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The ice maker in my Samsung refrigerator has failed. Too late, I now know this is common for the brand. The part costs £100 ($100). The fridge was kind of expen

The ice maker in my Samsung refrigerator has failed. Too late, I now know this is common for the brand. The part costs £100 ($100). The fridge was kind of expensive, with a deli drawer, French doors, etc. The refrigerant line for the entire fridge loops naked through the ice mechanism. Apparently, it is all too easy to nick the line, bricking the entire appliance. Accordingly, no repair person will touch it. I’m moderately competent with mechanical and electronic things, and I would try it, but I’d like a second brain, set of eyes and pair of skilled hands. No one is stepping up, presumably to avoid dealing with the hassle we’d have if we fail, myself included. I do like ice. Do I: a) Give it a shot myself risking a £2500 refrigerator. b) Keep trying to find someone who will fix it. Offer them some kind of waiver on replacement cost if they fail. c) Continue to make ice in trays, a few at a time, whilst the broken ice maker mocks me. d) Get a countertop ice maker for £100.

yason 4y ago
I approach appliances with the Unix philosophy. One thing to do one thing well -- or at least only one thing to be replaced when one of them breaks. And if I find a genuinely good item I can keep using it even if other machines break.
Melatonic 4y ago
Or E) Buy the same exact appliance on Gumtree or whatever Craigslist approximator is currently available for probably something like 400 :-) You could also guilt trip Samsung on Twitter and they might replace it for free
- atoav 4y ago
  I recently fixed a AV switcher (HD cinema stuff with custom programming by a media tech company) this way. The device costed 9k€ back in the day. One day it died and took the whole room with itself. Because it also controlled the lights via DALI no light could be switched on or off in that room. I figured out that the 24V "Medical Grade" (?) Made in China powersupply was toast. The typical bloated and leaking electrolytic capacitors were no surprise after nearly a decade of 24/7 operation. But there was also an exploded SOIC-14 IC by STM that I could not identify because coincidentally it was just the manufacturer part number that had been vaporized. A search for suspect parts didn't yield any results. I checked ebay and found a used device for 100 Euros and bought it. The used device also had a broken PSU. But the IC was working (and yeah, nothing you would be able to buy). So I swapped the capacitors and everything worked again. A replacement for that unit including programming would have costed my company 20k at least.
ornornor 4y ago
I know it’s too late for you, but I have a personal rule that’s served me very well: never touch any Samsung device ever. You can’t avoid the chips they make as part of other devices or appliances but that seems ok. The Samsung branded appliances and devices however are total garbage and Samsung dgaf. It might actually be part of their business model. I have rarely heard someone say how happy they are with their Samsung anything, especially not their fridges and other appliances. “Built to fail” is something that often comes up, however.
- donatj 4y ago
  It's so sad to see such a rapid decline. In the early 2000s every Samsung device I bought was well made and unbreakable. Every Samsung device I have bought since maybe 2010 including my refrigerator and dishwasher have been total junk. I've had our refrigerator repaired so many times in the last 8 years it's just unreasonable.
- jonnycoder 4y ago
  I would like to know which fridge company is the most reliable. My samsung fridge and washer/drier bought in 2013 are still running good. I heard bad things about LG compressor in fridges, but their cordless vacuum is outstanding. I will probably never trust GE.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    I bought at least 5 or 6 LG linear inverter compressor refrigerators since 2019 and they are all going great, with zero noise. I think they had issues with their initial models, but they may have improved them. I mainly stick to LG appliances from Costco. But I also avoid getting appliances with fancy features like see through doors and crap. I don’t even get ice dispensers, just the ice bucket inside the freezer works.
  - twobitshifter 4y ago
    Just get a single door convertible or a top freezer bottom fridge style. Something made for commercial use can also work. Complexity is the enemy of reliability. The reason freezers are at the top isn’t because it’s best to have frozen food at eye level, it’s because that’s where the refrigerant expands and is coolest and then it takes on heat as it condenses again and descends through the fridge. Convertibles are great because you can have either a fridge or a freezer with the flip of a switch. Get 2 of them and you have way more space for about the price of a french door fridge.
kevstev 4y ago
Heh I have also had trouble with a higher end model's ice maker. I have donated about half a pint of blood over several stabs at fixing it. Even after I ended up moving and renting the place, the new tenant who also considered himself pretty handy gave a bunch of goes at it too to no avail. It seems like such a simple device, yet they are devilish to diagnose and repair apparently!
- bsder 4y ago
  Ice makers are the #1 failure mode of refrigerators. Between being broken, taking up freezer space, having weird plumbing, having water that doesn't move often so grows bacteria, needing filters which nobody ever changes, etc. the best maintenance idea is simply to not have an ice maker. I'm sure that some people get more value out of an ice maker than a couple of ice trays in the freezer. I'm just not sure I've ever met them.
  - ethbr0 4y ago
    The root problem seems to be that ice makers are an afterthought / outsourced on any price freezer. Consequently, they're designed to minimal reliability, lasting just long enough to outstrip the warranty.
  - mrguyorama 4y ago
    Meanwhile the dirt cheap kenmore I had my entire life had an ice maker that never had a problem. It seems more common on the more expensive appliances. It just seems like they overcomplicate and don't build in redundancy or repairability to save a couple bucks.
    - onemoresoop 4y ago
      > It just seems like they overcomplicate and don't build in redundancy or repairability to save a couple bucks. No, they want you to buy another one aka premature/planned obsolescence. Best bet is to research heavily and hope to find a manufacturer who doesn't do that.
  - 4y ago
doodlebugging 4y ago
We also had one of these side by sides. I replaced the icemaker twice and the icemaker circuit board once over a period of about 12 years. I finally replaced the whole thing last year with a new refrigerator after the freezer light quit working and the easiest, cheapest replacement part did not fix the issue. For what we paid initially and for the other icemakers I would not buy a Samsung again. If you ever need replacement parts for any home appliances you should go to one of these places [0], [1] where you can get OEM parts instead of aftermarket parts that may not work great. [0] https://www.appliancepartspros.com/ https://www.appliancepartspros.com/ [1] https://www.ereplacementparts.com/appliance-parts.html https://www.ereplacementparts.com/appliance-parts.html Both sites have exploded diagrams that help you find the part you need and in many cases they have videos to show how to do the repair.
tomcam 4y ago
Proper choice for you is d), b/c from what you posted it seems like the best tradeoff and risk profile. I did it about 6 months ago and am thrilled. And my icemaker isn't even broken!
- Kaibeezy 4y ago
  Yeah, I’m leaning that way. Other single-purpose devices have been successful - rice cooker, sodastream, slow cooker, etc. Time for a Dr. Pete and a reckoning.
  - tomcam 4y ago
    Maybe an air fryer too. Even my minimalist, gourmet wife regards it as indispensable.
    - Kaibeezy 4y ago
      Agree! I didn’t get to pick the fridge, but I did get to pick the cooker, and it’s got dual convection ovens, ftw. The cracklings, the bread crust, the baking soda roasted potatoes, all winners. I’m looking for a US-style toaster oven. Hard to find here. The cooker has a grill too (heat from the top, close to the food) but it takes too long to heat up and then suddenly gets too hot, plus you can’t see in easily. OK for sausages, not so good for a tuna melt.
slug 4y ago
I had two refrigerators fail on me the past 5 years. The first one was Bosch, but just in name, all the parts were from someone else. Managed to fix it by replacing the compressor controller board, bought it either from Ebay or from the oem parts sites mentioned elsewhere. The second was a Samsung that has a well known manufacturing defect on the defrosting system. There's several very useful repair videos on YouTube with exact same problem. Got the replacement / improvement part from aliexpress for $3, it's been running better than before since then.
- Kaibeezy 4y ago
  Yep, the Samsung failure is very well known… once it fails. I swear I looked at reviews beforehand, but they change models and otherwise obfuscate, whilst the other decisionmaking party gets fixated on the damn deli drawer, which, I have to say, is kind of nice. What $3 part fixed your ice defroster? For my fridge the videos sure looked like I needed to swap out the whole contraption.

yason 4y ago

I approach appliances with the Unix philosophy. One thing to do one thing well -- or at least only one thing to be replaced when one of them breaks. And if I find a genuinely good item I can keep using it even if other machines break.

Melatonic 4y ago

Or E) Buy the same exact appliance on Gumtree or whatever Craigslist approximator is currently available for probably something like 400 :-) You could also guilt trip Samsung on Twitter and they might replace it for free

atoav 4y ago
I recently fixed a AV switcher (HD cinema stuff with custom programming by a media tech company) this way. The device costed 9k€ back in the day. One day it died and took the whole room with itself. Because it also controlled the lights via DALI no light could be switched on or off in that room. I figured out that the 24V "Medical Grade" (?) Made in China powersupply was toast. The typical bloated and leaking electrolytic capacitors were no surprise after nearly a decade of 24/7 operation. But there was also an exploded SOIC-14 IC by STM that I could not identify because coincidentally it was just the manufacturer part number that had been vaporized. A search for suspect parts didn't yield any results. I checked ebay and found a used device for 100 Euros and bought it. The used device also had a broken PSU. But the IC was working (and yeah, nothing you would be able to buy). So I swapped the capacitors and everything worked again. A replacement for that unit including programming would have costed my company 20k at least.

ornornor 4y ago

I know it’s too late for you, but I have a personal rule that’s served me very well: never touch any Samsung device ever. You can’t avoid the chips they make as part of other devices or appliances but that seems ok. The Samsung branded appliances and devices however are total garbage and Samsung dgaf. It might actually be part of their business model. I have rarely heard someone say how happy they are with their Samsung anything, especially not their fridges and other appliances. “Built to fail” is something that often comes up, however.

donatj 4y ago
It's so sad to see such a rapid decline. In the early 2000s every Samsung device I bought was well made and unbreakable. Every Samsung device I have bought since maybe 2010 including my refrigerator and dishwasher have been total junk. I've had our refrigerator repaired so many times in the last 8 years it's just unreasonable.
jonnycoder 4y ago
I would like to know which fridge company is the most reliable. My samsung fridge and washer/drier bought in 2013 are still running good. I heard bad things about LG compressor in fridges, but their cordless vacuum is outstanding. I will probably never trust GE.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  I bought at least 5 or 6 LG linear inverter compressor refrigerators since 2019 and they are all going great, with zero noise. I think they had issues with their initial models, but they may have improved them. I mainly stick to LG appliances from Costco. But I also avoid getting appliances with fancy features like see through doors and crap. I don’t even get ice dispensers, just the ice bucket inside the freezer works.
- twobitshifter 4y ago
  Just get a single door convertible or a top freezer bottom fridge style. Something made for commercial use can also work. Complexity is the enemy of reliability. The reason freezers are at the top isn’t because it’s best to have frozen food at eye level, it’s because that’s where the refrigerant expands and is coolest and then it takes on heat as it condenses again and descends through the fridge. Convertibles are great because you can have either a fridge or a freezer with the flip of a switch. Get 2 of them and you have way more space for about the price of a french door fridge.

kevstev 4y ago

Heh I have also had trouble with a higher end model's ice maker. I have donated about half a pint of blood over several stabs at fixing it. Even after I ended up moving and renting the place, the new tenant who also considered himself pretty handy gave a bunch of goes at it too to no avail. It seems like such a simple device, yet they are devilish to diagnose and repair apparently!

bsder 4y ago
Ice makers are the #1 failure mode of refrigerators. Between being broken, taking up freezer space, having weird plumbing, having water that doesn't move often so grows bacteria, needing filters which nobody ever changes, etc. the best maintenance idea is simply to not have an ice maker. I'm sure that some people get more value out of an ice maker than a couple of ice trays in the freezer. I'm just not sure I've ever met them.
- ethbr0 4y ago
  The root problem seems to be that ice makers are an afterthought / outsourced on any price freezer. Consequently, they're designed to minimal reliability, lasting just long enough to outstrip the warranty.
- mrguyorama 4y ago
  Meanwhile the dirt cheap kenmore I had my entire life had an ice maker that never had a problem. It seems more common on the more expensive appliances. It just seems like they overcomplicate and don't build in redundancy or repairability to save a couple bucks.
  - onemoresoop 4y ago
    > It just seems like they overcomplicate and don't build in redundancy or repairability to save a couple bucks. No, they want you to buy another one aka premature/planned obsolescence. Best bet is to research heavily and hope to find a manufacturer who doesn't do that.
- 4y ago

doodlebugging 4y ago

We also had one of these side by sides. I replaced the icemaker twice and the icemaker circuit board once over a period of about 12 years. I finally replaced the whole thing last year with a new refrigerator after the freezer light quit working and the easiest, cheapest replacement part did not fix the issue. For what we paid initially and for the other icemakers I would not buy a Samsung again. If you ever need replacement parts for any home appliances you should go to one of these places [0], [1] where you can get OEM parts instead of aftermarket parts that may not work great. [0] https://www.appliancepartspros.com/ https://www.appliancepartspros.com/ [1] https://www.ereplacementparts.com/appliance-parts.html https://www.ereplacementparts.com/appliance-parts.html Both sites have exploded diagrams that help you find the part you need and in many cases they have videos to show how to do the repair.

tomcam 4y ago

Proper choice for you is d), b/c from what you posted it seems like the best tradeoff and risk profile. I did it about 6 months ago and am thrilled. And my icemaker isn't even broken!

Kaibeezy 4y ago
Yeah, I’m leaning that way. Other single-purpose devices have been successful - rice cooker, sodastream, slow cooker, etc. Time for a Dr. Pete and a reckoning.
- tomcam 4y ago
  Maybe an air fryer too. Even my minimalist, gourmet wife regards it as indispensable.
  - Kaibeezy 4y ago
    Agree! I didn’t get to pick the fridge, but I did get to pick the cooker, and it’s got dual convection ovens, ftw. The cracklings, the bread crust, the baking soda roasted potatoes, all winners. I’m looking for a US-style toaster oven. Hard to find here. The cooker has a grill too (heat from the top, close to the food) but it takes too long to heat up and then suddenly gets too hot, plus you can’t see in easily. OK for sausages, not so good for a tuna melt.

slug 4y ago

I had two refrigerators fail on me the past 5 years. The first one was Bosch, but just in name, all the parts were from someone else. Managed to fix it by replacing the compressor controller board, bought it either from Ebay or from the oem parts sites mentioned elsewhere. The second was a Samsung that has a well known manufacturing defect on the defrosting system. There's several very useful repair videos on YouTube with exact same problem. Got the replacement / improvement part from aliexpress for $3, it's been running better than before since then.

Kaibeezy 4y ago
Yep, the Samsung failure is very well known… once it fails. I swear I looked at reviews beforehand, but they change models and otherwise obfuscate, whilst the other decisionmaking party gets fixated on the damn deli drawer, which, I have to say, is kind of nice. What $3 part fixed your ice defroster? For my fridge the videos sure looked like I needed to swap out the whole contraption.