Back in December when it got below zero here in central Pennsylvania, I didn't realize that there were carbonated waters in the refrigerator in the garage. Since the garage is detached the fridge it got well below freezing and the carbonated waters exploded. Now the refrigerator will not cool but the freezer portion works fine. It is a Samsung side by side refrigerator. Any suggestions on what to check to repair the fridge? Years ago we had a Maytag side by side that stopped working and the fan went bad.

How old is the frig, does it have a digital control pad or knob/s inside the frig to control the coldness in the frig and or freezer?

I should have put that into the original post. It is a side by side Samsung refrigerator model number RS261MDBP. The control is outside by the water/ice dispenser that is not being used. It is not a knob, just bars that go up and down by pressing the button. The sticker says a June 2013 manufacture date.

Is it possible to empty it and try a full defrost cycle, and clean it out while it’s empty?

It sounds like an air circulation problem, possibly involving the fan as mentioned. Hopefully though it’s as simple as iced-up air passages.

I’m not an expert, but I’ve been a homeowner for many years and have had my share of headaches with refrigerators.

I would first do as suggested by GreenMountainOwl and defrost it, the way a frig works is the coldness is in the freezer and there a damper that allows a certain amount of that coldness migrate into the frig via a passageway, that amount of coldness is controlled by whatever you have it set at, the damper opens to whatever amount is needed to obtain the temperature in the frig, since you have coldness in the freezer the passageway from the freezer to the frig section as mentioned above could be blocked with ice from the carbonated water and not allowing the coldness to migrate into the frig.

Let us know if a defrost solves the issue.

I did defrost the fridge since it was a nice day yesterday while I changed out the interior bulbs. The fridge is still not cooling. What is the best way to test the damper and the fan that moves the air?

I'm not an appliance repair person so I can't advise you on how to go about testing the various parts that can be causing your issue, it could be the damper or not, it could be a temperature sensor or not, it could be the evaporator fan or not, it's really hard to say for sure, you can go to the many online appliance parts websites, many of which offer some troubleshooting advice, parts diagrams and of course the parts as well.

That being said I have always fixed all of my own appliances, older ones are easier to work on compared to the more modern electronically controlled models because you need to be good with a multi-meter to test many things and then some of the control panels may need special testers, I usually search for the most likely probable causes for my issue and then see if I can pinpoint the defective/non working part or parts, if I can't tell which part is causing the issue which is rare I start with replacing the part/s that most likely causes my issue, also I try and start with the least costly part/s first in case I get lucky and that part solves my issue.

Also YouTube is a great resource for videos on troubleshooting, testing parts, and replacing the parts, you may not find your exact model on YouTube but most frigs are very similar in the way they work but the parts can looking a little bit different.

I did search for your make and model to help you get start on researching your frig and finding parts, check many of the websites as the parts maybe least at some of them and the DIY resources maybe better on some then others, after that do some research on YouTube.

Here's the search link to help you get started.

Samsung refrigerator model number RS261MDBP - Search

Im not an appliance guy, but have been successful fixing my own for years. Most refrigerators freeze the freezer then port some of that cold air to the refrigerator. Usually a fan is there to circulate that cold air where it needs to go. If the fan is gummed up and can't work, or the passage is plugged, the freezer will work, the compressor etc will work fine, but the refrigerator won't. Appliance repair parts has a lot of videos on fixing appliances as well as youtube. I'm not familiar with your exact refrigerator, but that is where i would start. Is the refrigerator getting cold air?

Your cooling comes from the freezer side. So if it’s working, the fridge side should as well. A repairman told me at a rental we own that the renter was packing the freezer too tight and that negatively affected airflow. Maybe use some of that food up, throw the rest in some coolers and do a complete defrost. Start over.

I am not sure exactly what the problem was but I unplugged the refrigerator, opened up the doors and let everything thaw and dry out. I then plugged it back in and it has been working fine. Thanks for the assistance!

There was some ice somewhere blocking the cold from getting into the frig section, glad it's all working fine now!!

Only a master can help you solve this problem.