Faulty Fridge... Help Needed.

[MadMen]

I noticed last night that my Chardonnay wasn't as cold as I like it, so put it back in the fridge, then noticed that everything else felt cold, but not 'fridge cold' - if that makes sense.
The dial on the front said it was 1 degree, but the butter was really soft and so was the cheese.
Oddly, the bottom half seems colder that the top?
The freezer side is fine, and is showing as -23. I have checked the contents and all seems ok on this side.

I contacted Curry's and they've said because I didn't buy a 'whatever happens' policy, and because it's out of warranty, they can send someone round to look at it and hopefully fix it, but it will cost £290!! :-((

I then contacted Samsung to see if they could offer an alternative.
He told me to switch it off for an hour at the mains, so it would reset.
I've switched it back on and although the freezer has gone down to the correct temperature, the fridge is saying 12 degrees now!

Has anyone any ideas? Would someone else, a local company charge this amount to fix it, or is it worth ringing around?
Who would I even ring?

Need some advice sharpish, as I have a fridge full of food.

Model Number (if it helps at all) is RSH1DBMH1/XEU

Thanks.

[Connemmara]

Have you turned the wee dial at the front of the fridge up a bit - that was my problem with my milk - it was down to the min and I turned it up half way. Eveything is fine now.

[KJN]

How old is it, because you may be able to get Samsung to do a repair under the
Sale of goods act.

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/sale-of-goods-act/

[MadMen]

Thanks Conne, but it doesn't have one of those. It's just got a digital dial on the front.
I am pressing the minus button, to take it back down to 1, but it's automatically going back up to 12.

KJN, thanks for the link. I have contacted Samsung, but as I don't have a receipt they can't do anything. It's three years old, so out of warranty.

Nightmare.

[Old_Geezer]

Warranty may not mean much if it conflicts with what EU law says it should be.

Is it a thermostat problem ? Check it's not been knocked off from where it should be.

[Old_Geezer]

Any use ? http://www.fixya.com/support/t9017504-samsung_fridge_freeze_rsh1dbmh1_xeu

[MadMen]

OG, that's really helpful actually. The fan was making some strange noises just a couple of days ago, and it has gone very quiet.
Just read that link and there's a mention of the fan being frozen - which may be the reason it has stopped making any noise/moving. There is some ice on the back panel. I've only just noticed it now, having taken all the food out.
Think I'm going to need to get this back panel off and see if I can see anything obvious.

Thanks.

[MadMen]

Thanks OG for that link, as it uncovered the major problem that was an ice blockage.
I found a video on YouTube, with the exact same fridge and the exact same problem, and have spent the past couple of hours with all the food out on the table and a hairdryer in my hand, melting an ice block that would sink the Titanic!
The hardest part was getting the back panel off the bloody fridge, as it was literally stuck in place with ice.
Put it all back together and plugged in the fridge in. Temperature came up as 23 degrees!!! Major sad face :-(
Sat and waited, and it's just this minute hit 3 degrees. I can also hear the fan going round, and it's not making a 'struggling' noise.

Thanks so much for that link, I would never have thought of ice, but seems it's a common fault.

[Clanad]

Most likely, your model number is actually a RSH1DTMH1/XEU...and from another site I find this... not to my surprise:

Unplug the appliance. Inside the fridge, behind the drawers is a removable panel.
Take the panel off.
You'll probably find the evaporator (mass of pipework) is blocked with ice.

Which indicates you have, from your description of the fault, a blocked evaporator in the fridge, most likely caused by a faulty defrost system in the fridge.
The ice builds up and eventually stops the defrost fan from running, therefore there is no circulation of cold air in the fridge.

It ices up at the bottom and goes warm elsewhere..
You need to fully defrost the appliance first.
Find somewhere to keep the frozen food...
Unplug the appliance and leave it with the doors open for at least 24 hours, in a warm room.
Once fully defrosted, close the doors and switch it back on.
It should work correctly again..
If it does the same again very quickly, you definitely have a fault in the defrost circuit that will need to be attended to.
Likely a failed thermal fuse or defrost heater...

[Clanad]

Apologies for the duplication... I hadn't read OG's post, which appears to be the same fix as mine...

[MadMen]

Just to clarify, I got that model number off the side of my fridge. It's clearly stated on a barcode, and is the number I put in my original post.
It seems to be absolutely fine now. I rang the guy back at Samsung and told him what I'd done. He said I probably shouldn't have used a hairdryer as it could have damaged the 'lining' (??) but it appears to have done the trick, and I had nowhere to store all the food that was sat on my table - so I had to be quick.
Anyway, he asked what number I usually have it on, so I said 1 degree. He's told me to keep it at 3, as this may be the reason there's a build up of ice.

Anyway, fingers crossed that'll solve the problem.

Thank you very much for the help :-)