Samsung RL39WBMS

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  • April 14, 2012 at 1:03 pm #68943
    robocog
    Participant

    Hi- We have a Samsung RL39WBMS and had it a few years (possibly 8 or 9) and it has worked brill and survived a house move 7 years ago without a drama

    Recently over the last week or so we noticed the freezer wasn’t quite as cold as it had been
    No flashing of temps – no power outs or anything
    Fridge seems to be working as per normal as far as we can tell

    I have powered it off and back on (rebooting it) and the compressor does spin up and the fans for the freezer are blowing out cold air – just not as cold as I think it should be

    I had a look round the back to check everything looked normal (eg not full of fluff) but there is very little back there to go wrong on this model
    I took the pannel covering the compressor off and felt the compressor temp – The body of the compressor was tepid (not hot by any means) and the drip tray had a couple of mm of water in there and was stone cold to the touch (I guess this should be getting warm enough to evap the condensed water in the tray??)
    I felt round the pipework that I coudld get to – nothing as extreme as I would imagine it should be – one was mildly luke warm and the other cool to the touch

    It’s been emptied and is laying on its back (suggested by father in law – theory being it will assist the gas and liquid to seperate if that is the issue)
    He has suggested leaving it “taking a nap” like this for the next 12 hours

    Meanwhile – anyone got any other good suggestions if this doesn’t help it – or even if this is a bad idea

    I think teatime will be interesting – I guess the most perishable goods will be consumed first – bit gutted as I didn’t spot any ice cream in there

    Regards
    Rob

    April 14, 2012 at 1:16 pm #373232
    admin
    Keymaster

    Samsung RL39WBMS

    Hi

    Well first of all.. Haven’t you learnt never listen to your in laws yet ..it’ll only get you into trouble.

    Put it back upright as it should be and you will need to leave it upright for 24 hours to let the oil settle back to where it should be. At the bottom of the compressor.

    Is it that if you leave it alone for 48 hours it’ll defrost possibly ? Try it and see. The unit has a fault code system which would show up a fault if it was a sensor or fan error.

    Bryan

    April 15, 2012 at 9:27 pm #373233
    robocog
    Participant

    Re: Samsung RL39WBMS

    Hi- thank yuou very much for your reply
    I have put it back upright and left it for a few hours before plugging it back in
    (Google and common sense told me that placing it on its back wasn’t going to really do it any favours and could cause oil to go places it shouldn’t be – and would make it move from where it certainly needed to be)

    Now if I press the 2 buttons either side of the display and hold them I get FF displayed..and a beeping – the compressor runs and the fans chuff cold air into the compartments
    further holding the 2 buttons changes the display to read FD…and nothing much seems to happen (no compressor running)

    holding the 2 buttons down again makes it display the desired temps (I think)

    Are these error codes?
    (or do they stand for fast freeze and fast defrost or something?)
    Feel like I have found a hidden menu 🙂

    Any advice on where to go from here?

    Regards
    Rob

    April 19, 2012 at 8:56 am #373234
    robocog
    Participant

    Re: Samsung RL39WBMS

    Just thought I’d touch this thread
    I am tempted to just sling this appliance and get another

    R600a very kindly let me know that FF stands for Forced Freeze and Fd stands for Forced defrost
    (not error codes as I had initially thought)

    I did a forced defrost – and after a few mins (10 maybe 15) it comes out of that mode and goes back to normal and the compressor comes on
    I did do a forced defrost 3 times in a row – each time produced less water than the last the first one perhaps made enough to fill a tablespoon – the last one didn’t produce enough to fill a teaspoon

    Now – pressing the 2 buttons either side of the display to get into these 2 modes (not documaneted in my flimsy manual)
    FF makes it beep continuously and Fd no longer made it beep – which I’m pretty sure it did the first time I discovered those modes

    Now I have been doing the Fd just before bedtime and waking up to a fully functioning freezer – all good as a temp bodge

    This morning I decided I’d do another forced defrost as I have a day off and can maybe look further into getting it fixed – going into the Fd mode now makes it beep
    I left it in that mode more than 30 mins – and its still beeping and hasn’t automatically come out of it like it used to over the last few days
    No water is being produced
    I powered off the machine and powered it back on – and after a short delay the compressor fired up

    2 days ago I emailed a local recomended engineer from here
    Yet to hear back and will chase him today to find out if its worth salvaging

    I will report back one way or the other as I have been finding conclusionless threads – which is most annoying and not much help for people searching threads

    Regards
    Rob

    April 19, 2012 at 12:33 pm #373235
    robocog
    Participant

    Re: Samsung RL39WBMS

    Ping

    Ok have stripped the freezer compartment out
    Checked continuity on the thermal fuse – we have continuity
    Checked the heating element – nothing open circuit

    There was a mild frost and a few icey dew drops hanging from the elements (not severe icing by any stretch of the imagination)
    I plugged it all in and manually set it to defrost
    No signs of it defrosting or it getting any wanrmer than the ambient air temp with the door open and a human head stuffed inside

    I gingerly put my hand on the heating element
    Stoney cold

    I guess the name suggests I should be able to detect heat coming from it after a short while?

    The flapper continues to rotate in defrost mode- the fan however is doing nothing whilst this is going on

    During normal operation the fan does work

    I have rung the engineer (or the very helpful receptionist) to get quotes based on the heating element being duff
    (comes to sub £20 for the part)

    I looked closer at how its all wired and notice it looks like there may be some cutting joining and heatshrinking of wires required if /I/ were to replace the element as a DIY job (unless I’m missing something hidden under the heatshrink at the element ends?)
    Not a deal breaker -I have a soldering iron and heatshrink here- but I am unsure if I can manipulate the old one off and get a new one on wihout bending every fin and risking kinking the cooling pipes

    Been quoted £65 plus VAT to have a callout and the part to be fitted (assuning I am barking up the right tree)

    Will update as soon as there’s anything to tell

    Regards
    Rob

    April 19, 2012 at 1:51 pm #373236
    robocog
    Participant

    Re: Samsung RL39WBMS

    Ping ping
    The foil wrapped heater just under the rotating flappy thing also doesn’t get warm when in de frost
    Put a multimeter across the elements and there is resistance
    Popped meter into pins that feed this element
    plugged machine back in and put it into defrost
    Nada, nothin no volts 🙁

    Looks like they are wired in parallel so I would assume there is something else going on here

    Still not heard back from the engineer who was going to call me back

    I’m getting lonenly in here 🙁
    (and my food has well and truly defrosted now)

    Regards
    Rob

    April 19, 2012 at 5:01 pm #373237
    robocog
    Participant

    Re: Samsung RL39WBMS

    Engineer called back
    From my description he thought it could be the board at fault
    (he had to replace one recently for the same model and said it could be a software fault)

    Looks like its going to run into the realms of hundreds and byond ecconomical repair

    Bugger 🙁

    Regards
    Rob

    April 21, 2012 at 2:31 pm #373238
    robocog
    Participant

    Re: Samsung RL39WBMS

    Just thought I’d put a fitting end and conclusion to this thread

    The Samsung FF is no more

    Went looking for an appliance to pick up where the Sammy left off and not overy impressed with anything we saw TBH

    the Samsungs looked nice- but I don’t think I want to go back there whist they seem to have issues
    The Hoovers looked cheap
    The Beko’s ditto

    The Haier’s looked OK but I believe are Chinese (which I believe is not a sensible option) and the salesman did not put our minds at ease with this make and pretty much poo pood them as being rubbish (though was based on his days repairing dishwashers a good few years ago)

    Off to see whats tasty as it defrosts…
    If anyone needs parts (not the electricals) eg shelves trays etc – you need to get in touch fast

    Regards
    Rob

    May 10, 2012 at 11:07 am #373239
    robocog
    Participant

    Re: Samsung RL39WBMS

    We got ourselves a second hand Smeg with 2 compressors
    Doesn’t self defrost, does nowt fancy, just fits in the gap we have, stuck a 99p thermometer in the fridge so we can keep an eye on temps

    All works good – frozen stuff is frozen (-19) – cooled stuff is kept cool (+4)

    Chucked the Samsung at the end of the driveway – sure enough after a couple of days it magically dissapeared

    A happy ending all round

    Regards
    Rob

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