That does sound like a bad design. I just checked the manual of my new Samsung (yet to be hooked up) and it does not call for turning off the water. In fact they warn not to use the water or ice maker without the filter in place which would indicate that this "could" be done without water spurting everywhere. Sounds like perhaps they recognized the flaw and did something about it.

I agree this sounds like design retrograde! I have a Samsung French Door from 2-3 years ago and it does not need the water fiddled with before changing the filter.

I've never heard of this before but you ought to be able to turn off the water without moving the fridge. Presumably the water is connected to the water pipe for you kitchen sink. You ought to have a cutoff valve there. If not, it will still be easier to shut off the water to the whole house for a few minutes than having to move the fridge.

weissman-our fridge is on a different wall than the sink. It has its own water supply. We'll just turn off the water to the house from now on. It's just weird!

Just bought this model to be delivered at end of month. Has anyone else dealt with this problem?

This is weird...I received an email from Houzz that there was a comment on this thread, but when I click on 'show comment' there's nothing here. Does that mean the user deleted the comment? It started with "Ran into this issue 2 days ago. Still defrosting the freezer ! Simple
task of changing filter has become a big task.Called Samsung and they
want the s..."

Do NOT buy the Samsung French Door refridgerator! The water filter design is ridiculous! You have to push the fridge (if you can) away from the wall, far enough to reach down to turn off the water valve on the back,(couldn't do it) just to change the filter !! Guess what ? you now have to go buy a Brita water filter carafe to put in your fridge. nice

WatchMeLOL,

It's common in my area that a new-construction home has a dedicated water supply for the refrigerator located behind the unit. And as TexasPenny stated, the refrigerator may not be immediately adjacent to the kitchen sink. Mine, for example, is on the opposite wall from the sink.

And guess what? It's also common that the gas shutoff for a range is behind the range. Perhaps code revisions have changed for new construction on that point but there are a LOT of old homes around.

As far as I know, changing the filter in most fridges does not require shutting off water supply. So the location of the shutoff valve is usually irrelevant.

I am so angry about this that I am seeing RED! How stupid is this? My husband and I are not strong enough to pull out our fridge (which is built into the wall) when we need to replace the filter. Our prior fridges have never required such a stupid, idiotic thing. Our contractor (who just built our home) recommends that we turn off the water to the ENTIRE HOUSE, just to replace the water filter in our fridge. Angry customer here. No, FURIOUS CUSTOMER.

springplanter - SEE my comment above. If you planned to build in the fridge, DO NOT BUY THIS SAMSUNG.

I'm sorry this is still happening. I can't believe they haven't fixed this design flaw. We just turn the water off to the house now to change the filter. I like everything else about it.

We are debating between a counter depth LG and a counter depth four door flex Samsung for a new home we are building. Unfortunately, I'm leaning towards the Samsung, except that I read the manual and noticed this oddity of having to turn the water off to change the filter. STUPID! The LG does not require this. The new 5 door/drawer KA also needs to have water turned off. That's off the list. UGH!

I can't believe the KA is like this too. What is with these manufacturers!!

texaspenny - can't speak for all KAs but the manual I downloaded for the new 5 door/drawer KA indicated you had to turn the water off. And ... you had to flush 5 gallons through the filter after you changed it. Doesn't 5 gallons sound a bit excessive?! Too many other SMH moments reading this manual to consider this KA. Plus, we decided a counter depth was a better choice.

Just changed my filter. About a minute to run down to the basement and turn the water off, three minutes to install the new filter (including removing it from the box and wrapper) and another minute to turn the water back on. The most brutal 5 minutes of my existence. I hate to think I have to do this again in 6 months.

Wow, I started this almost four years ago and they are still doing this? So frustrating. I like the fridge, but just this week we have it on our to-do list to shut the house water off and change the filter. We have to do it at the street. Who designed this?

After removing the filter many times without incident, water sprayed out when I removed the filter last week. I Googled the problem and learned that the valve where the filter attaches was probably stuck. Sure enough, when l probed the area with a long skewer, the valve popped out and the water flow stopped. Bad design, but easily fixed.

Here is the track record of Samsung at my houzz. Top loading Samsung clothes washer, mandated Federal recall to brace washer tub – – – Samsung note 7 cell phone, overheating battery, burnt phone, No-fly zone – – – Samsung flatscreen TV does not successfully interface with other electronics– – – Samsung four-door refrigerator sprung a leak on hardwood kitchen floors causing cupping throughout in new house less than four years old. All products less than five years old.

I recently discovered that the word Samsung in Korean can be translated as "We Suck". I'm not sure they could make a doorknob without screwing up somewhere.

We took a chance and changed our water filter without turning off the water to the refrigerator...expected a huge water spray from what I've been reading, but nothing except a few drops out of the old filter. The booklet that came with the refrigerator made it sound like it was "optional" whether or not to turn off the water supply? So far, we've had this refrigerator 6 months and love it...knock on wood.

I have the new 2017 model as well and I can't get the water filter to turn to take it off. I realize if I did ease the water pressure it might turn just as easily as it did for the saleman at Lowes in the store. I too, have to turn the water valve off behind the frid....can't move the darn thing...what to do?

My plumber was pretty adamant about NOT putting the shutoff behind the fridge (not that I argued with him). Mine's under the sink. Make's sense. My father managed to jam the in door water dispensing button in which had him panicking filling glasses while my mother tried to unstick things. I pointed out they could have just opened the door. A more involved leak would have been easier to deal with if the shutoff was accessible.

I had a Samsung Refg. that required the turning off the water supply to change the water filter and since i did not want to pull the fridge out everytime I put a commander hook on the back edge of the fridge and put the water line on the hook so when I changed the water filter I just kinked the hose to stop the water flow and I could change the filter. Someone can hold it for you or you can put a rubber band on the kinked hose. It worked for me not sure that it will work for anyone else

TJSWalsh, I advise against doing that. The water line likely will fatigue over time from the repeated flexing, may crack and cause a large flood.

as I say it may not work for anyone else it did for me for 5 yrs . you kink it once every 6 months a total of 10 times for the 5 year period and the kink is never in the same spot

The thing that is so obvious here that no one is speaking on is even if you do turn off the water, especially from the outside, the water that is still in the line is going to flow out into the refrigerator and beyond, causing problems, especially with freezing in the freezer. I have never had to turn off the water on mine until yesterday. I purchased my Samsung French door back in 2011. Now there must be a seal that is broken or worn away for it to react this way. Also, I purchased a generic filter for mine because of the ridiculous high price Samsung charges for theres. Turns out, I should have just spent the money because now I have a problem and I am probably going to have to hire a repairman to come out and fix it. I don't have the money to buy a whole new fridge. I don't have an answer definitively yet, but I will comment when all is said and done. Thanks everybody for your input.

We use generic filters but still turn off the water. We run the sink to drain the lines and without the pressure, water doesn't really come out when we change the filter. I hope yours gets fixed easily!

....wait until New Orleans city water pressure drops, race home, change refrigerator filter, pat self on the back for being so clever! (This is actually a plausible plan unfortunately. Boo for Samsung's poor design and the unreliability of public works in New Orleans.) This time I'm going to attempt the kink-in-the-hose idea.

Most Samsung refrigerators can be operated without a water filter in place. No plug is needed. If you have good city water, you don’t need one.

I started changing the water filter out on the Samsung refit. turn the water source on the outside of the house off. change the filter put the new filter and ran 3 to 4 minutes. reset the filter alarm took all but about seven minutes everything was great

Just bought our Samsung frig from Lowes a couple of months ago. It is the four door style with the filter in the middle of the two drawers. I couldn’t believe when I read the manual that you have to turn the water supply line off to change the filter! I have been reading the comments and some say yes and some say no. Our supply line is behind the frig. Shutting of the water for the house will not work because there will still be residual water pressure in the lines. You would have to turn on faucets around your house to release the pressure. We have a three story use and the frig is on the second floor. Water from the third story could possibly drain down thru the frig! This is insanity!😡

If you try to remove it without shutting the water off, the filter will likely break and be impossible to remove.

We purchased our Samsung French Door refrigerator 6 mo ago and are just finding out we need to turn off the water supply before replacing the filter!! So much for the convenient spot where they put it to demonstrate how simple it was to change. Can not believe the designers were so stupid. New homes now days do not have a shut off under the kitchen sink. Will turn house supply off to avoid pulling refrigerator out and possibly causing flooring damage

I have the same problem with my Samsung french door refrigerator that is 1.5 years old. The manual says to turn off water supply when changing filter. I asked the installers if this was necessary and they said no. However, when it was time to change the filter, it was not possible for me to put a new filter in because of the water pressure so I have changed it with turning off the water supply. I was wondering if instead, the water pressure would be relieved by pressing the “ice” selection on the front panel.

There ought to be a class action suit against Samsung. They have the responsibility to provide consumers step by step instructions on where the water line is, how to shut it off and how to change the water filter from the time the refrigerator is installed. The manual provided is unclear so I called their customer support and still got no clear explanation other than to call (and pay for) a plumber to shut off the water line. This is an epic fail by Samsung and they should compensate the consumers. I will never get anything Samsung again.

Water supply connection with shut-off for a refrigerator typically is at the wall behind the unit. Or may be under the kitchen sink if the refrigerator is near-enough and the feed line runs through the cabinetry. Or in a basement beneath the kitchen if it runs up through the floor. It's not Samsung's responsibility in anticipation of a support call to collect records on the household plumbing arrangement of every consumer who purchases their refrigerators. How would they do that?

When we bought our house, the Samsung French Door refrigerator came with it. I thought it was great until we had to change the water filter. The water turn off is behind the fridge and it is almost impossible to move the fridge, which, when full, weighs about 400 pounds, and it does not roll easily on its wheels. Just know that it is best to turn the water off. It makes removing and replacing the filter much easier. We will not buy a Samsung ever, not just because of the water filter, but because, after a couple of years, the refrigerator and ice maker often freeze up and the back panel has to be replaced. It's awful.

The fridge is very difficult to remove. To get it level, the installers need to adjust the legs, which makes it impossible to move. You need to raise the legs before the wheels make full contact and roll. We have the 4 door counter depth, 3 years old, and are very pleased with it. We use the whole house water shutoff. It’s a lot easier.

"They have the responsibility to provide consumers step by step instructions on where the water line is, how to shut it off and how to change the water filter from the time the refrigerator is installed. The manual provided is unclear so I called their customer support and still got no clear explanation other than to call (and pay for) a plumber to shut off the water line."

Anyone living in a house should know where the water shut offs are ... that's one of the first things you should be finding/shown when you move in or are old enough to be home alone, along with gas shut off (if applicable) and the breaker box ... What do you do in case of a leak? I mean, if that water line broke, you'd need to go turn the water off; you wouldn't be looking for instructions from the refrigerator manufacturer then (that would be a plumber or the fire department) ... same difference without the emergency.

It's so awesome that this thread is still alive. We do still have the fridge and love it, but the we are on our 4th icemaker tray since it keeps cracking in one corner. So, that's not great. We just shut off the water outside and change the filter. I don't think I would buy another one, but we do like the interior design.

I just finished reading this entire thread and couldn't believe that it went from "8 years ago" to as recently at "5 days ago" lol. Thank you, texaspenny, for asking about it. I bought my first home 6 months ago and it came with one of these refrigerators and the filter light just went off. Looks like I'll be turning off the whole house water supply since that seems to be the only option in my case. Kind of annoying. Cheers.

I have had my fridge for 3 yrs Have never had any problem changing filter without turning water off. Now for the first time there is water shooting out when taking old filter out . Never did it before

There's probably an auto-close mechanism in the port(s) on the housing into which the filter mounts that shuts off the flow when the filter is removed and it has failed to close when the filter is removed.

How do I access?

This is infuriating. Just read the manual of the fridge we've bought but not installed yet. When the plumber returns for finish installs I'll have him build a shutoff in the crawl space.