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Samsung Ice maker problems

8 years ago

1 yr old. French doors, counter depth.

The ice maker freezes up like this. Last night the fridge popped the circuit breaker and it was off this morning.

My spouse was complaining last night he couldn't get any ice.

In addition, this thing makes noise. Open the door, the noise goes away. Close it, the noise starts up again. Sounds like one of those small plastic fans hitting a wire.

Can either issue be fixed without a service call?

Thanks

!

Comments (38)

  • 8 years ago

    There's a service bulletin for numerous Samsung French door models (you didn't include your model number) addressing frost accumulation on the ice maker and noise from the "ice room," which apparently is Samsung's term for the ice maker compartment. The fix involves sealing a gap (if it exists) on the left side of the compartment, and replacing the auger motor/fan assembly with an updated part.

    User thanked dadoes
  • 8 years ago

    Thank you. I will call them Monday.

  • 8 years ago

    The other thing is a fan. It turns off when you open the door.

    User thanked weedmeister
  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Update:

    Wow. This was a very heavy lift. Their initial representatives don't have much knowledge or authority. But I was told my ice maker was under warranty and they would fix it. (Turned out not to be true).

    You have no choice of date or time for service. Out of the blue an automated system called me to tell me when my appointment was (next day 1 - 4 pm).

    The hours pass. Amout 5 pm I get a call. The tech couldn't make it so he requested a reschedule for the next morning. Fine.

    There were 2 issues, both addressed by service bulletins. The "ice room" gap needed to be sealed. Samsung provides a special epoxy to the service people for this purpose. Then the water hose was "pushed in" but not really, he said, it was because it was too long to begin with.

    Anyway, the repair person said he has done hundreds of these.

    I had to pay. Now supposedly it was my fault the water line was too long. I didn't argue with the tech. I just paid

    Anyway, after many hours on the phone I was finally transfered to the "executive service team" in the United States. A very knowledgeable and experience service rep refunded my money based on my initial conversation with the first rep in the Dominican Republic.

    The ice maker works and is not frosting up so far.

    I have not been charged.

    But honestly, if I didn't have time to do this stuff, it would have turned out differently.

    I won't say I would never buy Samsung. But really, it seemed like a lot of work to get these two design defects fixed. Defects they know cause problems from the day these machines leave the factory.

    Final complaint. The A&E Factory Service is just too aggressive on the upselling. It's like going to the rapid oil change. You keep having to say "no" repeatedly.

    But it ended well enough.

  • 8 years ago

    PS. The fan noise was the blade hitting the ice inside. That doesn't happen anymore either.

  • 8 years ago

    this is a known design flaw. I just got a refund for mine with extended warranty. Total visits from techs clocked in at 7! They finally gave in and are cutting me a check for purchase amount. Cannot be fixed. Every time it was 'fixed' it would go back to icing up. Tried multiple new parts/motor assembly, ice box, fan etc. good luck!

    User thanked Monika Neale
  • 8 years ago

    Update #2. Out of the blue the charge reappeared on my credit card. Despite the fact I have an email from my executive service team member and an auto generated notice from Samsung of an exception being made.

    More calls will be made tomorrow I guess.

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Update #3. No refund of the money I paid for 6 to 8 weeks.

    Meanwhile, on the warmest day of the year the ice maker froze up again. Laughably, worse than before. I will buy some ice trays tomorrow

    I will contact Samsung again Monday but I will not get into a situation where I pay for 5, 6, 8 service calls like others have.

    ***Do not buy Samsung large appliances.***

    I will update this as this plays out. Companies should not be allowed to sell defective products to the public.

  • 8 years ago

  • 8 years ago

    Re the credit card charge. Call your card's bank and "Dispute" the charge. You can provide to your bank the correspondence from Samsung to support your dispute.

    User thanked User
  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I was contemplating that.

    On the one hand, they did say 6 to 8 weeks. So supposedly it is coming.

    Otoh that seems very disrespectful to the customer to have to wait that long.

    Do I have to dispute the charge within the billing cycle? I suppose I could look that up.

  • 8 years ago

    Frost accumulation requires a source of moisture. Does this unit have through-the-door ice dispensing? Check that the flapper that closes the ice chute is sealing properly. I had that problem with my GE SxS after I disassembled the dispenser for a repair. The spring that tensions the flapper for sealing wasn't tight enough and frost repeatedly accumulated in the chute due to air inflltration (I live in a high-humidity area), blocking ice from dispensing and causing moisture to drip down the door. Took me a while to figure out what was the problem.

    User thanked dadoes
  • 7 years ago

    These are pieces of junk. The ice maker continues to freeze all the time and Samsung can't fix it and won't refund your money. Join the class action lawsuit against them so they know they can't get away with this!


    https://kohnswift.com/2017/03/16/ksg-files-class-action-complaint-against-samsung-for-refrigerators-with-defective-ice-makers/

    KSG Files Complaint Against Samsung for Refrigerators with Defective Ice Makers

    User thanked atleo
  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Thanks. We had given up on it. Glad you posted!

  • 7 years ago

    Don't give up! We should fight them to the bitter end! Post about this class action suit on your social media accounts and wherever else you can. There are tens of thousands of people in the same situation and I am guessing tens of thousands more who don't know about this lawsuit. I have three friends, all with the same fridge, all with the same problem. They had no idea it was a defect until I told them. In fact, I have not met anyone whose Samsung french door ice maker works properly after the first year!

    User thanked atleo
  • 7 years ago

    Have same problem w/ice maker on French door Samsung. Had it repaired once under warranty which didn't work, tech said there was a replacement ice maker and that Samsung would provide replacement. Samsung provided tech with new ice maker, install fee came under tech's first repair. Worked for about 6 months and failed. Work around has been to have ice maker fill bin then cut ice maker off until it's empty. Helps reduce the leaking water and the somewhat frosty ice cubes. On the call to Samsung for the replacement helped to be assertive on their eating the cost.

    User thanked teachmkt1
  • 6 years ago

    The photo looks like our new Samsung 4 door refrigerator icemaker! We are so unhappy with our purchase. Wish we had seen this first. Ours was made in May 2017. So the problem continues.

    User thanked Deb
  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Update: we still use ice trays. We thaw the damn thing out with a hair dryer periodically for the fun of it. But it always ices up quickly.

    The class action suit does not seem to be going anywhere. I asked the law firm for an update and got a snotty reply.

    I will replace this once the sting of having to replace a new expensive appliance goes away. Another year I guess.

    In the meantime we replaced our Samsung S6 phones. Samsung will never get our business.

  • 6 years ago

    Unfortunately...we also have a brand new laundry room with Samsung and New double wall oven. So far, no issues with those. I too will never buy another Samsung.

    User thanked Deb
  • 6 years ago

    I am a refrigeration tech, If your ice maker is model number DA97-15217A, your ice maker has a design problem and needs to be replaced with model numberDA97-15217D, also two small Y clips need to be installed in the evaporator loop. the Y clips come with a white rectangle part that also needs to be replaced, remove the one already in the evaporator loop and install the new one. The Y clips need to be pointing down (Y) part number DA82-02367A. The outside of the ice compartment needs to be seal to prevent air leaks, you must use part number DA81-05595A to seal the air leaks all around the housing of the ice maker compartment. you must also remove the auger and remove all the ice buildup if you leave any ice it will continue to build and the ice maker will stop making ice. before removing the ice maker make sure its clear of ice to prevent breaking the evaporator loop.

    User thanked Victor Sanchez
  • PRO
    6 years ago
    Just because a company makes great Electronics — Samsung and LG for example — does not mean they make good appliances.
    User thanked Hal Braswell Consulting
  • 6 years ago

    I posted already, but you really need to be pushy and assertive here. It took about 3 months, but I finally got a FULL refund for the cost of my fridge and never paid for any parts (under warranty). I am so happy I didn't spend any money on trying to repair a known design flaw. The techs all said they had to replace the part with a amended one. That too flopped. Keep at it. A class action law suit is one thing, but just insisting they stand behind their product and reading back their own warranty works wonders! Never again!

  • 5 years ago

    Having trouble with my Samsung 4-door refrigerator's ice dispenser. I have sealed the air gaps, installed the y-clips, and replaced the auger motor with the new model. While the ice making is fine, the ice dispensing still isn't working. From the door, water can dispense and ice door opens, but the auger motor doesn't turn. Even got a second replacement auger motor and still can't get the auger to turn and dispense ice through the door. Any other suggestions?

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    All, go to Samsung Refrigerator Recall U.S.A Now on Facebook. I received my full refund, thanks to this group.


  • 4 years ago

    I also got a full refund on my 2014 Samsung French Door refrigerator.


  • 4 years ago

    Mine is a 4 door French door bought in 2014. Haven't had problems until now. Ice maker froze. I replaced ice maker and sealed ice box. Worked again for a month then froze again. I replaced auger motor part which had been updated. Reset ice maker. Now I'm not getting ice at all. So disappointed. Fridge has been good until now.

  • 4 years ago

    Had my first Samsung family hub fridge ice maker repaired 3 times. The 4th call resulted in a full refund and they gave me salvage rights so I sold it with full disclosure for $1,500.00.
    I bought a new one because they updated it and I still think it is really cool to have a computer screen on the door. This icemaker started the same problem and I bought a separate icemaker installed in my garage and it works great. The computed screen froze and Samsung sent a repairman our with a new computer screen and when he noticed the frozen icemaker he ordered a new motherboard and came back in one week and installed that. He said that Samsung finally tracked down the root problem with the icemaker which is a faulty defrost program built into the motherboard which cannot be fixed with software updates. The mother board has to be swapped out. So far I’m getting perfect ice. It’s about time they figured this out!

  • 4 years ago

    Local appliance store where we purchased our kitchen full of Samsung appliances was no help. Their suggested fix was to sell us a new refrigerator at a discounted price. They said Samsung wouldn’t do anything because we were out of warranty. The ice maker worked ok originally but went down hill the second year. I decided to call Samsung myself. I got a great customer service guy. He said they would have a Samsung tech come out at no charge. When he showed up he had an armful of new parts including a box labeled ice maker repair kit. This kit included a new mother board for the refrigerator, new ice maker, new heater for the defroster, Y clips and more. That was a month ago and so far it works great. No frost or ice build up. No initial splash of water. No crushed ice when you want cubes. I keep my fingers crossed , but so far I’m happy.

  • 4 years ago

    Our 5 year old Samsung, two door, freezer on the bottom has been the ice maker freezing up, right now I am listening to a a fan sound. Just how long does a refrigerator last? Has anyone tried the power defrost?

  • 4 years ago

    We purchased our Samsung French 4 Door Refrigerator in June 2016. The icemaker started the frosting over problem within the second year, just outside of the warranty. My husband and I now manually defrost the icemaker compartment every 10 days (we remove the tray and put in two plastic cups full of boiling water every 30 minutes for about 3 hours). Have tried to get Samsung to do something about this before with no luck. However, today, we reached out again and they are actually sending out a free repair technician to install the repair kit. We had previously been told we would have to pay that $700 cost ourselves! We live in the middle of nowhere in Northwest Colorado, so fingers crossed this will work. Like others on this site, we hate to buy another new refrigerator. It's completely shameful that Samsung has known about the icemaker problems since 2015 and continued to sell this defective product. Hoping the class action lawsuit nets us some $$$ for all our troubles.

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    We have a Samsung French 4 Door Refrigerator purchased in 2016 also. We started having ice maker issues about two years in just like Susan White.

    Since we thought it was out of warrantee, I ordered a new upgraded ice maker and found a YouTube video on how to install. DH installed it and we haven't had any issues. Cost for the part was about $250. The icemaker is still not the greatest compared to our previous fridge but it works and doesn't ice up so...

  • 4 years ago

    I hope this helps everyone. If you call the Samsung Support number. You can call the Samsung Support line:800-726-7864.

    They will ask for your S/N to see if you qualify for an accommodation. 11/12 They sent a tech out with the parts and it has been good ever since.

  • 4 years ago

    I have basically the same problem with ice build up in this icemaker. At the beginning I just defrosted it again and again. Then I realized I'm not the only one and that it normally should work properly. I read a lot articles about sealing the gaps at ice maker and started so doing it from the outside with no progress, then removing all parts from the inside and sealing the possible gaps from the inside. But especially when removing the icemaker compnents I realized that the most critical ice buildup was at the top of the spillover tube. The tube has a heating wire wrapped around it covered in a metallic tape. This heating wire ends approx. an inch before the top end of the tube. I added some more insulation to it with the hope that this will help. Later I found an article which mentioned that the newest version of this tube has the heating attached until the top end and not ending before. Of course my ice maker froze again and I checked it every few days and realized, that the spillover seems to freeze over at first and then the rest from the icemaker. So I dissassembled everything again, removed the tape with the heating wire carefully from the tube and reattached it to the tube starting directly at the top of the tube. I've done this 2 weeks ago and still no ice buildup at the tube and the rest of the icemaker still looks ok. I will monitor this but currently I'm convinced that I've solved the problem and defrosting it once a year for the future would be ok for me (was every 4-6 weeks in the past).

  • 2 years ago

    by mistake I shut off the ice maker, when no more ice came through, I noticed it was off. So i looked at the manual and turned the icemaker back on. The water dispenser works fine. But now it's hours later and still no ice making. I don't hear the water going in. does it take time???


  • 2 years ago

    Water fills into the mold at the end of a harvest cycle, so it has to go through a cycle to fill. Turning off the ice maker (via a switch or raising the sensor arm) stops it from harvesting/cycling. Give it a full day to get back into a normal routine. There may be a problem if no ice is produced by then.

  • 2 years ago

    I had the ice maker problem and worked around it by filling the bin with the ice from the lower freezer. Then the computer zeroed out every time there was a power failure. Refrigerator did not work until I did a manual reset. I then trashed a 3 year old Samsung refrigerator. Went with a cheap no frills Whirlpool. No trouble in 3 years.

  • 2 years ago

    well i fixed my ice maker by mistake,, i changed the temp to -8 and the ice maker works great, no frost at all . it seems a 0 its not cold enough