Samsung French Door flexzone drawer turns off lights/power when open

[Gecko00]

Model Number: RF23M8070SR
Brand: Samsung
Age: 1-5 years

When the flexzone drawer is open the lights and power cut out. Typically when the drawer is then closed the lights on the ice/water dispenser will reset and turn on and I can hear the frig turn on. Since last week however, the lights/power stay off even after the drawer is closed and when I use a temp gun it confirms that the frig is off. We had a repair tech come out and his manager over the phone told him we needed to replace the "main" and the flexzone harness. I've googled this issue and the closest I can find are posts about replacing damaged wire harnesses. I just disassembled the right side bracket and the entire harness from the wall pin connector to the end appears undamaged.

So what could be causing the problem?

If I replace the wire harness (part DA96-00640B) and the main control board (part DA94-03757A) will this definitely fix the problem? The only missing link might be the cable going from the control panel to the right-side bracket connector. Is this even possible or necessary to replace?

Can any of the other control boards be the issue?


Samsung gave us our money back but if I can fix this problem I'd like to use it as an extra frig.

Thanks in advance!
Dan

[Doc Ryan]

Hi Dan! We usually see this caused by a failure of the Flexzone wire harness. I would start by replacing that first. The control board could be bad, but most likely the technician was covering their bases by quoting both parts. Let me know what you find.

[Gecko00]

Hi Dan! We usually see this caused by a failure of the Flexzone wire harness. I would start by replacing that first. The control board could be bad, but most likely the technician was covering their bases by quoting both parts. Let me know what you find.

Ok, is it possible for the harness to go bad even if there's no visible damage or cut?

Also, it looks like the harness part DA96-00640B is backordered on partsdr.com. Is part DA96-00640A also compatible?

[Doc Ryan]

Those two part numbers are not interchangeable. The wires can break internally and you will not always see the damage or break to the wire(s).

[Gecko00]

Those two part numbers are not interchangeable. The wires can break internally and you will not always see the damage or break to the wire(s).

So I just installed part DA96-00640A because I was too impatient to wait for DA96-00640B to come back in stock. This harness appears to have the same color wiring and connectors.

Here's what happened:

Good:
- the frig power now stays on no matter how much I jiggle, bend, move around the new harness
- when I open the flexzone drawer, the LED light that's built into the underside of the french door turns on illuminating the flex drawer and frig power stays on. When I close the flexzone drawer this flexzone light turns off.
- the flexzone door control panel is now on and all functions seems to be working

Bad:
- the LED light built into the underside of the flexzone drawer (illuminates freezer when open) stays on all the time whether the freezer is open or closed. The freezer door contact/sensor is working because it started beeping when I had the freezer open too long.


SO is this why you said the DA96-00640A harness is NOT compatible with this specific frig? Will installing DA96-00640B solve this problem? Or could it be something else?

Thanks again!

[Doc Ryan]

My guess is that the issues are caused by the incorrect harness.

[Doc Ryan]

DA96-00640B is back in stock on our site right now.