It’s been fantastic in every way save one. If you also own a recent Samsung refrigerator, you probably know what way that is.

That damned ice maker. I know, trust me I know, first world problem. Yes it 100% is. But that’s where I live, in a first world country. At least it is for now, we’ll see how it looks in four years. Anyway.

This thing works OK at the best of times, and any other time, it’s shit. The ice is always barely frozen, and beginning to melt, and when things aren’t going right, there are pieces frozen together. This, if you extrapolate a little, is indicative of a problem in the machine. The freezer itself gets plenty cold, as does the back side of the ice maker (which resides in the main body of the refrigerator).

The problem is, the thing isn’t air sealed very well, so the cold, but not freezing, air in the main refrigerator, seeps into the ice maker and causes the ice to begin to melt. This also causes water to run down the back of the ice maker, which eventually freezes, causing the whole works to freeze up. Bam, no ice.

So just about every month or so, I’m forced to thaw the entire ice maker box in order to get things working again, and I’ve had to get creative with how I do that. For obvious reasons, you don’t want the refrigerator door standing open for half an hour to forty five minutes, so I have to make it happen faster than that, but you can’t use heat, as all the plastic in the housing and structure is thin and will deform.

I’ve used a big air mover fan usually with one of the two barn doors to the fridge open, moving air in the unit, while disturbing the fridge itself as little as possible. This is better than ambient air, but only a little, as it isn’t focused. This last time, I was frustrated, and I grabbed the leaf blower.

Now this really worked. It defrosted the whole ice maker in fifteen minutes, and that was a win. It’s been working fine since, though that was only a week ago, and it usually works for about a month, as I said.

Samsung has released an “upgrade kit” that consists of a metal tab you clip to the supply hose, which directs the draining water down and away from the mechanical parts (mine already had this) and a tube of food safe silicone sealant, to air seal the box itself. This will likely make all the difference. I ordered the tube, and then like the genius I am sometimes, accidentally used it to seal the fittings on my stock tank pool instead of the regular silicone sealant I bought for that purpose. So I’m waiting for a replacement tube now, and I’ll see what’s what.

It’s always something.