Need help on diagnosing a refrigerator door seal problem. Our unit is 14 years old. The seal on the refrigerator got a bit hard at the bottom edge and allowed air to get into refrigerator and caused frosting problems.

I went to an aftermarket site (forgot which one) and purchased a new seal. Replacement was pretty easy but the door did not seal right. The door closed worst than it did before. I had to really push on the door to get any chance of getting it to seal. It seems as though the magnet in the seal was so weak that it would not seal.

I figured I got a bum quality seal so I went ahead and went to GE site and purchased another seal. (The first seal came in a small box and was all folded up, the GE came in a large box and ready to install.)

When I close the refrigerator door and then open the freezer door to check the seal, it looks like the seal is closed but when I pull on the door, there is nearly zero resistance so I know the door is not sealing. The freezer door still seals perfectly. When you pull on that door, there is slight resistance due to the vacuum.

Any suggestions? The seal looks nice and flat (no wrinkles). I can not visually check the seal on the top, bottom, or the hinge side because of the metal trim.

I certainly do not want to purchase another seal. I also don't want to hire a guy to come out just to adjust the seal. What can I do?

This is causing me frosting problems. It is also causing the drip pan (wrong term) to freeze up and all condensation drains through the freezer (what a crappy design on that tube thing).

Any help will be appreciated.

Before you install a refrigerator or freezer door gasket its very important to soak the gasket in the bathtub with hot water for about an hour to soften it up so it seals properly.

If you already have it installed use a hair dryer on it and go all around it to soften it up and it should seal properly.

Jake

__________________
Appliance Repair School 1987-1988
Star Appliance Tech. 2 yrs. 1988-1990
Wards Appliance Tech. 11 yrs. 1990-2001
Sears Appliance Tech. 4 yrs. 2001-Oct. 2005
Jake's Appliance Repair Nov. 2005-present

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This is driving me insane. I just had to defrost the whole system because it iced up and clogged the defroster drain pan. I thought I plugged up a leak that may have caused moisture leak (clear defrost tube from evaporator to pan under compressor). But I opened up the door today and I got dripping water inside. I know it is just a matter of time before my evaporator is iced up and I have to go through the defrost process again.

Any tricks on finding the location of the moisture leak? Does that dollar bill thing work around the seal?

I got the reply about soaking the seal. I thought that is usually required when you get the seal in a little box and it is all twisted up. After you unravel it, there are a lot of memory curves in the seal which causes gaps in the seal. But the last seal was in a huge box and there are no gaps in the seal.

What about door alignment? Anything I need to check with the door?

Yes, check the door alignment, they door should not be sagging or out of alignment.

If all else fails you will likely need to have a tech. come out.

Jake

__________________
Appliance Repair School 1987-1988
Star Appliance Tech. 2 yrs. 1988-1990
Wards Appliance Tech. 11 yrs. 1990-2001
Sears Appliance Tech. 4 yrs. 2001-Oct. 2005
Jake's Appliance Repair Nov. 2005-present

If you need more repair advice help on your appliance, click Here

Look-Up & Order Parts

Shop Home Appliances