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A French door fridge offers plenty of space to store your food items. However, the unit must cool evenly at all parts to provide the cooling you need. So, why would it only cool at the bottom but not the upper part?
A fridge that doesn’t cool in the upper part is experiencing an airflow problem. For example, the upper air outlets are likely blocked or there are too many items on those shelves. Besides that, frozen evaporator coils or a failed upper evaporator fan motor can also stop cold air from being sent out at the upper section.
You don’t need much time or effort to diagnose this issue. This guide will walk you through the troubleshooting process and help you get to the bottom of it as soon as possible. Follow links to other articles for more detailed discussions on replacing Samsung fan motors, etc.
Why Is My Samsung french Door Fridge Not Cooling In The Upper Part?
A lack of cooling only in the upper part of your refrigerator suggests a problem with cold air distribution. In other words, your refrigerator generates the cold air required, but that air isn’t spreading out evenly to all parts of the compartment.
Here are the most likely reasons that problem is happening and what you can do to solve it quickly:
Blocked Air Outlet
The first thing you’ll want to check for are blocked air outlets. Your double-door refrigerator has several air outlets or vents, especially towards the compartment’s rear.
Those outlets are distributed evenly throughout the upper and lower parts to ensure that cold air spreads evenly throughout the space.
Unfortunately, air outlets will become blocked when the opening is frozen with frost and ice. The same thing will happen if food containers or packaging presses up against the outlet.
As a result, the upper parts of your refrigerator won’t be cool like the lower part, simply because it doesn’t receive cold air the same way.
What you can do: You can fix this problem by clearing all blocked air outlets on the upper part of the refrigerator. Firstly, remove any packaging or materials that are covering the outlet.
Next, rearrange your items so the outlets have at least a 1-inch gap so cold air can come out freely.
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Suppose you find that ice or frost is blocking an air outlet. In that case, you’ll have to defrost that ice. Do not use a hair dryer or heat gun, as that will damage the plastic panels. Instead, use steam from a pot with hot water or shut off the fridge entirely to defrost the blockage.
Read: 5 Reasons Why Samsung Fridge Not Cooling + Service Manual + DIY Heater
Overloaded Fridge Shelves- french door fridge not cooling
Here’s another reason that is closely related to the one described above. Your fridge’s upper part might be warm because those fridge shelves are overloaded.
Firstly, overloading a shelf risks blocking the air outlet, as you read about earlier.
However, the overloaded shelf also restricts the smooth airflow of cold air. So, even if that air comes from the outlet, it will not spread evenly throughout the compartment. Instead, the food packaging and containers on that shelf will trap the cold air in or around the outlet.
As a result, the upper parts of the compartment feel warm despite the lower part cooling down to your set temperature.
What you can do: Needless to say, you’ll have to reorganize your refrigerator’s compartments. Firstly, ensure that nothing blocks the cold air outlet.
Next, arrange your shelves so air can flow from the back towards the front between the food containers. When you do that, the cooling system will cool the upper and lower parts of the refrigerator at the same rate according to your set temperature.
Read: Why Samsung Fridge Is Making “JackHammer” Noise?
Frozen Evaporator Coils
The evaporator coils are critical sections of the appliance’s cooling system. Those coils are the ones that absorb heat directly from the compartments to lower their temperature.
Those coils become frigid cold as they do that, allowing a fan to blow cold air directly into the compartment to cool your food items further.
However, excess moisture can cause those evaporator coils to freeze over. This problem can become so severe that the coils freeze into a solid block of ice.
The evaporator fan won’t blow air through the coils when that happens. So, even though the coils are cold, the upper part of the compartment won’t receive any cold air.
What you can do: Fixing this problem will take a lot of time and patience if you want to do it correctly. You’ll have to defrost the refrigerator so the frozen evaporator coils can defrost naturally.
The most effective way to do that is by shutting the appliance off and leaving its doors open. Then, point a fan at it so warm air can flow and melt the ice more effectively.
You must never use a hair dryer or heat gun to speed this process up.
Remember: the inside panels of your refrigerator are plastic, and they’ll warp if you expose them to the focused heat from those tools.
Read: 3 Ways To Fix Samsung Fridge Not Cooling After Power Outage
Failed Evaporator Fan Motor
Earlier, you read that the cold air from the evaporator coils is spread throughout the refrigerator compartment with the help of a fan. That’s called the evaporator fan, which consists of a fan motor and a set of fan blades.
Simply put, the motor spins the fan blades, which drive cold air through the evaporator coils and spread it throughout the compartment.
But when that fan motor fails, none of the cold air is distributed. That will leave the upper part feeling warm if the upper evaporator fan motor fails.
What you can do: You can’t repair or service a failed evaporator fan. The only solution here is to replace it with a new one.
Replacement fans are easily available online and at retailers such as Amazon, click here. They are usually less than $30. Double check your model number before ordering.
Note: we may receive a small commission from your order, at no additional cost to you.
First, remove the rear panel inside the refrigerator compartment. That will expose the evaporator fan motor for you to disconnect and remove. Then, mount the new motor and reconnect its wire harness the same way as the previous one. Watch this YouTube video for step by step help.
Read: 5 Reasons Why Samsung Fridge Evaporator Fan Is Not Working
Final Thoughts
Samsung French door fridge not cooling.
A refrigerator compartment is designed to cool down evenly. However, a lack of cooling in the upper part means the cold air isn’t getting to where it’s needed.
So, focus your troubleshooting on the upper part. Look for a blocked air outlet or overloaded fridge shelves that won’t allow cold air to spread out.
Then, check for frozen evaporator coils or a failed evaporator fan motor. Those can also prevent the available cold air from being spread out evenly.
Read: Why Samsung Fridge Water Dispenser Keeps Running?
