Samsung refrigerator forced defrost alarm – should you worry?

An easy way of resolving freezing issues in your Samsung refrigerator is using the force defrost feature….

It is a more friendly option (and faster) than having to take the internal parts apart and manually melt the ice buildup using your trusty hair dryer.

But what if the Samsung refrigerator forced defrost alarm annoyingly beeps the entire defrost time (approximately 20 minutes)?

It happens and you may want to know if there is reason to worry about the whole forced defrost (“Fd”) process.

Well, below is what you need to know about Samsung refrigerator forced defrost alarm (plus some handy tips about running the forced defrost procedure in a few Samsung refrigerator models)..

Samsung refrigerator forced defrost alarm – should you worry?

Short answer is: You don’t need to worry!

The reason? It is very normal for your Samsung refrigerator to beep once the forced defrost is activated!

In fact, it is important to note that, for the most part, your Samsung fridge should beep every second of the whole forced defrost cycle.

In short, the beep will sound until your refrigerator is done with the forced defrost (and it has returned to regular operating mode).

So just sit back and relax for 20 minutes (it may go up to 40 minutes) to the “calming sounds” of a FIRE ALARM (lol!) -it will stop beeping when “FD” forced defrost is finished.

Certainly, the fire alarm will be back if you run another forced defrost cycle (it can take more than two cycles to completely defrost the refrigerator if it was badly frozen).

 

How to Cancel Samsung refrigerator forced defrost mode

At times, you may want to cancel forced defrost on your Samsung refrigerator- you could, for example, feel that something else is amiss and you need to check what the fault is before proceeding with the forced defrost process.

Here is how to turn it off once started:

Go back to the control panel and press the combination of the buttons that you had used to start the defrost mode (the different button combinations for different Samsung refrigerators are listed in the next section).

Press the correct buttons until Fd appears on the display then cycle through the various options (by, for example, pressing the Fridge button) until you come to the blank option – this will turn it back off.

Otherwise, after 20 minutes (or so) to 40 minutes, it should turn off on its own (it automatically kicks back to normal operating mode).

Another option is unplugging the fridge for 30+ seconds.

 

How to force defrost Samsung refrigerator

There are a couple of different models of Samsung brand refrigerators and they tend to have slightly different ways of activating the Forced Defrost procedure.

Here is how to force defrost Samsung fridge for some of them, if you are unsure how to force defrost your specific Samsung refrigerator:

 

Samsung RF28 forced defrost instructions

Press and hold down ENERGY SAVER +POWER FREEZE/FREEZER concurrently -for 4 (or so) seconds. You should then hear a “beep”, and the display would show “OFF”.

If you then press the “fridge/power cool” button, it will switch to forced freeze mode.

Now, if you press the same button again 3 times, it would finally switch to forced defrost (Fd) mode.

 

Samsung RF263 forced defrost instructions

Press and hold down “ENERGY SAVER”+“FRIDGE” buttons for about 8 seconds.

The display would power off.

After that, press FRIDGE button 4 times-the refrigerator switches to “Fd” mode.

 

Force defrost Samsung RF263BEAESR Ice Maker -instructions

For Samsung RF263BEAESR Ice Maker forced defrost, simply press and hold “energy saver” and “fridge” buttons simultaneously for 8 to 10 seconds.

The display would go bland and the fridge would beep.

Now press FRIDGE button 4 times- both your refrigerator and the icemaker should go into forced defrost mode(“Fd” appears on the display).

Keep in mind that you cannot force defrost the ice-maker separately.

Force defrost Samsung RF24FSEDBSR -instructions

Press and hold down FRIDGE+POWER SAVE buttons -for 8 (or so) seconds.

You should then press the FRIDGE button until “Fd” appears on display.

 

Force defrost Samsung RF23J9011SR -instructions

Press and hold the COOL SELECT+FREEZER buttons for about 8 seconds.

Here you need to then press any other button 4 times to switch the unit to forced defrost mode (“Fd” will pop up on the display when it has been activated).

 

Force defrost Samsung SRF680CDLS

Press and hold the FRIDGE+ENERGY SAVER buttons for about 8 seconds.

Next, keep pressing the fridge button until the display switches to “Fd” (meaning the forced defrost mode has been turned on).

 

Force defrost Samsung RF23M8070SR model

The trick to get it to enter the FD mode is holding down FREEZER + CONTROL LOCK for 10-12 seconds. The display will flash.

You should then hit the Control Lock button 4 more times for FD to show up.

 

Force defrost Samsung RF238090SR/AA model

For Samsung RF238090SR/AA model, the buttons to press at the same time are FREEZER+CONTROL LOCK until it starts to blink.

You should then cycle to “Fd” option.

 

How do you force defrost Samsung fridges that don’t have an exterior panel -but only an interior one?

Answer: hold down the buttons FRIDGE+ FLEX ZONE for about ten seconds. All the button lights will flash.

You then just press FLEX ZONE until you see the option “Fd”.

It will beep once, and then there will be intermittent beeping through the process.

Samsung refrigerator forced defrost alarm – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Samsung refrigerator stuck in defrost mode. What should I do?

If your Samsung refrigerator stays stuck in defrost mode for an extended period of time, try to cancel the Defrost mode by cycling through the defrost mode options (in the panel) until you get to the option to turn it off  (blank).

You can also unplug the refrigerator for 30+ seconds- this resets the whole unit and will make the unit ‘forget’ the “Fd” setting

 

How often do you have to do the force defrost?

You should only do it when necessary – that is when your unit is having serious icing up issues and normal defrost won’t work.

 

Final words

I will leave you with what is potentially a permanent fix for ice build issues in Samsung refrigerators…

Now, if you are constantly wrestling with ice buildup problems, try the following:

• Replace the Ice maker (yes, this is recommended by most experts).
• Use silicone to seal all inner corners of the ice-maker housing.
• Install these Y clips (they help drain the condensation properly and should go a long way in preventing ice buildups).

 

ALSO READ:

How to defrost the ice maker on a samsung refrigerator

Samsung refrigerator defrost problem [Resolved!]

Samsung refrigerator troubleshooting ice maker [detailed guide]