I had this happen to an LG fridge before. Was told by some drone on the phone that it was because -4 was lower than 0... Duh! Anyway, one of the reasons I don't buy LG any more. Turns out what he was trying to say in not so fluent english is that it was not designed to operate at a set temp under 0 even though you can set it as low as you want. I had to have him transfer me to a supervisor before I got that explanation.

So, I read up on this myself and found out that this can happen in a few situations... If the door seals are leaking for instance. You mentioned that nothing was blocking the output vents but also make sure that nothing is obstructing the input vents. Raising my freezer temp did help the problem go away on my LG but I've never seen the problem on our current Samsung (knock on wood). The "Twin Cooling" system on most modern Samsung fridges is supposed to help with these types of issues I think but obviously you are still seeing the problem. I'd suggest raising the freezer set temp a bit (like to 0F or even 6F) and see if it happens. Double check all of your seals and make sure the intake vents are also unobstructed. Finally, I'd turn off any of the energy savings controls for a while. The energy saver mode on these fridges are known to cause condensation problems in the fridge compartment (especially in humid climates) and combined with a low set temp or any of the other problems above, could lead to that condensation freezing.

Good luck.

Amcook, thanks for posting to my question. The energy saver has been off for several months. The seals seem to be tight. I did initially have the freezer set at -4 and the frig at +34 or +36. After the icing up problem last week I set it to the -2 and +38, as recommended in the manual. As mentioned it did maintain these temps for about a week until this weekend.

When I shut it down tonight the freezer had maintained the -2 temp, as set. The refrig section hasn't held the temp in 3 days, but I did notice that yesterday it did cool down from 52 to 48 when the door was kept closed for several hours. This AM it was still too high at 48.

Where are the intake vents located? The book doesn't tell me.

I am no appliance expert, but having a fridge set at 34 - 36 is asking for stuff to freeze. We get frost warnings when temps are 34 - 36 outside at night. I always thought optimal fridge setting is 45F.

34-36 is the temp I've always seen used for the big walk-in cooler fridges in restaurants. Here's a quote from the USDA website on ideal temp setting for the fridge & freezer:

Freezer - Refrigerator Temperatures
If a refrigerator freezing compartment can't maintain zero degrees or if the door is opened frequently, use it for short-term food storage. Eat those foods as soon as possible for best quality. Use a free-standing freezer set at 0 �F or below for long-term storage of frozen foods. Keep an appliance thermometer in your freezing compartment or freezer to check the temperature. This is important if you experience power-out or mechanical problems. The temperature in the refrigerator should be set at 40 �F or below. Check the refrigerator temperature with an appliance thermometer

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA Storage Guidelines

Looks like I was wrong about the refrigerator temp. I should check ours.

Maybe your Samsung thermostat is not calibrated properly? Hopefully someone here will have a good suggestion.

I keep mine around 38*.

When the repair guy comes, ask him to look at the defrost coils. Also if any of the drains have a blockage.

Cavimum Thanks for your post. Inintially I had my temp set at +36 but after the first defrost I set frig at the recommended +38 deg. The freezer the same thing, set it at the recommended -2 degrees instead of the -4 deg I did have it at.

Mydream, thanks for the info. We have a chest freezer too which has been a great freezer for the last 20 years, love it.

Weedmeister, unfortunately I couldn't be home when the repair man came and I forgot to have my DH ask specifics about the repair. When I am at work, its all work and the rest of the world just goes on without me:) The repair man switched out the panel on the back interior wall of the frig where the temp sensors and fan are located. Repair man said that he has seen these fail in the Samsung. I will be watching closely. The drain in the frig was plugged with ice. DH says that he saw the heating element behind the panel when it was removed but the repair man didn't say anything about it. We will see if it freezes again and if so he will be back out, told DH to give him a call.

Sounds like the computer control board.

Weedmeister, I just talked to the repairman and he said he replaced the panel at the back of the cabinet. This included the fan and temp sensors x 2. He did not think there was anything wrong with the defrosting coils. The unit is still working at correct temp 24 hours later. Last time I defrosted the frig it took about a week or 2 to block back up. I will watch carefully.

@enduring - just thinking out loud here ... I wonder if some of the items inside the refrigerator got pushed up to an air outlet and blocked the air flow. The only reason I ask, is that every now and then the water in our Brita pitcher will freeze up. Only happens 2 or 3 times a year, but it is strange, and I figure maybe it got up pushed against an air duct/outlet.

Cavimum, It could have happened, but there are 6 vents and it would be likely only one would have been blocked, if at all. Would that have caused the freeze up of all 6 vents? The repairman stated that he has seen these panels fail. Thanks for you post. I will watch that nothing gets too close to the vents.

Well this is the 3rd time this refrigerator has frozen up resulting in a service call today. It happened when I first started this post and again in September, and now today I see all the vents frozen up. I have a service contract and the 4th time this issue comes up I get a new frig. and I don't think it has to be this model either. I don't know if I want it to fail or finally stay fixed. It is only about 18 months old. What a PITA!

I really like my Samsung and hope I don't run into any problems. Once I blocked some vents in the freezer and it caused a problem. Once I blocked some vents inside the refrigerator. How can you keep frozen food from blocking vents???? The drain did block once and that required a repairman who said it happens a lot with Samsung. When he took off the back panel to clear the drain there was a lot of rust and gunk there and I do not know what it is or what it is coming from. I posted some photos just the other day asking if it was a serious problem or not and if anyone wants to give me advice I would appreciate it. The refrigerator seems a bit too cold at 38 degrees so will need to buy a thermometer.

Good luck with yours.

If the drain hole is getting blocked with ice, there is a new style drain heater clip that is much longer, that will prevent future ice build up on the drain hole. It attaches to the heater element and goes down into the drain whole. This melts the ice in the drain hole. Make sure the tech installs it, otherwise it will ice up again and the water has no place to go except to the bottom of your fridge (under your fresh food drawers). Also, make sure the tech turned on the defrost heater when he has it open so he can feel if the heater is getting hot. By putting it in test mode, the defrost heater can be turned on manually.

Janicedallas, yes I've liked mine but not this freeze up issue. The guy will be here Tuesday so I need to get it defrosted today.

Steve340, thank you very much for these tips. I will be sure he gets this info. Last time, in Sept, he had attached a new wire because the light weight metal originally attached was not adequate to defrost the drain hole. He put another heavier wire there and into the drain hole to conduct heat from the element into the drain hole. This is according to my husband who was present during the repair.

I will keep the forum posted on the events this week. Thanks again all.

The tech came out monday and found that the heating element isn't working. DH said that in Sept you could feel the heat of the heating element, so I am assuming it was working then. I, of course, was at work - like each other repair visit :/

So now it is a week's wait to get the part from Samsung and hopefully next monday will get it fixed. We are having a small Christmas get together this Friday and I have no fridge! So last night I went out and bought a dorm sized fridge to go with our 3 ice chest :) It will hold the special ham I bought.

@enduring - I hope the heating element will be the final cure for that fridge's chronic problem. Fingers crossed!

The fridge is still working since it's 3rd repair. So far so good on the replacement part, but DH and I can't remember if the whole panel got replaced or just the heating component. Anyway, it's good and I really like the french door upper fridge style.

I have the same problem. Talked to a repair person and he said there was nothing you can do. You have to defrost it every 6 months. It does help to turn off the esaver though. There are many complaints about this online. Good luck!!

Mine is still functioning after the third repair. Never have to defrost. Though I will never get another Samsung anything.

Samsung sucks big time. Big design flaw. Have to deice mine every 2 weeks