Monday, June 2, 2014

Samsung Side By Side Refrigerator model # RS261MDRS.Samsung RS261 26 Cubic Foo

Samsung Side By Side Refrigerator model # RS261MDRS.
  • Drop Temperatures With Power Freeze And Power Cool
  • External Digital Display To Easily Adjust Controls
  • ENERGY STAR Compliant
  • Dimensions (WHD): 35 3/4" X 68 5/8" X 29 5/8"

We have had this refrigerator for over a year now and have found it to be okay as a refrigerator, but there are some design choices Samsung made which detract seriously from this fridge. First, the icemaker. The whole system is a mess. You cannot go in the freezer and get some ice out of the bin as we could in previous fridges. This means to put ice in a small mouth container we usually have to use a cup and transfer the cubes.

A bigger issue is the ice dispenser itself. Every time we use it chips of ice, some quite large, spew out from around the top of the glass and shower on the floor. There are always little puddles of water on our floor, and eventually it will damage the polyurethane coating. We are also now experiencing a more concerning issue. The ice outlet gets jammed and the motorized drive which moves the ice out gets stuck on. When this happens, the only way we have found to resolve the issue is the remove the ice bin, empty and rinse out all the little chunks of ice stuck in the outlet, and then put the empty bucket back in. This has happened several times, once when one of our kids was home by herself and the motor was stuck on for 10-15 minutes while she tried to reach us on the phone to ask what to do.

I also am concerned about the longevity of this fridge due to the flimsy nature of the plastic which lines the insider of the refrigerator side. When moving one of the shelves it went in at too much of an angle to slide in and the molded plastic shelf channel just buckled inward. Very little force was applied, this is not reasonable. We have also had the defroster in the freezer freeze over requiring a full defrost, but I think this is because we had some plastic bags covering some of the inlets.

In all, I would not recommend this refrigerator, there are other options at the same price point which might not have the same icemaker issues.

Update: More problems with this Fridge, I am pushing it down to one star and cannot recommend at all. We have not had a repeat of the stuck ice dispenser, we just dump all the ice every month or so. However, now we are regularly getting ice build up in the sealed area where the defrost fan is, which contacts the fan blade and makes a horrible noise. I thought it was a problem with covering the outlets, but we have been careful about that. I now have to use a hairdryer to melt the ice out every 6-8 weeks, but in the process melted some of the cheap plastic lining the inside of the freezer compartment. I recently lowered the freezer temperature and it seems to have slowed down the ice formation but the freezer is now not cold enough for long term storage, we have to use a spare freezer for that.

The ice spewing out I described in my original review continues to be a major annoyance, and we have some water marks on our cork floor from bigger chunks we did not locate when they shot out of the dispenser. All in all, this appears to be a pretty cheaply made product, we are already saving for a replacement. Not at all what I expected from Samsung, we generally love their products, but now avoid any kitchen appliances made by them.

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After looking at a number of brands and models of refrigerators, we settled on the Samsung RS261MD in stainless. We liked the overall look, interior arrangement, fit and finish, and the fact that the side was painted a neutral grey, rather than black (personal preference). It is also rated as very energy efficient and priced competively. We knew we were making a couple of compromises and a some other issues came up after we had it in our home. These are:

o LED lighting Energy efficient and looks cool. On a pricier Samsung model there were more lights. We found after it was fully loaded this fridge does not really have enough to fully light the interior of the fridge side as well as it should. Freezer seems better.

o Ice Maker/water Like most new refrigerators, all of the controls are contained in an electronic pad on the front of the fridge, integrated with the temperature controls. Had to read the instructions (difficult for a man) to figure everything out. We had a temporary scare with getting ice through the door, as you have to push much harder than we expected to get ice to come out, hard enough that our young kids struggle with it a little. I miss the simplicity of the manual controls we had before and hope the components hold up to the test of time. Having just a single opening for both water and ice means we have to push buttons to get water and ice, maybe a minor point, but all the button pushing will put miles on the electronics fast.

o Shelves There is only a minimal ability to set the vertical distance between shelves, something we are already seeing as an issue. Probably pretty minor, but we are having to rethink how we store things as we don't have the flexibilty to do what we want. The thin materials which make up the fixed ledges on which the shelves rest are a concern, they were slightly crushed during shipment for one set we have to use. On the upside, the icemaker arrangement leaves a nice space for large flat things like frozen pizzas, which were always a challenge before.

o Water filter The water filter is inside the refrigerator compartment and takes away some space from the lower drawer. No big deal, but every inch counts in our house.

o Labels This is a nitpick, but all the labels and tape which came attached to the inside and outside of the refrigerator left residue which was a pain to get off. The one on the outside just would not come off without scraping, something you don't really want to do on a shiny new appliance.

Right now, I say we are satisfied, but with some long-term concerns.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung RS261 26 Cubic Foo Here

Been thru 7, yes 7, Samsung Fridges since May. Not one has lasted. Started out low with the R26 side by side. 1 DOA and 1 died in 6 days. Moved up to RG side by side. It lasted 3 weeks before dying. Upgraded to the French Door AERS. It lasted about 4 weeks. Next was the HARS. It too lasted about 4 weeks before a myriad of issues reared their ugly heads.

At this point, I should have simply walked away from samsung but then my retailer offered me a great deal on the ABBP model with the duel ice makers (black color)for very cheap..couldnt resist the price...big mistake.....it died...well, lets just say it was DOA as it started cooling but never stopped. Would not defrost so it first froze everything in my FRIDGE section, before the compressor died that night, waking me to spoiled food, lots of water in the fridge, freezer, kitchen floor, which was quite a chore to clean up (some previous models had similar issue)....then they swapped that out for the ABRS (same fridge with dual ice makers, but in stainless instead of black)..It actually lasted until 2 weeks ago when the 1st issue arose and over the past 2 weeks, the issues have gotten continually worse. Left me no choice.....Went back to retailer and told them to take back their lemon samsung. The entire samsung lineup is a lemon line if I ever saw one. I've had plenty of fridges in my life and have never had any issues. My last fridge was fine...it was 10 years old...still working great...But it developed a small crack in the defrost pan that holds the water after defrosting. Not bad, but it would leak a few drops on to the floor. Repair guy said everything on unit was working great, other then the leak...advided it would cost about $200 to fix the pan.....wasnt sure if I wanted to put $200 in to a 10 year old fridge or put that $$ towards a new fridge. Decided to go with a new one. Wished I hadn't as the past 7 months has been a nightmare due to these LEMON SAMSUNGS.

Now awaiting a whirlpool and hope I have better luck, but regadless, I would not wish ANY SAMSUNG MODEL ON MY WORST ENEMY...RUN, DONT WALK..AWAY FROM ANY SAMSUNG. Dont let the sleek looks, tons of features at such a great price sucker you in to buying this LEMON LINE. And SHAME ON YOU JD POWERS!! People think your ratings are unbiased and many buy based on your rec's...YET YOU WERE PAID TO RATE SAMSUNG #1!!!! WHEN IN FACT, THERE ARE MORE CONSUMER COMPLAINTS FILED AGAINST SAMSUNG THEN ANY OTHER BRAND!!!!

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I have several Samsung Electronics and never had a problem until I bought this refrigerator. This fridge is awful and I wish I had a way of knowing exactly what it would be like living with it before purchasing.

Issue Number ONE: Doesnt get very cold. If I pour a glass of milk, it's not very cold like it was from my old fridge. After testing the temperature, it hovered around the 40 degree mark but wasn't consistent throughout the fridge. The freezer seems better

Issue TWO: it's very noisy. I am typically sitting at the table working and hear it more than most, but it is loud and growling much of the time. I suspect it's the icemaker or water compartment filling up, but my old fridge had the same features and never sounded so loud and gastrointestinal!

Issue three: The lighting in this fridge is awful. It does not light up all the shelves and it only lights up the top portion of the fridge. Add food the the shelves and it's actually dark in there. I hate the lighting..it's almost depressing to be honest. Most fridges now come with LED lighting, but knowing it's not as bright as incandescent should mean using more lights.. you'll see what I mean when you shop for your new fridge

Issue Three: The icemaker is not good. If you switch from crushed to cubed, it sticks on crushed and spits out shards of ice all over the place. The container for the ice is small, so if you entertain or really use a lot of ice, this isn't for you.

Issue Four: The shelves are inadequate and are hard to clean

I hope this helps

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Although Samsung has a reputation for fine product designs, this refrigerator is not one of them. I have had this model for a few years now. The defrost issue with the freezer causing ice to form around the fan is the biggest problem, but there is a list of things to consider. Before I get into them, let me just say that I have had no problem with the physical use components of the design. The shelves and drawers are fine. Here is what is not good though:

The LED interior lighting was intentionally placed in the back of the unit to make the more expensive models where there are more LED's and in better places more attractive. Once the refrigerator is loaded with food, most of the light is blocked and the interior is too dark.

The water and ice dispenser requires excessive force to engage the switch. Once the ice dispenser is engaged, ice comes out quite rapidly. On occasion, ice does not drop down and the chute fills with ice cubes. This is annoying. It is also not uncommon for a couple of ice cubes to hang up in the chute. They drop out onto the floor several minutes later when they start to melt and work free.

_ If the refrigerator is run in energy saver mode, ice builds up around the freezer fan in less than a week and makes a noisy growl as the fan rubs against it. I believe that it defaults to this mode when plugged in.

Freezer and refrigerator controls are on the main use panel on the front. I have kids. They have friends. It seems that someone is frequently changing the temperature settings in the refrigerator or freezer. Worst of all is when someone turns on the energy saver mode. That is sure to cause icing.

In normal operation, the freezer eventually ices up and needs to be defrosted. This is very frustrating. To get at the fan and thaw the ice, everything has to come out and the back panel inside the freezer must be removed.

In summary then, this Samsung model has several design flaws that added up to an unpleasant experience for me. Since others are reporting the same problems, I just can't recommend it at this time.

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