[robocog]

Re: Samsung RL39WBMS fridge freezer stopped working – help p

Incidentally – if you want the salad tray, water bottle or the glasswork (all in mint condition) give me a shout – we kept it “just in case” we found anyone wanting parts 😉
Knowing us we will never get round to putting it on eBay and it will end up being thrown away

Regards
Rob

[robocog]

Re: Samsung RL39WBMS fridge freezer stopped working – help p

Ours went odd as I have posted on here

Our heater had gone open circuit (80 odd for the part) …and to add to the frustration the ecu had developed a fault as far as could be diagnosed (a further 100 odd)
The engineer did state he had done several of these recently – and felt it was a software bug and not worth gong on with

(Estimated total cost spiralled to as much as a new FF after labour and VAT)

Looked for another replacement appliance and TBH didn’t see anything out there on the market that did what we wanted or actually looked like it would even come close regardless of budget (doors that wouldn’t open wide enough to allow you to open the salad tray type things – almost like they had not /actually/ been designed or even thought about before being put on the market – shame on you Hotpoint et al)

Samsung will definatley not see another penny of my hard earned – and I wish pox on the programmer if indeed there is a “timebomb” planted in the ECU as was suggested
(incidentally the replacement ECU is reportedly “different” confirming the original was “updated” at some point)

After a chat with several salesmen it appears that 18 months was a typical lifespan for a modern budget appliance and we had done VERY well to get 9 years out of ours

Replaced it with a second hand Smeg (for a lot less than a new modern “budget” model) with very little in the way of electronics – doesn’t self defrost or do any of the modern stuff – hopefully very little actually go wrong
I can live with defrosting it manually if it means getting a few more years from it

The old Samsung has probably helped fund an oversize and frankly ludicrus wedding dress by now and may evern be on its way across the waters to come back as a poorly designed Hotpoint or Beko with a short life span

I appreaciate non of my posting helps much – other than ECU price which it may or may not be

The click and nothing happening from the compressor could be a blown fuse or the start capacitor at fault
(the click- if it comes from the top of the fridge it could be the relay – if its from down at the bottom at the back it could be the compressor)

I believe the “new updated” ecu has fuses onboard (ours didn’t)
Its located in the top panel (2 screws from underneath – hidden by the fridge door)
With the 2 screws out you will need to lift the top of the plastic panel to get it to unclip

The panel then pulls forward enough to have a look and unconnect the wiring looms if required
The ECU board is located on the right hand side – be careful with the wires and connectors if unconnecting only pull by the plastic – not the wires

Fingers crossed its just a fuse gone bad

Regards
Rob

[robocog]

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

[robocog]

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

[robocog]

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

[robocog]

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

[robocog]

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

[robocog]

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

[robocog]

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

[robocog]

Re: Samsumg RL39WBMS1 fault

Hi Ian
I don’t know what the faults or codes mean- but I have the same machine – same fault and the same button presses replicate what yours did

Have put it on its back for a few hours (unplugged and empty) on the advice of my father in law- he said he has done this several times in the past with fridge freezers and it “cured similar faults- something to do with assisting the gas and liquid seperate” I then let it sit upright for a good few hours and plugged it back in
It’s still doing the same 🙁

Did you ever get to the bottom of what went wrong?

Regards
Rob

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