Refrigerator Repairs - is my Samsung (RB215LASH) a Lemon?

I got home tonight and started putting away my groceries.  The carrots I'd left in the vegetable crisper were frozen solid with frost all over them.  At least nothing else in the fridge was frozen, which has happened.  I've been having trouble with my fridge/freezer ever since I moved in.  While it was under warrenty I had the guys from Homer Appliance Repair working on it.  After a couple of house calls, they'd ordered some parts for it, but then they went out of business and since the warrenty is expired, I haven't pursued fixing the problem.  But after putting the groceries away and doing some other things around the house, I realized that the freezer compressor was still running and probably wasn't going to shut off.

So I decided to try a temp fix myself.  I figured that he cooling elements were all iced up again, so I moved all the frozen stuff from the freezer into a cooler and unplugged the whole thing.  I'd watched the repair guys, sort of the last 2 times they'd been here.  So, armed with my electric screwdriver I removed a few screws and took the panel next to the ice maker off.  Then I got my hair dryer out and started blowing hot air in to the air vents.  After a bit I could see ice melting when I looked though the vents.  I know the repair guys had removed all the plastic shielding inside so I figured I could do it too.  

I managed to get the fan shroud off, and yep, the elements were totally iced up. 

Drain Hole - so the melt water has a place to go, but where?

Ice all melted.

Oops, forgot to put the fan shroud back on.

After a couple of tries, I got it all to go back together.  I must have put it back together correctly, because it seems to be working.  The temp is down from 65 to 52.  Hopefully I can get it down to freezing in the next hour so I can put the food back in there and go to bed.

But here is my question.  Does anyone have a good idea what's wrong?  I only have a vague knowledge about how the freezer works.  This freezer is supposed to be frostless, which actually means there is a short heating cycle that's supposed to melt the frost and let it drain down to the bottom and evaporate.  Obviously this isn't working correctly, but I don't know why.  But I sure could use some ideas on how to fix it once and for all.  Going though this disassembly and thawing process every few months is really a pain.  But so is it when it makes everything in the fridge freeze.  I've actually had club soda in can burst and spray all over the inside.

Radiant Heat Floors

After yesterdays storm it's pretty nice today.  Party sunny and 39 outside, so I have my heat turned down.  Normally I wear slippers all the time, but when I was changing I realized the floor in my closet was really COLD.  So I went and got out my handy dandy new toy, an infrared thermometer and checked floor temps around the house.  At the back of my closet it's 58.  In the back hallway it's down to 56.  Rather chilly on my bare feet.  But along the front of the house, where the sun is shining on the floor, it runs 80 to 84.  That's a very nice heat gain that warms up the thermal mass of the concrete.

Entry Bench

I really am having a hard time finding furniture, or at least furniture that I can afford :-).  I've been looking at benches for at least a year.  I wanted something industrial and metal that would look good with my concrete floor.  Plus it needs to be practical and sturdy.  I finally found one on CB2.  It's galvanized metal that's been clear coated.  It's very sturdy and I like the way it looks. 


It arrived just as I was leaving for work and spent the last few weeks in it's shipping box.  But Patty came up to visit for a bit last night so I had her help me put it together.  


So now, back to looking for chairs for the living room :-)

Anchorage Weekend

I spent last weekend in Anchorage, catching up with old friends.  I really had a great time, it's something I should do more often.


On Saturday we went out for lunch.  I hadn't seen Babs, Lisa or Lanie in at least 25 years, maybe longer.  In fact I don't really want to figure out how long it's been.  Shelley & Clyde & Paula were there too, but I was too busy talking and didn't take many pictures.  Lisa & Paul both posted some great pics on their Facebook pages.

Then on Sunday I had breakfast with George & Amy.  They couldn't join us for lunch because they were busy at the Sportsman show.  Babs & Lanie joined us too, but I left my camera in my car.  I guess it was too early :-)


And Sunday night a group of us went out to dinner.  We used Penny's birthday last week as an excuse to have dessert :-)