Install the Samsung Fridge Evaporator Drain Clip

If you have fought ice behind the rear freezer panel, water pooling under the crisper drawers, a grinding evaporator fan hitting ice, or an ice maker that freezes solid every few months, this clip is the cure. Samsung issued the fix for the ice-buildup problem that affected many of its French door refrigerators built between 2014 and 2022.

Tools, Parts, and Safety#

Gather a Phillips #2 screwdriver (Samsung uses Phillips throughout), a hair dryer or steamer, several towels, and a turkey baster for flushing the drain. The part is the Samsung drain strap kit DA82-02367A, which includes the copper clip and mounting hardware; confirm it suits your model. On safety: Unplug the refrigerator completely. Ice and meltwater will be present during this repair. Lay multiple towels on the floor. Budget 45-60 minutes including defrost time.

Step 1 — Force a Defrost First#

With the refrigerator still plugged in, start Samsung's forced defrost by holding the Energy Saver and Fridge buttons together for about 8 seconds; the display blanks and you hear a beep. Let it run 20-30 minutes to melt the ice mass behind the panel — this one step makes everything after it far easier.

Step 2 — Unplug and Clear the Freezer#

Once the defrost finishes, unplug the refrigerator. Take everything out of the freezer — shelves, ice bucket, wire racks — and lay towels across the floor under the opening, because you will meet a fair amount of water during the job.

Step 3 — Remove the Rear Evaporator Panel#

Back out the six to eight Phillips #2 screws holding the rear panel inside the freezer; a couple sometimes hide behind a wire shelf support up top. Pull the panel straight forward. If leftover ice has bonded it to the housing, warm the edges with the hair dryer — never pry with a metal tool, since the thin plastic panel cracks easily.

Step 4 — Clear and Flush the Drain#

Behind the panel, chip away any ice left on the evaporator coils and in the drain trough below them. Find the drain hole at the bottom center of the housing — a small opening about half an inch across — and make sure it is completely clear of ice. Flush it with warm water from the turkey baster until water runs freely down and into the drain pan under the refrigerator. If the tube is frozen through, keep pouring warm water in until flow returns.

Step 5 — Find the Defrost Heater#

The glass-tube defrost heater runs horizontally across the bottom of the evaporator assembly. Trace it to the point where it passes closest to the drain opening — that is exactly where the clip mounts, so it can carry the heater's warmth straight to the drain entry and hold it above freezing.

Step 6 — Clamp On the Drain Clip#

The DA82-02367A clip attaches to the defrost heater tube with a spring or friction fit. Seat it on the heater at the spot nearest the drain and press until it makes solid metal-to-metal contact with the heater housing. The lower leg of the clip should reach down into the drain opening about half an inch.

Step 7 — Check the Positioning#

Confirm the clip is locked on and will not slide along the heater tube, and that its lower leg sits in the drain hole without plugging it. The point is thermal conduction, not blockage — meltwater must still run freely through the drain while the clip keeps the entry warm enough not to refreeze.

Step 8 — Reassemble and Test the Drain#

Refit the rear panel, seating its foam gasket evenly, and drive all the Phillips screws back in. Verify flow by pouring a cup of water through the drain (into the trough at the top if you can reach it, or with the panel briefly off). Put the shelves, ice bucket, and food back, then plug the refrigerator in.

Step 9 — Confirm the Fix After a Week#

After seven days of normal running, lift out the ice bucket and look around the ice maker for any new frost. A clear, dry area means the clip is doing its job. Check again at one month; past that, the repair is permanent.

Troubleshooting#

If ice returns within days, the clip is not making good thermal contact — pull the panel and reseat it so it is firmly clamped on the heater tube, not just resting against it. If the drain still freezes despite a well-seated clip, it is freezing further along its path; wrapping insulation around the drain tube where it crosses the divider wall handles that less common case. Water under the crisper drawers after the fix usually means the center door gasket has a gap letting humid air in — check the seal. A fan still grinding after the repair was already damaged by earlier ice contact and may need replacing (DA31-00146E or the model-specific equivalent). And if the defrost cycle never runs on its own, the clip has no heat to conduct — verify the defrost thermostat and heater both show continuity.

When This Fix Will Not Work#

Call a professional if the defrost heater is burned out (no continuity on a meter), since the clip has no heat source to draw from and the heater must be replaced first. Call if the evaporator frosts unevenly — heavy in one area, bare in another — which signals a sealed-system refrigerant leak rather than a drain problem. Call if the drain tube is physically crushed or routed so that no entry-point heat will stop it freezing downstream. And note that models built before 2014 use a different drain layout the DA82-02367A is not made for.

Need Professional Help?#

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Same-day Samsung refrigerator repair is available across Sacramento, the Bay Area, and surrounding California communities. Request a technician who works on Samsung appliances daily.