Question about a Samsung fridge that tripped my whole kitchen circuit

I was out on a call last Tuesday for a Samsung RF28R7201SR that kept tripping the breaker, and when I pulled the back panel I found the defrost heater element had shorted against the drain pan. Replaced the heater and thermistor but now the compressor won't kick on after 4 hours of run time. Anyone else run into a ghost issue after fixing the obvious problem on these models?

3 comments

3 Comments

william_henderson2mo ago

Terry, you just changed my mind because I always blamed the heater first on those Samsung fridges.

emmaallen1mo ago

William, you made a great point about blaming the heater first, but I think something else gets missed with these Samsung RF28 models. That ice maker line going into the back wall of the freezer section is a real pain point where water can freeze up and block the defrost drain completely. Once that drain gets plugged, the water backs up under the crisper drawers and makes the fridge feel warmer than it is. I helped a neighbor with his unit where the temp showed 42F near the top but 52F in the bottom drawer, all from a frozen drain line underneath. Next time you have one of these acting up, pull the lower rear panel and check if there's a block of ice around the drain tube before you go swapping boards or heaters. It saved me three hours of trouble shooting last week.

terry_jones2mo ago

Wait did you swap out the main control board yet or just the heater and thermistor? I used to think the defrost fix was always the whole problem with these Samsung fridges, but after helping a buddy on his RF28 model last month I learned the hard way that the board can get partially fried from the short and then it won't send the right signal to the compressor. It's a sneaky thing where the fridge looks fine for a few hours then just stops kicking on. Try checking voltage at the compressor relay on the board before you go swapping anything else out.