Samsung French Door FRG297HDRS/XAA Ice/Water Dispenser Microswitch Replacement

Written By: Mark Richards
  • Comments: 18
Samsung French Door FRG297HDRS/XAA Ice/Water Dispenser Microswitch Replacement

Difficulty

Easy

Steps

7

Time Required

20 minutes

Introduction

1. How to identify a microswitch failure

2. Safety

3. How to disassemble the dispenser and access the switch

4. How to replace the switch

5. Re-assembly

6. Resetting the power failure code

7. Testing

    • This appliance provides water and ice when a dispenser flap is pressed. This flap activates a small switch, called a "microswitch" to call for water or ice. However, nothing will happen if the refrigerator doors are open. So make sure the doors are firmly closed before you assume the switch has failed.

    Easy way to check the door switch is to see if the interior light goes off when the doors close. I used two cell phones on a video chat with one in the fridge. Quick and positive way to check those door switches.

    Norman Berry -

    • Please: SAFETY FIRST. Don't blow yourself up. You will be working on an appliance powered by the AC mains! Disconnect completely from AC power before and during these repair procedures.

  3. hpY55bSYTPLGfaHy

    • The cretins who sold us this appliance refused to provide access to a service manual, an illustrated parts breakdown, or to offer any tips. Reluctantly I purchased the switch, and then Googled the hell out of it.

    • The black control panel, the water/ice buttons, and the black dispenser port are a complete assembly. There is a single philips head screw holding this assembly in place. Look beneath just next to where the ice comes out and there's the screw. Remove it - don't lose the sucker - it's a special thread! and get ready for the real fun.

    • Grab the black dispenser port with a strong hand and hold the door from opening with another, or your shoulder. Firmly pull the assembly away from the door. It will take a quick, firm pull to do the deed. The assembly is held in place by several plastic lock tabs. These will give way without breaking.

    • BE CAREFUL. There's a short length of connecting cable attaching the panel to the refrigerator door assembly. Don't pull so hard that you destroy the connector.

    • Remove the connector (a single Molex type) from the refrigerator door. It's a latching type, so takes a squeeze to release the latch.

    • Remove the rigid plastic water dispenser hose from the control panel. Note how it's attached.

  4. rKDoRFKHKVpH1uGo

    • First, you will remove a whitish (ours was crudded and discoloured) plate which holds the switch in place. This plate is attached by two philips head (NON-STAINLESS) screws.

    • Both of the screws in our unit, in keeping with the planned obsolescence that anything you buy in the US are known for, were both totally rusted. This, after a single year of ownership! One had to be removed with vice grips. The other removed after cutting a notch in the head and unscrewing with a flat blade driver.

    • After removing the cover, note the position of the switch and the two wires with blade connectors. Replace the switch with your new one. Clean the plastic thoroughly... especially the ice port. Ours was filthy (the design sucks, allowing splashing liquids back into the port).

    • I re-assembled and replaced both screws with 4-40x3/8" stainless steel pan head self-tapping screws. They'll never rust, but the same can't be said for the rest of 'em.

    • Attach the Molex connector and the water dispensing hose.

    • Making sure all of the cables won't be crushed or jammed, carefully align the panel with its opening in the door. Use care to make sure the white ring at the base of the ice dispenser will not be in the way as you press the panel back in place.

    • Once the panel is lined up, press it firmly back into the door. Make certain that you do this evenly. A gentle bump of your hand will snap the edges into their locks. Provided you haven't brute-forced the poor thing, it will look like no one ever touched it.

    • You'll see an error code on the display. 1E

    • Samsung could have shown PF (for power failure), but in keeping with a philosophy of obfuscation and keeping service outfits busy (you'll pay someone to "reset" your refrigerator). Here's what to do.

    • Press the ENERGY SAVER and the LIGHTING buttons (not really buttons but touch panels) simultaneously. This will take a large hand (I found it will work also with two hands, but not reliably). Hold this button press for about 10 seconds, or until all the segments on the panel light up. That's your reset sequence. The unit is now ready to test.

    • Try it out.

    • Press the ICE button, put a glass beneath, and press the dispenser flap. The firm "click" sound of the new microswitch will be heard, followed by the hideous grinding of Samsung's cheap ice dispenser motor. Perhaps some ice will drop into your glass. Once, a fly dropped into mine.

    • Congratulations. Add gin and tonic. Have one on me!

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

Mark Richards

Member since: 16/03/13

254 Reputation

17 comments

Do you have a part number for the micro switch you replaced? I have found a couple different part numbers, no pictures, your panel you removed looks identical to mine, and was D.O.A. unit, Samsung wants to replace the whole fridge, but because I purchased a floor model at a reduced priced, in order to replace the fridge, I would have to pay the difference in price, to the tune of $600. I figured a micro switch replacement would be 1500 times cheaper to replace, but Samsung says replace the whole fridge. What a waste of money and my time to swap fridges out just for a micro.

cnhproduction -

Samsung DA34-00011A Likely it will work in a wide range of their appliances, but I'd still check that it's the proper part for yours.

Mark Richards -

Very nice article and super helpful. I had to use a different micro switch that came with a stainless steel arm over the switch button. Clipped it off with diagonal cutters and everything works great. Thank you so much for providing this repair guide.

Norman Berry -

Whole assembly part number?

mrrock nobodylostinspace -

Assembly part number? Mine is making and stiff click when I activate the push arm. Not sure the switch will fix this!

mrrock nobodylostinspace -

My model is a RFG297HDWP/XAA and I did everything Mark did except for replacing the switch. (Thank you very much for posting this Mark)  Remember what Mark said about pulling towards you , not down when taking the whole assembly out.. That was my first mistake (pulling down)until I reread what mark had wrote.  Also I used a pair of small vice grips to get my rusted screws out. You will notice that once you take the screws off, under the cover is the switch. There is nothing that holds the switch down(that I could see) but the cover itself. So what I did is put a little piece of felt on top of the switch which will hold the switch down firmly (or you can use rubber) and put the cover back on with your own stainless screws  and voila!  My problem was that the switch was loose enough for the dispenser lever not to push the switch until it got held down by the felt. All together about 1/2 hour of my time saving me $200 plus parts from Samsung’s non warranty product.

Robert -

Robert, thank you so-o much for this tidbit of info! We discovered we had the same problem with the switch not connecting to the dispenser lever after we had thawed an ice jam. Not sure, what occurred during the thawing process to cause this to happen. For anyone else having an ice and water dispensing problem, this may be your issue as well. To fix it, we read through all the instructions for removing the black control panel (took some effort to carefully get it off the first time), and we then removed the white cover of the dispenser switch box. To provide more pressure to hold the switch down when the switch cover is in place, we simply rolled some electrical tape and placed it on top of the switch connector and then screwed the switch cover back in place. Voila, we were dispensing ice and water once again and probably saved a $200 service call!

Joyce -

I have an rfg298hdrs/xaa, would this be the same type of fix too?

Alex Lau -

I haven’t the foggiest idea. But if it has the same appearance, most likely it will be fine to fix.

Mark Richards -

I have 29.5 samsung french door my problem is it acts like a possessed demon.light on and off water on and off etc by itself.all you hear is the annoying chime non stop.i looked at board in d no obvious critters.hope u can help

Larry Williams -

Venturing a likely cause: contamination. Suggest you clean the pc board thoroughly with anhydrous isopropyl alcohol.. then dry the board with a hair dryer (not so hot that it will burn skin, but sufficient to thoroughly dry the board). Make certain all connectors are clean and have good contact. Reboot the system (power down completely of course prior to trying this!) That might get it. Otherwise, try removing sensors or controls from board until problem goes away to isolate the external cause.

Good luck!

Mark Richards -

If you use a painters tool.slide it up both sides of display and use thin butter knives to ease display out.they have 2 tabs under display which fit in grooves so pulling down isnt best.once 4 tabs maybe 6 or free around glass display you can gentley remove.pulling with alot of force my damage alot more than the fridge if you loose balance from the water/ice mess it creates

Larry Williams -

The Right way to remove the display(without breaking it) is to pop both bottom corners with simply a flat head screwdriver. And then pull out with two hands. There are two flat head sized slots on both the bottom right and left of the display. Carefully pry up and out against plastic chassis of dispenser housing(where you put the cup). Being careful not to pry against stainless steel.

Bryan Blasser -

Thanks for your help my LG 03/2011 Model RFG297HDRS had the same issue and a $12 Miroc Switch saved a service call and labor.

Replacement part # is now 3405-001117 vice DA34-00011A but look both up.

Thanks for saving me time and money,

Alan Goodwin

Alan Goodwin -

I wonder if someone can help me. I have a 4 door fridge model number RF4267HARS/XXA. The black door which is supposed to open to dispense ice, is opening and closing continuously. I have asked Samsung what I need to do but they want to send a repair person. I am trying to find a part number or even willing to replace the left door but I can't find a place to buy one. Samsung will give me zero help.

Thanks

donnalaing -

I bought a part from easyapplianceparts.com. It was the right part except that it had a metal arm on the bottom that I had to dremel off to get it to fit properly within the housing. Not sure where to get the part that doesn’t need modifications in order to work. This article was very helpful and the instructions are spot on!

Samsung Part Number 3405-001117 replaces: 110634, DA34-00011A

StevenM -