Did You Know That your Refrigerators Icemaker System Can Flood Your Home?

I had no other place to park this so if it has to be moved please do so MODS.

It sure can and here’s my story. We bought a 24 year old home back in 2017 and it came with a Samsung refrigerator. The manufacturing date code delineates that said refrigerator was manufactured in 2010 so it’s about nine years old. The owner left a four pack of as described “genuine” Samsung water filters so I had been replacing them about once every 6 months or sooner. So about three weeks ago on a Saturday morning; my wife and I were talking and I filled up a glass from the refrigerator with some ice cubes and then dispensed the water. No issues on that day as sometimes the Icemaker doesn’t release ice or it weeps water from the actual icemaker housing down over the lower drawer as the cubes have partially melted.

So I walk into the family room and after about 10 seconds I hear this whizzing / whining noise like something is rotating. The noise is coming from the kitchen. I ask, my wife who is still in the kitchen if she hears it and she does but we can’t tell what’s going on. I then glance towards the refrigerator and the noise is coming from the inside. So I open one of the doors and about 3 gallons of water pours out over the freezer drawer and onto the kitchen floor. I glance at the icemaker and see water coming out from the upper connection at an extremely high rate of flow. Almost like a mini fire hydrant. In a panic I try to shut the ice maker off but that won’t do anything so I have to shut off the water line to the icemaker which is located in the wall behind the refrigerator. So with all my strength I am yanking on this monster size refrigerator with both arms and finally get it out from the in wall cabinetry after the third yank with both arms. My guess is that it took me about 30 seconds until I was able to shut the valve off from the time that we originally heard the whizzing / whining.

OK so the water is shut off but the floor is soaked and water is flowing into the basement. We get the shop vac and with towels get everything dried. We then clean the entire inside of the refrigerator. The only damage is I strained my back and the Tung and groove wood oak flooring in the kitchen is beginning to cup.

Later I went onto Samsung’s web site and located one of their authorized repair dealers in my area and set up a visit the following Monday. When the guy showed up I told him the above and he said that yes they can flood the entire home and that in the last year, he serviced three that did. He said what happened on the last service call was that the water inside the water filter froze, expanded and cracked the plastic base near the molded male stem on the top of the water filter. When he took it out we saw the crack. It was a radial crack about one inch long. It was following the round mold mark in the plastic.

“Radial Fracture - A crack in a gloss that extends outward like the spoke of a wheel from the point at which the glass was struck. Concentric Fracture - A crack in a glass that forms a rough circle”

So he replaced the filter with a newer one I had bought which was a direct from Samsung and it was an OEM part. Four weeks later and we are still OK. We paid the $85 and he reset all of the inside temperatures to Samsung recommendations. He recommended that we get a magnetic thermometer to keep an eye on the inside temperature. He said that he is still concerned but that’s all he can do for now. It’s either that or simply disconnect the water supply and turn off the ice maker totally. He recommended that I buy a complete new ice maker housing as the gaskets warp and the inside box temperature to freeze the ice into cubes will escape and travel along the water line towards the filter housing as per the design of the refrigerator.

LESSONS LEARNED:

1. A refrigerator with an Icemaker and water dispenser can flood a home causing $1000’s in damage.
2. Although the refrigerator has an inline valve connected to the water line, apparently the OEMs do not use an electronic “smart” valve with a sensor that would shut off water to the system when a massive amount of water is flowing through the system.
3. A class action lawsuit is open and ongoing for OTHER similar models manufactured after ours for another issue.
4. Consider another manufacturer over a Samsung or LG product as they simply have limited experience in the design and manufacture of refrigerators as compared to the other guys who have been around for 50 years.
5. In my interaction with them Samsung stated that the ancillary part is NOT their responsibility. I beg to differ as they licensed the parts manufacturer and had to have furnished their design to afford connection.
6. We have had the similar issues at random with this refrigerator as the complaints in the video; since June 2017.
7. Could those same Samsung refrigerator models in that class action lawsuit suffer the same fate as ours down the road? Plus will those recipients be required to waive their rights to any and all future rights to claims against Samsung for the settlement they shall receive in that settlement

The lawsuit was filed in 2017 by a couple alleging certain residential refrigerators with built-in-door ice makers designed and manufactured by Samsung are defective, “…in a number of ways, including but not limited to, defects that affect the built-in-door Ice Makers which results in leaking and slush, over-freezing ...Jul 5, 2019 Mediation Ordered in Samsung Ice Maker Class-Action Suit ... www.nbcmiami.com... › news › local › Mediation-Ordered-in-Samsung...

Video

a reply to: Waterglass

Well pretty much any water source under pressure can flood a home.
I cant stand the taste of ice made in a refrigerator so I dont have a water line to mine.

This is also why I always turn off all water in my house when I head on vacation.
Peace of mind and cheap insurance

a reply to: Bluntone22

Smart. Our water tastes OK and yes we will shut off the water to the refrigerator while on vacation as that's what the service Tech said also. He said shut off the entire home.

a reply to: Waterglass

The water isnt the taste problem for me, it's the smell the fridge puts on the ice.

Just stick your head in a freezer and smell the mechanism. Yuck

I see ways noted to prevent floods from water leaks.

Remember the (clothes) washing machine. The hoses that supply water to the washer many times are made of rubber. I have the braided stainless steel hoses on mine. I also have a single lever shutoff that valves off both hot and cold supplies for the washer.

a reply to: Bluntone22

We usually drink that reverse osmosis stuff which I enjoy as all of the minerals are removed. I do not buy any water that is bottled in the State of California as for whatever reason they ship that stuff almost 3000 miles to South Carolina while they have ongoing droughts?

California tap water linked to thousands of cancer cases, study suggests Ryan W. Miller, USA TODAY Published 12:02 p.m. ET May 1, 2019 | Updated 4:20 p.m. ET May 1, 2019

Three Companies, Including “Crystal Geyser,” Charged with Illegally Transporting Hazardous Waste Containing Arsenic

USDOJ

a reply to: butcherguy

Thanks I do also. I also have all the toilets the same and keep OEM Flapper Valves on the shelf. Just replaced one two weeks ago.

a reply to: Waterglass

My home has a well for fresh water so I dont have to worry about the crap cities add.
But I will admit we keep bottled water around.
My kid is in a sport every season and we are always out and about.
I hate the water from drinking fountains that comes from municipal water supplies. I know the bottled isnt always pure but at least it tastes better than chlorine.

a reply to: Bluntone22

I hate the water from drinking fountains that comes from municipal water supplies. I know the bottled isnt always pure but at least it tastes better than chlorine.

I wont touch that fountain stuff and chlorine taste is terrible. Also stay away from California bottled water. Look at the labels to see where it was bottled.

a reply to: Waterglass

Yup same thing happened to my parents. Not sure what brand it was.
Not sure if you are new homeowners but here are some of my tips, similar to your fridge story. I've learned some of these the hard way.

Dishwashers can leak the same way as refrigerators. We had a slow leak and didn't realize until the floor was starting to buckle. The dishwasher was less than a year old!

If you have a basement get a water alarm, also get a battery operated water pump, or have a whole house generator.
Also know that a dry basement is worth it's weight in gold.

Learn how to drain your hot water tank and replace the pressure valve.

Learn how to really clean out your dryer vent (inside and outside of the house) Most people have no clue how clogged these things get. This is one of the leading causes of fires in a house. I'm not talking just the lint screen, I'm talking the entire run from inside the dryer to the outdoors.

We have a connection, but it is not hooked up. Our plumber advised us never to do so. He said those kinds of connections are a nightmare and always cause problems. You don't need that kind of "improvement" for a refrigerator.

Used to live in west texas. No one hooked up stuff like that without a household RO system. The hard water would destroy the internals/copper on any ice maker, along with making the ice disgusting.

It can be safely assumed that any system that has a water line could flood the immediate area.

a reply to: Waterglass

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: Waterglass

Well pretty much any water source under pressure can flood a home.
I cant stand the taste of ice made in a refrigerator so I dont have a water line to mine.

This is also why I always turn off all water in my house when I head on vacation.
Peace of mind and cheap insurance

THIS right here - I also turn the water off when we leave on vacation. I guess its my natural preparatory instinct.

I also keep a temperature monitor on the refrigerator and chest freezer that I can access remotely in case the power goes out, frozen food goes bad and then re-freezes. When it goes bad, it doesn't always go noticeably bad, so its best to know.

A free and easy method to know if your freezer thawed while you're away is to put an ice cube in a bowl. When you come back, if its an ice cube, you're good. If its an ice disc at the bottom of the bowl, start tossing out your food.

a reply to: hombero

All correct and I agree but in my many decades of life I never experienced this until this incident nor thought a refrigerator could flood a home as I always "assumed" that the refrigerator would contain a sensor that would send an electronic signal to shut the water valve off within the refrigerator if a massive amount of water began flowing through the system. It even spooked the Technician. Same goes for a clothes Washer and Dishwasher.

Just sayin.

a reply to: dogstar23

Several years ago in 2014 I looked up solar panels along with an inverter that could at least power up a chest freezer that we had in the garage. What I found based on most efficient were made in Australia. Trouble was they were not allowed to export to the USA. Back then our made in USA panels were so so. I need to go back and see where they are at in 2019

a reply to: hombero

My opine:

I have been pretty lucky over my years. No leaks ever until this refrigerator. What is spooky are those in wall Shower Valves. I had a Delta valve start to weep and had it replaced. It was 24 years old. No damage resulted. I had Moen in my other homes; same age. Never had any issues. I will go back to Moen or Kohler. In my 24 years of owning a home that was a new build, Delta's plating is inferior to Moen's. Then again not all water is equal. Best water I ever encountered was in Newnan, Gerogia [Coweta County] That water was so soft you only had to clean the shower once a month as there was ZERO soap scum buildup. Obviously everything else weekly but 20 minutes would get er all done per week.

The problem I see is that Samsung in an effort to save money has used cheap plastic parts in the areas of high failure rate so that:
1) they can save pennies
2) they can be sure their product will predictably fail in a timely fashion.

They obviously care deeply about their customers...wallets...being drained, not the water from their refrigerator. Do you honestly think their engineers didn't foresee this problem and they could not have engineered a solution, such as a detector for overflow. Ri-i-ight.

I have to say they are probably not alone in this organized perfidy.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Thanks good stuff. Seems in talking to people that many refrigerators do leak and flood homes. Its that no one ver talks about it. I blame the OEMs as with current technology for under $20 per device they could incorporate all safety devices to prevent flooding. Washers, Refrigerators and Dishwashers.

Keep an eye on the in - wall shower valves. Its a brass - copper valve with sweated joints on [4] copper tubes to allow hot / cold / on / off / fast / slow water. [4] tubes = [8] sweated joints that wear out and leak. I just caught one a month ago @ 24 years old while I was replacing the chrome Handle Valve Trim. I had to get a plumber for that.

a reply to: Maverick7

I plan on seeing them in small claims court. They really pissed me off.