Help with broken fridge freezer

[Burnt0utMum]

I bought a Samsung American fridge freezer 1.5 years ago. It was a big step up from our old fridge and I was thinking it should last us 10 years or more. It's covered by a 5 year manufacturer warranty. Yesterday it started making a loud buzzing sound and within a few hours I noticed that the food in both the fridge and freezer was warming up. We've done all the basic troubleshooting suggested on the Samsung website but it's still the same. Booked a repair, which they've referred to a 3rd party but they're closed until Monday so I won't even hear about an appointment until at least then. Their reviews are awful too so it's looking like we could be without a fridge for a few weeks. I would book an emergency call out with a different company but that will probably void the warranty. Help please! I went shopping the day before it broke so it's full of food that's already starting to go off. How do you cope without a fridge or would you just void the warranty to get it repaired quicker?

Bump

Your food may be covered on your house insurance.

The day after lockdown stated in 2020 my friend’s fridge freezer packed up. This was when food was difficult to obtain and she had enough for her whole family. We put out a post on our local Nextdoor app and several people were kind enough to offer spares to borrow. A bit extreme but worth a shot if you are desperate. If you have any particularly high value stuff maybe a friend could accommodate it for a few days?

Do you have space for a cheap second fridge somewhere?

Short term, buy some bags of ice and put them in a cool box or bag, put things like milk and butter in there. It will keep them cool for a surprisingly long time.

Ask around friends and neighbours if they have any fridge space you can use for a few days.

Get cooking and eating! I suggest you start with ice lollies for breakfast 😄

We had something similar that happens with our fridge. Over a few months it gets iced up behind the panel at the top. This stops the air flowing and the temperature sensor stops working. It needs a full defrost and then works again for a few months. Mine is well out of warranty though

That sounds like it could be the issue. I think there's definitely something wrong with the temperature sensor as it's saying it's cold when clearly it's not. But also it's making a loud sound from the back. Could that be due to ice? I didn't realise that could happen with frost free products. We've eaten as much from the freezer as we could for breakfast and the cat got lots of turkey and cheese too so she's very pleased.

Mine makes a loud groaning sound at the back and the fridge warms up - freezer often stays cold. The only thing to do is turn it off for 24 hours and let it defrost. As another poster said, they freeze up behind the panel and stop working. I've had a panic the fridge is broken about 3 times now and that's with me making a conscious effort to run it down and defrost it every 6 months. Give it a try and see what happens

Yep , it needs a total defrost
have you any picnic / cool bags you can use ?
ours does the same , sounds very noisy and warms up , it needs emptying and turning off for 24 to 36 hours and then will work perfectly again ….until the next time

Had absolutely no idea this was even a thing. DH is picking up a cheap substitute right now to see us through but I'll try turning it off now and leaving the back to defrost. Maybe we can get it fixed ourselves before Monday if it works. Thanks guys.

Has the freezer got plenty of ventilation? If it's icing up that's often a sign that it needs more air flow up the back. If it's boxed in it will ice up, and use more electricity.

It was probably a bit close to the wall before but not right against it. We've pulled it out a bit more and hoovered all the vents at the back. I always thought it was really difficult to clean behind it but that's because I didn't realise it has wheels so now I know that I will be cleaning behind there more often.

Is it one with an ice maker? Quite a few of the Samsung American fridge freezers have known problems. Our was replaced under the 5 year warranty after 3.5 years and would have cost us about £2000+ to get like for like. Don't void the warranty, ask friends for fridge/freezer space & claim on your household insurance if necessary.

Yes it has an ice maker but we've never set it up to use it