--- title: "Samsung refrigerator showing 21E | RefrigeratorRepair.center" description: "What 21E means on Samsung refrigerators, what to check before booking, and when it is not a failure at all." url: "https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/samsung-21e/" --- # Samsung refrigerator showing 21E The board is not seeing the freezer fan turn when it has told it to run. ## What 21E actually means. The board is not seeing the freezer fan turn when it has told it to run. Most often the fan has been frozen in place by ice — a door left ajar or a gasket that no longer seals lets moist air in — and less often the fan motor itself has failed. Samsung refrigerator display · also shown as 21C What to do when 21E shows on the refrigerator ### Kind of code Fan circuit A fan the control board expected to be turning is not — a motor that has failed, or ice holding the blade still. ### Usually leads to Fan and airflow repair Two fans, two completely different failures — one stops the cold arriving, the other stops the heat leaving. ### Shows up as Fresh Food Section Warm, Freezer Cold The single most diagnostic pattern on a refrigerator, and almost never the compressor. ### Make Samsung French door refrigeration with large displays, flexible compartments and complex ice systems. ### Source Samsung US support: refrigerator error codes Taken from the manufacturer's own documentation, quoted below. ## Before you book, in this order. Each step comes from Samsung's own guidance for 21E on its refrigerators. Follow it to the end: the last card says whether this is a visit. 01 Check that both doors close fully and that the gaskets seal all the way round. 02 Defrost the unit completely and let everything dry before switching it back on. 03 If the code returns after a full defrost, book a visit: at that point the fan or its wiring is the likely cause. ### Still there? It usually turns into [fan and airflow repair](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/services/fan-and-airflow-repair/). Book with the code and the model number. ### What not to do Do not keep resetting it while the freezer warms. A fan that has stopped is not moving cold air, whatever the display says afterwards. ## What you may notice with it. The refrigerator problems 21E tends to arrive with. Answer these at the refrigerator before anyone is booked. [All problems](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/problems/) Before you call ### [Fresh Food Section Warm, Freezer Cold](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/problems/fresh-food-warm-freezer-cold/) [All 5 causes, cheapest first](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/problems/fresh-food-warm-freezer-cold/) It also comes with - [**Refrigerator Making a Loud Noise**](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/problems/loud-noise/) Food safety applies ### Fresh Food Section Warm, Freezer Cold 5 causes, cheapest first Where 21E usually leads ## Fan and airflow repair. **Evaporator or condenser fan · low.** Book a visit [What the job involves](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/services/fan-and-airflow-repair/) ## Read these before the visit. Short guides that make the call quicker and the diagnosis cheaper. [All guides](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/guides/) Why it is doing that ### Fridge warm, freezer cold — the most diagnostic pattern there is Why it is doing that ### Why refrigerators stop cooling, in order of likelihood Error codes ### All 247 codes, by make ## Samsung refrigerators. French door refrigeration with large displays, flexible compartments and complex ice systems. [Samsung refrigerator repair](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/brands/samsung/) More Samsung codes [OF OF](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/samsung-of-of/) [5E](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/samsung-5e/) [22E](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/samsung-22e/) [PC ER](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/samsung-pc-er/) [88 88](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/samsung-88-88/) [40E](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/samsung-40e/) [8E](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/samsung-8e/) [14E](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/samsung-14e/) [85C](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/samsung-85c/) [AP](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/samsung-ap/) [All icons flashing](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/samsung-all-icons-flashing/) [Ice Off blinking](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/samsung-ice-off-blinking/) Fan circuit on other makes [LG ER IF](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/lg-er-if/) [Frigidaire SY EF](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/frigidaire-sy-ef/) [Sub-Zero 35 R 33](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/sub-zero-35-r-33/) [Viking E2](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/viking-e2/) [Fisher & Paykel F15](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/fisher-and-paykel-f15/) [Kenmore Er FF](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/kenmore-er-ff/) [ASKO F1](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/asko-f1/) [All 22 codes of this kind](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/#family-fan-circuit) Samsung builds this ### French door refrigerator Two fresh-food doors over a freezer drawer — the most common premium layout, and the one with the most to go wrong at the door line. Samsung builds this ### Side-by-side refrigerator Full-height freezer beside full-height fresh food, with the ice maker and dispenser built into the freezer door. ## In Samsung's own words > 21E Freezer Fan Error. This means the electronics are not sensing rotational feedback from the fan [Samsung US support: refrigerator error codes](https://www.samsung.com/us/support/troubleshooting/TSG10007315/) Every code on this site is taken from the manufacturer's documentation, never from a forum or a parts listing. ## Samsung 21E refrigerator repair, where we come out. The same visit in every metro below: the code, the model number, and a diagnosis before any part is ordered. 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Check that both doors close fully and that the gaskets seal all the way round. If it comes back, it needs a visit. ### Why does 21E come back on my Samsung after I reset it? A reset does nothing about ice holding the freezer fan still, so the board sees the same missing rotation again. A full defrost with everything dried is the owner step; if 21E survives that, the fan motor or its wiring is next in line. ### What usually lets ice lock the freezer fan behind a Samsung 21E? Moist room air getting into the freezer, most often through a door that was left slightly open or a gasket that has stopped sealing. Check both doors close all the way before you defrost, or the ice will simply form again. --- **[Read on the site: Samsung refrigerator showing 21E | RefrigeratorRepair.center](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/error-codes/samsung-21e/)** **[Book a visit with RefrigeratorRepair.center](https://refrigeratorrepair.center/schedule/)**