My worst week in appliance repair was last March in Phoenix

I had three compressors fail on me in five days, all under warranty but the paperwork alone was a nightmare. The last one was a Samsung fridge where the start relay melted and took the board with it. Has anyone else dealt with that specific Samsung model that seems to eat compressors?

4 comments

4 Comments

amy_west1mo ago

Ugh yes that Samsung model is the absolute worst. I had one last summer where the melted relay actually started smoking when I opened the panel. It completely fried the board and the compressor was shot. I mean it's crazy they haven't fixed that design yet. I ended up doing the hard start kit too and it's been fine since, but you really have to check everything on those or it'll just happen again.

drew_hart41mo ago

Man that Samsung model is a nightmare with compressors. I've seen three of those same failures where the start relay just cooks itself and takes the board out. The issue is the relay contacts arc and weld shut, which sends continuous power to the compressor and burns it up. Best fix I found is to replace the relay with a hard start kit and add a separate overload protector. That way the relay won't fail again and take the compressor with it. Also check the condenser fan is running full speed because those Samsung boards sometimes send low voltage to the fan motor.

caseythompson1mo ago

Yeah, that tracks with what I heard from a tech last month. He said he keeps a box of those exact relays on his truck just for Samsung calls. The constant on-and-off cycling from bad temperature sensors seems to make it worse. He told me about one where the welded relay actually melted part of the compressor terminal block. Your hard start kit fix sounds smarter than just swapping the relay for the same junk part.

kimfisher1mo agoProlific Poster

Actually, the relay welding shut usually cuts power to the compressor, not sends continuous power.