Drain is freezing on bottom of samsung freezer (side-by-side). I got it unplugged, but why did it plug? I noticed a heater directly above it. Is that supposed to keep the drain from freezing? Or was the freezer too full causing condensation or poor circulation which lead to the freezing?

Step 1:

You almost certainly have a defrost issue with this unit. Your best bet with a Samsung is to call a qualified service tech to complete your repair. If you want to try it yourself here is what you would need to do to test this unit. If your unit is not defrosting it can not circulate the air and will cause the unit to warm up.

Step 2:

Unplug the unit and remove the back cover on the unit where the compressor is and you will see a white box on the right hand side. Remove the screws holding that box in and pull it out and open it up, that is your main pcb for this unit and all tests will be done from here.

Step 3:

Using a multimeter set to Ohms for measurements unplug the connector on CN70 (pnk, skyblu, org, wht, brn) and on the plug check for continuity from the white wire to the orange wire (Refrigerator Defrost Heater) and from the Brown wire to the orange wire (Freezer Defrost Heater) if either of those show open then that is your problem, replace the heater.

Step 4:

Plug CN70 back in and the plug the fridge back in. Using needle leads on your multimeter set to DC volts check for power on CN30 from Orange wire to the Brown wire (do not unplug the CN30 connector) your voltage should be from 2.3v - 4.2vdc (freezer defrost sensor). Also check the purple to the brown wire 2v - 4.2vdp (Refrigerator defrost sensor). If you are outside of that then you would need to replace that sensor.

Step 5:

If the above steps check good then you will need to put the unit into defrost and check for power at the heater. To put the unit into defrost, from the user interface panel on the front of the unit press the power freeze and power cool buttons simultaneously for 8-12 seconds until the display quits blinking. Press the the freezer button 3 times (wait 5 seconds between button pushes) to force the unit into defrost.

Step 6:

Go back to the main pcb and using your multimeter set to VAC check for power at White and Orange (refrigerator defrost heater) should be 110-120vac. Also check from brown and orange (freezer defrost heater) should be 110-120vac. If you do not have power then you have a bad main pcb.

Your problem more than likely is a plugged defrost line in the freezer...The freezer goes through periodic defrost cyles to keep the coils from freezing up. The water catches in a trough pan in the freezer and flows through a drain hole to the bottom of the fridge where it evaporates. This drain hole perodically freezes up and the water accomulates under the freezer bottom until the water level reaches your vent ports to the fridge section. Open your freezer and on the bottom floor of your freezer you should see two screws near the front on either side. Remove them and then take out the bottom tray....this will expose the drain hole near the rear of the freezer compartment. You will more than likely have to remove ice under the tray in order to see the drain hole. Remove the lower back panel on the back of the refrigerator and you should be able to see the drain line coming from the freezer. Unplug the refrigerator before you begin work. It will take a little while for the drain line to thaw to allow liquid to flow to the bottom. I find a hair dryer pretty handy in speeding up the process. To verify you have unplugged the drain line you should be able to pour hot water in the drain hole in the freezer and see it come out at the rear of the fridge in tube line just above a little catch pan

The drain heater goes into the drain,not outside it.
You need a longer drain probe to push all the way through the drain.
Look underneath for a kink in the drain tube.

You can buy a kit from whirlpool. In the kit is a metal tab that mounts onto the defrost heater. It is long enough to go into the hole. When the heater comes on for defrost the heat transfers down to the hole and keeps it from getting plugged up with ice. Part number 819043

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i think its not the frz drain hole blocking up but a fault with the defrost tray heater. the tray heater should keep the defrosted frost as water to drain away. it sounds as though the tray heater is not working therefore letting the water freeze as it is escaping thorough the drain hole. i would check this out by defrosting the unit and inserting a flexi rod into the otherside of the drain hole (above the compressor usually) and after clearing it if it freezes up again check out the defrost/heater system.

The drain is plugged. This fridge will defrost every 8 hrs or so. When it does , it will melt the frost that has built up on the evaporator. This melted frost will run down a drain under the evaporator to a drain in the bottom directly under the evaporator. When the drain gets plugged the water cannot drain out of the freezer compartment. After several defrost cycles the melted frost will overflow onto the freezer floor. When the fridge starts back up it will freez this water is the bottom of the fridge. sometimes this water that is now ice will melt on the next defrost cycle and actually run out into the floor. You will have to unplug the fridge or turn it off, then remove the cover to the evaporator. Get a hair dryer and melt the ice aruond the evaporator and drain. Once the ice is removed, check the drain and try to clear it. Once clear, replace everything but the shelves. Plug the fridge back in or turn it back on. Observe and listen for the evaporator fan. It should be running now. When working on the ice on the evaporator always be carefull. The defrost heater can be damaged if up push or pull on it too much.

this could either be a blocked drain from the freezer not allowing defrost water to escape or the defrost heater failing to turn on due to a faulty defrost heater or defrost timer not enabling the water to escape

sounds like you have a clogged defrost drain tube. removing back panel of freezer will give you acess to drain trough, melt away the ice with a hair dryer, youll find a drain hole under there somwhere,pouring boiling water down the drain will clear it pretty quickly( i use a steam machine purchased from the infomercials works awesome, after you clear it and all water drain down tube wrap a piece of solid copper wirearound the heater( black calrod heater right above the drain trough) and stick it in the whole maybe an inch or so. now everythime the heater comes on to defrost it will prevent the hole from freezing over

Control board has gone bad....

What happens is the defrost is controlled electronically from a circuit board, when this goes bad, the freezer quits defrosting, and freezes the fans that circulate air through the fridge side of things.

To check this, unplug the entire fridge, leave the freezer open, wait for it to defrost a bit, if this causes the fridge to start cooling again when you plug it back in, then its the defrost. You should also see ice crystals on the back of the freezer just under the icemaker.

http://forums.partselect.com/refrigerator-freezer-repair/rerifgerator-side-not-below-54-degrees-6699.html

Yes that is a proplem...when ever that compressor is running that fan motor should be running too.. also you evapurator fan motor should be running also