mar 23 at 08:34
 Fridge Freezer Leak - smokie
Hmmm if by acquired you mean bought a new one you will see an instant effect on your electricity bills v. a 25 yo one. I forget how much but I think my new freezer used about a third of what the old one did, and was going to pay for itself in around a year - and that was when costs were a bit lower!

This page wasn't far out for my 33 yo freezer, I was able to get the precise figures by using a plug in device to show consumption over a period.

www.sust-it.net/running-costs-of-old-appliances.php
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bromptonaut
>> Hmmm if by acquired you mean bought a new one you will see an instant
>> effect on your electricity bills v. a 25 yo one.

Yep, noticeably less usage on the in house display since the change.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Kevin
LHS vent about half way up the back?
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
Kevin, yeah. Think it’s level with the bottom glass shelf before you get to the Salad drawers?
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Kevin
Sounds like the known defrost problem on RS models and there's a repair kit to fix it. From memory, what happens is that some foam seals around the circulating fan deteriorate and the fan begins to pull air through those side vents which freezes up the screw and coolant pipes because the defrost heater and thermostat are too far away.
The problem is sometimes also accompanied by a clicking noise that slows and stops when you open the door. That is because the fan housing also gets blocked with ice and the noise is the fan blades hitting the ice.

Easy job to fix once you've got it completely defrosted which can take ages and may need a hairdryer.

Contact these folks in Scotchland to confirm the problem and order the kit.

www.ats4repairs.com/post/samsung-rs21-srs-fridge-repair-kit-whats-in-the-kit

A setting of 3deg is the temp recommended by Samsung for that model.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Kevin
Oh, and the puddle is probably due to some of the ice buildup thawing on defrost and running down the inside of the backpanel, under the salad containers and dripping out when you open the door.
Put a piece of kitchen roll under the bottom salad box to see if it gets wet.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
Cheers for the info. Will take a look.

Puddle is definitely not coming from inside the fridge or freezer. Have checked and placed kitchen roll that has stayed dry.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - BiggerBadderDave
'Puddle is definitely not coming from inside the fridge or freezer'

These might help.

tinyurl.com/523ndkkv
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
Repair kit is £150.
Ouch!
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Zero
>> Repair kit is £150.

Diagnosed the problem then?
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
Not yet.

First of all need to defrost that lump of ice in the fridge side to access the panel behind to see what’s happening.
And take the back panel off at rear again to see if I can see the bit you were referring to.

 Fridge Freezer Leak - Kevin
Is it one of the affected models?

On ours, the pipe that Zero mentions was white flexible plastic about 1cm in OD that dripped the defrost water into a channel on the top of the compressor to evaporate. You can't really tell if it's blocked without taking the inside panel off and pouring water down it so it looks like the panel needs to come off whatever the cause is. If there's ice around the clip-on vent that covers the LH backpanel screw then it's odds-on defrost problem.
Be careful removing/replacing the screws that hold the backpanel in place. They are self-tappers that screw into nylon lugs and it's easy to damage the thread.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
Mine is Model RSH1NHMH

Contacted the place you linked to and they gave me the price and said it “could” be this issue. But as I say before doing anything I am going to check the above points.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
Have managed to use hot water to clear the block of ice that was holding the bottom shelf in.
So Power switched off, all shelves removed, have removed the central back panel that covers the light but cannot remove the bottom half which is the main bit, as it is frozen solid.
Will need to leave switched off overnight to see if that helps with defrost. But wary of using a hairdryer or the like as I remember many years ago damaging a fridge by doing that (the inside side sort of melted).
Freezer is obviously off as well but I think I can go 12 hours or so with freezer off can’t I and add long as door isn’t opened it should keep cool enough?

Incidentally, although this is a huge American style fridge freezer, I was able to put all the contents of the fridge that needed refrigerated, into the electric car cool box we use for camping. Milk cheese butter meat. .

Rest of fridge is made up with sauces, jars, alcohol of various types, and soft drinks.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - VxFan
>> Will need to leave switched off overnight to see if that helps with defrost.

I've got a small steam cleaner for defrosting the freezer out in the shed. Cuts through the ice like a knife through butter.

Not the exact model, but similar to this

www.amazon.co.uk/Ovation-1000W-Lightweight-Multi-Functional-Accessories/dp/B01HQEVIYY


Also handy to clean and sterilise the rubber door seal, and a multitude of other uses.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 28 Mar 23 at 10:26
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Fullchat
Just as an aside.

The area rear of the shelves where the defrosting plate is needs to be kept clear so that airflow is not interrupted. If not the fridge can display signs of not working properly.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
Hopefully these links work

Inside with panel removed
www.dropbox.com/s/kh4xbn9bvgos2fp/Photo%2028-03-2023%2C%2012%2027%2026.jpg?dl=0

Inside of panel

www.dropbox.com/s/q5da6056hzr9j3t/Photo%2028-03-2023%2C%2012%2027%2019.jpg?dl=0

You can see still a lump of ice on back of fridge at bottom which I’m now trying to defrost.

Something somewhere ain’t working right to cause this ice build up!!

 Fridge Freezer Leak - CGNorwich
Faulty thermostat.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
I am guessing this is supposed to be a drain hole? It seems totally blocked and not sure where it drains to. No chance of getting to the other side of this to see!

www.dropbox.com/s/wyh28lvftfbu9um/drain%20hole.jpg?dl=0
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Zero
>> I am guessing this is supposed to be a drain hole?

No its not the drain hole we were referring to.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
Any idea where I would see a drain hole?
Doesn’t seem to be anything else obvious?
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Zero
I'd worry about the rust staining, looks ruined to me.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
I gave in and phoned the engineer….

Beyond my capabilities - the diy repair kit looks straightforward to do but I want them to confirm that this will fix my issue.

 Fridge Freezer Leak - Kevin
Wow. That's messy. It looks much messier than mine did so contacting the repair outfit was the right thing.

That aluminium at the bottom covered in ice is the drain hole. It should go to the pipe that drips onto the compressor.

The backpanel is slightly different to the ice and water dispenser model but I would have expected the fan to have been clattering well before it got to the state that yours is in. The ice starts to build up first around where the pipes come through the casing (black tape on top LHS) and never defrosts fully because the thermal switch (that white bullet clipped to the coolant pipe below the connectors) is too far away. The repair kit has a switch with longer leads so you can reposition it nearer the entry point and a different heater (the black element/pipe looped underneath the cooling fins).

PS. The whole defrost problem starts because that grey foam they used to seal the backpanel gets wet and deteriorates. £1k of fridge freezer broken by 2p-worth of cheap foam.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
Cheers Kevin.
Yeah the engineer confirmed that was the drain hole. It is still blocked and no amount of hot water seems to help so it’s maybe not ice that is blocking it. Engineer said they usually use some compressed air to blow through it and clear it. Also said the drain leads to the back of the machine like you and Zero said but it’s cleverly hidden away from prying eyes underneath the coils.
Anyway long and short, I have put fridge back together now and switched back on and everything is working, and very quiet. Engineer is going to come out from Falkirk but waiting till he gets a repair kit in to bring with him so that if that’s what’s diagnosed (and he is pretty sure it is) then can either leave me with the kit or quickly change over.

Cheers for all the input.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Kevin
Let him fit the kit if necessary. It's only a 10 minute job once the panel is off.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
Engineer came today, new back panel fitted. Fridge drain hole fully defrosted with a steam gun.

All working again.

Let’s hope it stays that way.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
OK update to this - it still isnt working.

Engineer came out and fitted a replacement back panelat end of March, cost was around £200 all in. Worked for a while and then sam eissue - freezing up.

He came back and fitted a heater at £45 (no further labour costs) - at his previous visit he had said it might need this but would try the first fix to see if that cured it. Part of this "fix" is actually very Heath Robinson - leaving a wire dangling down the drain hole from the heater to try and prevent freezing up in the drain.

But this still hasn't worked. The veg in the bottom basket is freezing, literally. I put my dual thermometer probe in the freezer overnight in cups of water - second top shelf registered 5 degrees and the water in the bottom salad tray was below zero (thermometer only goes to zero).

Add in to that, as Kevin mentioned above, when I defrosted it again and removed the back panel, the foam edge strip basically disintegrated. Absolute waste of space - any ideas how/ what to replace that with - wonder if that is causing an issue now?

So I still have a freezing fridge. That every so often I get puddles of water from which must mean at some point the ice build up is thawing maybe? Who knows!

Mind this is a fridge freezer, well the freezer is also acting up - with the recent hot spells we have been having more ice lollies and ice creams and these basically are stuggling to freeze - sometimes they are pretty slushy. Engineer said that to switch the unit off for 5 mins and switch back on and see what it says. Display showed -21 when I switched it off for 5 mins and when I switched it back on it said -5 (which I think is maybe the more accurate reading). But after 30 mins it had dropped to -21 reading again.

All very confusing - engineer is now starting to think it may be an issue with the PCB but these re now obsolete. He thinks he has some in the workshop though so is going to check when he is in there to see if any will fit mine.

So thats where we are, if anyone has any bright ideas on where to go from here? To pre-empt some replies, I will start a new thread on new ridge / freezer advice but after spending so much on this in last few months I would really prefer to get it working again!
 Fridge Freezer Leak - henry k
>>engineer is now starting to think it may be an issue with the PCB but these re now obsolete.
>> He thinks he has some in the workshop though so is going to check when he is in there
>> to see if any will fit mine.

It might be worth looking on line for a company that repairs such PCBs
 Fridge Freezer Leak - smokie
I don't think I'd be throwing too much at a 13 year old fridge/freezer.

I'd imagine a newer one would be more economic to run, though the American style ones are the most expensive to run by quite a long way according ti some sites.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Bobby
More expensive to run as opposed to what?
AFAIK American Style is just the name given to the bigger combined units?
Will obviously be dearer to run that standard undercounted fridge of old?
 Fridge Freezer Leak - smokie
An older tech whatever will be less efficient that a newer one. I mean, DYOR, but that was true when I was replacing stuff a bit back.

You started the very first post in this thread with "I have a large Samsung “American style” fridge freezer. Freezer left side and fridge right side." I'm surprised you seem unsure what it is!! :-)
 Fridge Freezer Leak - CGNorwich
www.which.co.uk/news/article/american-fridge-freezers-cost-44-more-to-run-than-regular-fridge-freezers-says-which-akxb01Q7aV4h

Basically American Style fridge freezers cost more to run because they are bigger. Unless you utilise all the space you are paying for space you are not using. Fridges and freezers run more efficiently when they are full.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Tue 13 Jun 23 at 11:20
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Fullchat
We bought a Siemens combined fridge freezer, freezer on the left and fridge on the right. Ice maker. Not inexpensive
Bit by bit the clear plastics started to break. At about 6 years I decided to price up all the broken bits and it was about £500 :O
We contacted Siemens about the quality of their product and were told something along the lines of they found that customers had "Unrealistic expectations of their product" but were able to offer a discount on replacements (Not that much).
Anyway we cut our losses and ended up with a Fisher Paykel replacement fridge on top and freezer drawer on the bottom. Ice maker is internal with no fancy dispenser.
So far :)
Last edited by: Fullchat on Tue 13 Jun 23 at 11:44
 Fridge Freezer Leak - zippy
>>
>> We contacted Siemens about the quality of their product and were told something along the
>> lines of they found that customers had "Unrealistic expectations of their product"

Isn't that them saying "people think our product is great but in reality it's carp".

Bit like VAG. Trading on a reputation that isn't the reality.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - CGNorwich
I’ve often wondered why people bother with ice makers. A bag of ice cubes down the supermarket cost around £1
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Zero
>> I’ve often wondered why people bother with ice makers. A bag of ice cubes down
>> the supermarket cost around £1

But they take up a lot of room.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - CGNorwich
But so does an ice maker in the fridge. Shop ice cubes have the added benefit of being clear and they don’t taste of chlorine which kind of ruins a G and T
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Kevin
>Shop ice cubes have the added benefit of being clear and they don’t taste
>of chlorine which kind of ruins a G and T

BS. The ice makers and water dispensers in American fridge-freezers have a replaceable cartridge filter.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - CGNorwich
So they do. That another regular expense then. Curious: how much ice do people actually use?

A kilo bag of ice will last us six months or more , still on the bag I bought at Christmas
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Zero

>> Bit like VAG. Trading on a reputation that isn't the reality.

Regardless of make and cost, after 6 years of use there is going to be something wrong with it
 Fridge Freezer Leak - Fullchat
The Fisher Paykel is just fine after the same amount of time.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - R.P.
When we moved to our new home in 2017 the previous owner had left us a built in L&G or Samsung American style plumbed in FF. It was great, with cold water and ice on tap. It tasted great ! When we moved here we left it for the new owner. I geuinely miss it. We bought a Bosch FF when putting in our new kitchen in Oct 2021. Nowhere near as good as thr Korean beast. But we live with it.
 Fridge Freezer Leak - CGNorwich
Regardless of make and cost, after 6 years of use there is going to be something wrong with it.

That about what I think. If white goods last eight years plus Ithink they owe me nothing and replace them when any serious problem arises.

One of the few benefits of getting old is I no longer worry so much about how long things last. They most likley will outlast me :-)
 Fridge Freezer Leak - RichardW

>> That about what I think. If white goods last eight years plus I think they owe
>> me nothing and replace them when any serious problem arises.

Some of ours are well past that...

Miele dishwasher approaching 22 years, has needed a bit of PTFE tape on a solenoid O ring, a new seal on the rinse aid dispenser, and the lower spray bar has a shim under it as it is worn out and catches on the inside! Just waiting for it to give out...

Bosch washing machine 10 years old, I've put a new pump in it - and the door hinges are a bit worn so you have to lift it to close it (we have 2 boys now 11 & 14) so it's been used a lot! Could do with new drum dampers, but not worth the spend - waiting for it to get worse / the door to fall off before replacing.

WhightKnight tumble dryer approaching 15 years old - again been used a lot! I've repaired the drum spider after the rivets broke, and it's had a new condensate pump. This might be on the critical list - the plastic housing / duct inside the door has gone all brittle, and I suspect a new one is not available, and even if it was would be a good chunk of the cost of a replacement.

Argos freezer, also approaching 15 years, no issues, suppose it will stop one day!
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