Samsung Older French Door Refrigerator - Freezer Compartment Defrost Thermistor Testing and Replacement

ID: 178191

Description: Use this guide to replace the defrost...

Steps:

1. Unplug your refrigerator before you begin your repair.
2. If you are testing or repairing the following items, you may also need to shut off and disconnect the water supply:
3. Condenser fan motor
4. Compressor motor and thermal overload device
5. Water supply valve assembly

6. Open the freezer drawer.

7. Pull out the upper freezer drawer.
8. Lift the front edge of the drawer.
9. Remove the drawer by lifting it up and out of the freezer compartment.

10. Unclip the basket hinge retainer by tilting the rear edge up and remove it from the drawer rail.
11. Release the small drawer basket and lift it up and out.

12. Lift the drawer basket out of the drawer frame and remove it.

13. Use a 3/8" socket wrench, box wrench, or open end wrench to remove the bolts securing the drawer front to the right drawer slide.
14. Repeat the process for the left drawer slide.

15. Lift the drawer front upwards to free it from the drawer slides.
16. Remove the drawer front.

17. Rotate the slide connector rod until you can access the retaining pin.
18. Use a pair of long nose pliers to squeeze the retaining pin shank to release it.

19. Pull the retaining pin out of the hole.
20. Slide the connecting rod to the right to free the left end of the rod.
21. Remove the rod by lifting it upward and sliding it back to the left.

22. Use a #2 Phillips driver to remove the retaining screws.
23. Two views of the same screws are shown for clarity. There are not four screws.

24. Pull the icemaker forward parallel to the top of the freezer.
25. This will release the icemaker from the freezer top.
26. Reposition the icemaker and hold it in one hand to prepare to disconnect it.

27. Grasp the icemaker connector (the one to the front) and squeeze the release tab.
28. Pull the connector out from the socket.

29. Remove the ice maker.
30. This view shows the slots that the mounting studs on the freezer top for reference when reassembling.

31. Use a #2 Phillips driver to remove the screws securing the evaporator cover.

32. Lift the evaporator cover from the bottom edge and tilt the edge toward you.

33. Reposition the evaporator cover to allow access to the connections to the right rear.
34. Don't try to remove the cover yet, as you need to first disconnect the electrical connections to it in the upper right rear of the freezer compartment.

35. Disconnect the connectors by squeezing the release tab on the connector and pulling them free of the sockets.
36. Support the cover from below so there is not tension on the connections.

37. Finish disconnecting the connections while supporting the cover from below.

38. Remove the evaporator cover.

39. The red rectangle shows the defrost thermistor location.

40. Remove the light-colored connector clip. There are two locking tabs at each end of the clip (top and bottom) that you can lift with a fingernail.

41. Remove the red or second connector clip as described in the previous step (it may be another color).

42. Squeeze the locking tab and pull the white connector out.
43. The thermistor will usually have twinned wires, often yellow and usually smaller than the other wires in the connector cluster.

44. Cut the cable ties securing the defrost thermistor wires and the defrost thermistor.

45. Unclip the defrost thermistor and remove it.

46. Use a multimeter set to the Ω setting to test the defrost thermistor.
47. Insert the probes into the connector as shown.
48. The thermistor on a Samsung refrigerator should read around 5,000 (5k) Ω at room temperature. This device was tested at a higher-than-normal temperature, so the resistance is a bit lower (4.7kΩ shown).