Ice buildup on refrigerator evaporator

Refrigerator & Freezer Repair
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1

I purchased a Samsung RS2533SW right at 6 years ago. By reading various ratings out there, apparently I am lucky to have had it last me this long. Regardless, I think it’s got some more life left, so would like to fix tihs issue. I have searched and found the service manual (http://www.servicematters.com/maytag_library/docs/SAM0058.pdf), but I dont know enough about it to diagnose.

Around 4 weeks ago, noticed the fridge side not cooling as well. Started being able to smell foods and stuff as well. Temps on the outside read at my settings (-6 freezer, 38 refrigerator). I have never worked on a refrigerator, but I tend to tinker with stuff, so I dove right in.

Unplugged and disassembled fridge side. Found that the evaporator was completed iced over on the refrigerator side. There is a small hole between the compartment of the evaporator and the fan, and ice had completely built up in there too blocking the hole. With the unit unplugged, brought out the wife’s hairdryer and melted all ice. Plugged unit back in, reset temps, all set. Was cooled back down to normal overnight.

About 2 weeks later, noticed things starting to get warm again. Knowing the drill, unplugged, removed parts, solid ice again. Defrosted, put back together, plugged back in. Again, cooled back down overnight.

Since that point in time, have noticed once that it was feeling a bit warm. Again, temps on front matched what I had it set at. Held down the power freeze and cool buttons, no error codes popped up, and normal temps were there. Unplugged for a minute, plugged back in, and the temps changed - now showed -1 on the freezer and 46 on the fridge. Held fridge door open and pushed the button to fool it into thinking it’s closed, and I can hear the fan kick in, and can feel air being pushed. OVernight, fridge cools back down. Unplug in the morning, plug back in, and temps stay the same.

I just know that it’s going to have issues again, just a matter of time. Any thoughts from anyone?

Thanks,

Scott

2

All-

As figured, coils iced up again, so had to do the same hairdryer routine again. Food is going bad if we don’t figure out it isnt cooling fast enough. Seems the front control panel doesnt always register the correct temp. IE, it reads 38, but if I unplug the unit and plug it back in, it will read 46 or worse.

Where should I start in my part replacement process? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Scott

3

— Begin quote from techgrad03;150874

All-

As figured, coils iced up again, so had to do the same hairdryer routine again. Food is going bad if we don’t figure out it isnt cooling fast enough. Seems the front control panel doesnt always register the correct temp. IE, it reads 38, but if I unplug the unit and plug it back in, it will read 46 or worse.

Where should I start in my part replacement process? Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Scott

— End quote

Any thoughts? This issue keeps happening…

4

Mine has the same situation, after reading so much on-line, it narrows down to the thermostat or heater…I am trying to figure out which one on mine.:mad:

5

I have the same issue. Gone on about 1 month now, having to defrost via hairdryer 1x per week.
I had little confidince in the repair man (referred to by a friend) since he didn’t know the name of some of the parts…seems I knew more than him, but I did have the diagram in front of me. :slight_smile:
Anyway, at his advice, we replaced the heater and some other part (#AP4136048) which he said was a Thermistor, which come to find out is probably the Thermal Fuse.
Still having the same problem. Fridge runs fine for a bout a week and starts to warm up. Ice build up on the evaporator. Defrost it and it works fine again…
Any other suggestions? The Thermistor maybe?
I really want to avoid a costly repair bill. Seems everytime someone comes out to fix something, they never have the part and you wait for 2 weeks.
The control panel seems to work fine, however yesterday when I defrosted the fridge with a hair dryer, the temp never changed on the panel. I unplugged the fridge and plugged back in and it was reading ok again.
Any suggestion is welcome…is far cheaper than buying a new 'fridge. 'Course, that’s what my wife wants. :slight_smile:

6

I had the same problem. 3 inches thick of solid ice at the bottom of the freezer evaporator and 2 inches thick on the refrigertor evaporator. In addition the water tank sprang a leak in the refrigerator compartment. I too borrowed my wife’s hairdryer and melted the ice in both compartments and replaced the water tank that I purchased from ApplicancePartsPros. I made sure the drain at the bottom of the evaporator was clear by pouring hot water from the kettle down it. Now I noticed that water had run down on the bottom of the freezer side and has frozen again. :confused: :confused: :confused: