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The Samsung RF23HTEDB is a 23 cu. ft. side-by-side refrigerator featuring LED lighting, twin cooling plus system, spill-proof glass shelves, door bins, a crisper drawer, and a dairy bin, with a built-in ice maker and water filter. It has a stainless steel finish and measures 32.8" W x 70.1" H x 33.5" D.

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Fridge and freezer stop cooling, moving away from the wall works again

We've had our Samsung fridge for about 8 years. A few days ago the freezer and fridge temperatures started rising and would typically rise up to 20F and 50F respectively where our set point was -2F and 34F. Fiddling with the control panel will get it to blip suddenly, showing 88 88 and other lights turning on, then go off. The other thing I've observed is that moving the fridge away from the wall and / or having a fan blow air over the condenser coils, compressor seems to make the fridge work again (gets back to set point). The condenser fan is working, as when I have it away from the wall I see it turn on, though it seems to only turn on occasionally. My question is:

  • Do I have a control panel issue? Every few times I try to press buttons on it, it does seem to behave erratically as I described.
  • Or is it likely that the condenser fan is not cooling enough and that's why moving it away from the wall helps?

Should I try replacing the motherboard - I can't tell if I have a bad temperature sensor or faulty motherboard in general? Or the condenser fan? Or are these symptomatic of other issues? Is the control panel 88 88 because the fridge is not cooling enough?

Really appreciate any thoughts and help from others who've encountered this. Fridge was working fine for about 8 years.

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Hi @v76515,

Disconnect the power to the refrigerator and then gain access to the underneath of the cabinet, at the back and vacuum all the dust from the condenser coils and check if that resolves the issue.

Here's a video that in general may help. (I couldn't find one for your model but they're all much the same when the condenser is underneath)

Please confirm the full model number of the refrigerator as there are 24 model variants. This is just in case parts are required and the correct ones need to be found

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V A will be eternally grateful.
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