Samsung Refrigerator Not Cooling But Freezer Works

A buildup of ice on the evaporator will cause uneven temperatures. The freezer may still be cold, but the fresh food compartment may start to warm up. On Dual evaporator models (Twin Cool) this is the most common failure resulting in a working freezer and a fresh food or refrigerator compartment that fails to cool.

To check on this, you will need to remove the evaporator cover in the rear of your freezer (or fresh food compartment on a dual evaporator model). If it doesn't come off easily, don't force it. You can try to run a Forced Defrost Cycle (see Forced Defrost Cycle), but it might be easier to just manually defrost the unit.

If you have a dual evaporator refrigerator, with one in the freezer and one in the fresh food compartment, go to the evaporator in the fresh food compartment. The fresh food evaporator controls that portion, so you don't need to check the freezer unit.

• Use a steamer to remove ice on the evaporator coils. Do not use a heat gun, and avoid a hairdryer, as you can inadvertently warp plastic components unless you use great care. Further, a steamer is faster.
• The steamer can be directed through vents in the back of the compartment that you are trying to defrost
• If you don't have one, use large bowls of hot water placed in the bottom of the compartment.
• In any event, make sure your drain tube is not plugged. This can cause the buildup. If water puddles in the compartment while you are defrosting, you should suspect this.

When you do these checks in the freezer or fresh food compartment, check the door seals as well. Bad door seals will lead to excessive frost, which can turn into ice on the evaporator. In the single evaporator unit, the refrigerator or fresh food compartment doesn't get as cool because the evaporator fan that sends air to that compartment may not spin or doesn't circulate air through the chunk of ice.

If there is no ice buildup, go to the next step.

The damper is a flap that controls the airflow between the freezer and the fresh food compartment. It allows cold air from the freezer into the fresh food area as needed to maintain the temperature. Skip this step if your refrigerator is a two-evaporator model (Twin Cooling will give you a clue) and has an evaporator in the fresh food section. It doesn't have a damper unless it has a 3rd area, often called a select pantry, in which case there is a damper that lets air from the freezer into that section if you need more

Otherwise, the issue may be that the damper is refusing to open. You can check the damper motor for proper values. Occasionally, it may have become iced.

If the damper checks out okay, go on to the next item.

A faulty evaporator fan in a standard single-evaporator fridge will affect the freezer's performance, but you may not immediately notice it and first experience poor cooling in the fresh food area while the freezer seems to work. The freezer's performance will be affected eventually, but you should check in any case.

• When you open the fridge door, you should hear the fan run (some units will shut off the fan when the refrigerator door is opened).
• If you're not sure in that case, a quick check is to simulate the door closing by pushing the door button or placing a magnet near the door closing sensor located near the top hinges of the doors.
• If the fan turns on, it's good.

With a two-evaporator model, If the fresh food compartment evaporator fan fails, the temperature there will rise quickly, while the freezer will be unaffected.

• Open the door and check for airflow
• If none, you will want to check that fresh food compartment fan by removing the evaporator cover there and checking the condition of the evaporator and fan.
• You can use the door check described above first if you don't have any airflow.

A continuity check in either case is usually pointless, as fans on these newer models use BLDC motors, which generally have small circuit boards inside the motor. You can't readily measure winding resistance directly. You can see that they turn smoothly by hand and spin when the door is shut. (Use a phone camera to take a video inside the compartment)

If the fan checks ok, go on to the next item.

The refrigerator monitors the temperature inside the fresh food compartment with a device called a thermistor. The resistance of the thermistor is what is monitored by the main control board. If the thermistor is out of spec, the control board will sense the temperature incorrectly.

• At 20°C (77°F), the resistance is around 5kΩ for most Samsung refrigerator compartment thermistors.
• A quick procedure is to power down the fridge and then unplug and re-plug, in turn, each connector on the control board. Then try starting the fridge again.
• The thermistor resistance on the refrigerator is best checked at the control board. This allows you to "see" what the control board is seeing.
• You might see a code on the temperature displays, such as 2 E or 2 C, which indicates a problem with the fresh food (refrigerator) thermistor. You might also see a single segment lit in the upper right corner of the rightmost of the numeric displays,

A service manual for your model is the best guide for which connection to check on the board and to interpret the codes. If the thermistor resistance is correct, go on to the remaining items.

The following causes are likely beyond the usual DIY capabilities but are listed for completeness and for those willing folks who press on.

If the 3-way valve is faulty, it may be possible to replace the coil that drives the valve, but this is often impossible, and only replacing the valve body will work. This is beyond a DIY repair.

The control board may be at fault, but the diagnostic tests to verify this are complex and beyond the scope of this document. There will likely be other malfunctions.