An ice maker is a modern luxury that offers comfort and convenience. You can find this feature in side-by-side models of modern refrigerators. With it, gone are the days when you need to fill an ice tray with water manually, place it inside the freezer, and wait for it to form ice cubes.
Samsung is among the top global brands well-known for its innovative products. Its refrigerators boast modern and stylish designs, and some feature ice makers. If you have one, then you might be wondering how to defrost Samsung ice makers. For that, we’ve got your back. Before we talk about that, though, let us first get to know ice makers first.
What Are Ice Makers?
In these modern times, we are used to getting everything instantly—even our ice cubes. With ice makers, you only need to push a button or move a lever, and ice will come out straight to your glass, without even needing to open your fridge.
However, this is nothing new. Ice makers have been in existence for quite some time, but it is only now that they are starting to circle the market again because of the emergence of new versions and upgrades.
Producing ice using an ice maker is not that simple; it requires different mechanisms to work together. Dr. John Gorrie invented the first ice maker in 1850, while Thaddeus Lowe’s design was the first to be made available to the public back in 1866.
Servel introduced refrigerators with built-in ice makers in 1953. It was only then that households started producing ice at home without using an ice tray. However, it was Frigidaire that began selling refrigerators that can dispense ice in 1965.
Ice Maker Parts and Its Functions
An ice maker is composed of different parts with individual functions. Each piece is essential to the overall performance of the machine. Here are the basic parts of an ice maker:
Solenoid Water Valve
The solenoid water valve is considered the major part of an ice-making system. At the start of the ice-making cycle, a switch in the ice maker’s circuit will send a signal and energize the solenoid water valve, which is attached to the mainline with electrical wires. The valve opens for a few seconds and lets water flow through it and into the ice tray.
Cooling Unit
Once the water fills the ice tray, we wait for the water to turn into ice cubes. The cooling unit of the refrigerator, not the ice maker, helps in freezing the water into ice cubes. The ice maker has an integrated thermostat that monitors the temperature of the water inside the ice tray. When it hits the required temperature, the thermostat will turn off a switch in the electrical line.
Heating Coil
An electric current will flow through the heating coil after the switch closes. The heat from the coil then warms the bottom of the ice tray, detaching the ice cubes from the mold.
Motor
At this point, the electrical circuit activates the ice maker’s motor. The motor turns a gear that causes another apparatus connected to a plastic rod to turn. There are ejector blades attached to the plastic rod, and the ice cubes are scooped out of the ice tray as the ejector blades rotate.
Notches
You will find plastic notches at the front part of your ice maker. As the ejector blades cross through the grooves, the ice cubes are pushed out and onto the bin.
Plastic Cam
The rotating rod has a jagged plastic cam at the base. Before all the ice cubes drop to the bin, the plastic cam catches and lifts the shut-off arm. Once the ice cube transfer is complete, the shut-off arm falls back to its original position. This action sends a signal to the circuit that activates the water valve to open and start another cycle.
If the arm is unable to fall back to its original position, the start of another ice-making process will not proceed until you remove the obstruction. One ice-making cycle takes typically around one to two hours to complete.
The traditional way of making ice is with the help of the cold temperature of the freezer. Some manufacturers, like Samsung, promotes “Direct Cool” ice makers. These ice makers use the same system that cools the entire refrigerator. This process makes it easier for the ice maker to be placed anywhere in the fridge, not just the freezer. It also uses less energy and turns water into ice faster.
Types of Ice Makers
An ice maker is considered a specialty appliance that provides convenience to the user so that they can have ice whenever they need it. Generally speaking, there are two types of ice makers: those designed for residential use and those for commercial settings.
Residential
There are different types of ice makers that are designed to service households. These are:
1. Freestanding Ice Maker
As the name indicates, this type of ice maker does not require installation to a specific location. You can put this durable ice maker anywhere you believe it is most useful, but it should be somewhere spacious so that it can breathe (its venting system is at the sides and the back).
2. Built-in Ice Maker
This type of ice maker needs to be installed among the cabinets in your kitchen or put under the counter as it needs protection on the sides and back. Its venting system is located in the front, making it suitable to be placed in cramped spaces.
3. Portable Ice Maker
Portable ice makers are conveniently smaller in size so that you can simply place it on countertops. Its size makes it easy for anyone to bring it along on picnics, parties, and more.
Usually, this type of ice maker produces ice within 10 minutes after you set it up. The downside to using this kind of ice maker is its ability to store ice cubes, though it reuses melted ice to make new ones.
Commercial (Standard Ice Cube Makers)
The ice-making units discussed above are not suitable for commercial use because the demand for ice is much higher than what a residential ice maker can offer. In a business setting, what you need is a standard ice cube maker. Here are its components:
- Heat-Exchanging Pipes
In a professional setting, a big metal ice cube tray serves as the collection bin. The vertically placed metal tray is attached to a group of heat-exchanging pipes, which is similar to the pipes at the back of your refrigerator.
A compressor continuously sends a current of refrigerant fluid into a condenser and releases it to the evaporator so that it can expand.
- Expansion Valve
When you compress the refrigerant, the pressure rises, and the temperature increases. The coolant then loses its heat as it moves through the small condenser coils and then compresses into liquid.
This compressed fluid evaporates and turns into gas as it moves through the expansion valve. The evaporation process pulls in heat from the air around the refrigerant, and metal pipes then cool it and the connected metal ice tray.
- Collection Sump
The collection sump is where your ice maker’s water pump extracts its water from. It then empties it over the chilled ice tray. The water flowing over the metal tray slowly freezes as it produces ice cubes.
- Solenoid Valve
The solenoid valve attached to the heat-exchanging coils is triggered by the ice maker to reverse the process. The compressor stops sending the heated gas into the condenser by sending it to a bypass tube then back to the evaporator.
When this happens, the pipes, along with the metal ice tray, will immediately heat up. As a result, the ice cubes are released.
- Cylinder Piston
The loosened or released ice cubes will either slide out automatically or might need the help of the cylinder piston by giving the tray a little push to release the ice cubes.
How to Defrost Samsung Ice Makers
There are a lot of various answers on how to defrost Samsung ice makers, and one response stood out because of its technicality. Follow the steps below to defrost your Samsung ice maker.
Step 1
Check the front panel of the refrigerator and then press and hold both buttons labeled Energy Saver and Refrigerator for eight seconds. All the lights on the display will then go blank, and the system will transfer to the Test mode.
Step 2
Press any button within 15 minutes after the display lights go out. The Test mode choices are:
- Manual Operation 1 (FF)
- Manual Operation 2 (0f-r)
- Manual defrost of fresh food compartments (rd)
- Manual defrost of fresh food and freezer compartments (FD)
- Cancel
Choose the option (FD), which means Force Defrost.
Step 3
You will hear a beeping sound while on defrost mode. The beeping stops at five minutes, indicating that you completed the defrosting process. Repeat Step 2 until everything is thawed out.
Step 4
Once you’re sure that all the ice has been thawed out, disconnect the refrigerator from the power outlet to reset.
Step 5
Remove, clean, and dry the ice maker before returning it to the refrigerator.
We need to Force Defrost a Samsung refrigerator so that we can remove the Direct Contact Icemaker clasped to an evaporator tube. Removing the icemaker without defrosting will damage the whole ice maker.
Why Do Ice Makers Freeze Up
There are various possible causes why a refrigerator ice maker freezes up. It could be that the ice maker fill tube is frozen, the water inlet valve is defective, the freezer temperature setting is too low, or the water filter needs a replacement. Below, we discuss each of these possible scenarios in detail.
1. Frozen fill tube or water supply line
Both the water supply line and the fill tube provide water to the ice maker. The fill tube is a separate component that is attached to the water supply line. It goes through the back of the freezer then straight to the ice maker.
The ice maker needs to be removed to check if this part is frozen. If in case it is, you can thaw it by pouring some hot water on the tube with the use of a turkey baster or anything similar. You can also remove it from the refrigerator and thaw in the sink before reconnecting.
2. Water filter needing replacement
Check the water filter to know if its time for a replacement. Water filters should be changed every six months.
3. Freezer temperature settings too low
Ideally, the recommended freezer temperature is between zero to five degrees. If you think that the temperature setting of your freezer is causing your ice maker to freeze, you can increase the temperature to one to two degrees.
4. Defective the water inlet valve
The water inlet valve regulates the flow of water going into the ice maker. You can find this at the back of the refrigerator. The ice cube tray overfills when this component is defective. This valve also comes with a screen filter to ensure that any impurities from the hard water will not pass through to the ice maker.
Clean the screen filter with warm, soapy water before reattaching. After checking all the things we mentioned above, and nothing seems wrong, you can test your ice maker to see if it will still freeze. Contact a certified Samsung technician if you think you need professional help.
Conclusion
Now that we have learned the step-by-step process of defrosting Samsung ice makers, you can easily do it on your own if the need arises. No need to call a technician right away and spend too much money on repairs or replacement.
Alternatively, you can also call your manufacturer’s customer support department to ask for assistance. Still, knowing how to conduct essential troubleshooting steps helps you save time and money. Always keep the user’s manual handy and check it while conducting necessary troubleshooting steps to make sure that you will not be doing more damage to the unit instead of fixing it.
As it is, every appliance model and manufacturer offer their process on troubleshooting. The instructions you find online are mostly general rules and are not related to a specific brand or model.