Samsung RS21NCSV Fridge

I know this is a bit different from my other posts, but on searching round the internet, I found that an apparently known problem exists with this fridge, which usually seems to manifest itself directly after the warranty runs out. And I'm talking weeks here, not months!

Kudos to you Samsung - You win the "Best Fault Directly after the Warranty Expires" prize today.

The fault is like this. At some point, either close to the end of the warranty, or just after, you'll notice a wierd buzzing coming from the back of the fridge, which stops when you open the door. But as soon as you shut the door, the buzzing starts up again. After a while you'll decide that this is to do with the fan. You'll assume that the fan is off kilter, and banging against something, but unless you're still in warranty, you'll ignore it. Then a few weeks after that, the problem will disappear - you'll be delighted. "The fridge fixed itself, darling!" you'll cry, when your husband comes home.

Then a few weeks after that, you'll wonder if the fridge is cooling correctly, because butter stored in the door is a bit softer than you think it should be. A few weeks after that you'll be convinced, and at this point, don't give in to the impulse. DO NOT call out that hugely expensive service guy (although, man, was he cute), because what's going to happen is this - he's going to spend 45 minutes thoroughly defrosting the fridge, having cleared it out, and pulled off all the inside back bits. He's going to borrow your hairdryer to help with this, and he's going to get you to run the part he's taken off under the hot tap until the fan (frozen in a great block of ice at this stage - that's why it stopped buzzing), runs freely again. All this is then going to cost you the very best part of £80 - I should be on that hourly rate! Actually, as it happened just over a year ago, it'll have gone up by now.

Then, just before he goes, he'll say - "I'm going to make sure this doesn't happen again." at which point he'll start banging a really big hole in the back of your fridge. This will NOT solve the problem. In fact, it'll make it worse, because now you'll end up with even more condensation in the fridge, which, because the cooling element is a scant 1" above the condensation-outlet hole, will freeze before it actually dribbles out of the hole onto the hot condensing unit to evaporate. In addition to which, the fridge will start to behave like an incontinent cat, and widdle on the floor (comes out under the left front corner of the device) every few weeks.

Here's what you do - and for a supposedly frost free fridge, this is a real pain. You will need to completely defrost the fridge. And if you've got one of these and haven't yet had the problem show - start defrosting now. Last time (about 2 weeks ago), it took over 24 hours to completely defrost. In fact, it was so badly frozen up (previously defrosted back in the spring) that I couldn't get the bottom salad drawer out - not a place you want to put your lettuce! This picture shows the fridge with the inside cover removed - 24 hours after I started. You can see what I mean about space between the bottom of the cooler element, and the hole (that strip of metal above the two screw holes.

Oh, and one caveat - DO NOT, and I have to repeate, DO NOT, have at the ice with a large cleaver. Still, I'm out of warranty, and I can't see how that bit of plastic is of any use...