fridge seal repair

A refrigerator is an indispensable thing in every home. Without it, it is difficult to maintain the freshness of products and stock up. But sometimes it happens that the refrigerator itself has been working flawlessly for many years, but the tightness disappears over time and warm air enters the refrigerator chamber and cold comes out. Since the refrigerator is a large household appliance, it is difficult to take it for repair, you can call the master to your house, but before proceeding with radical methods, let’s see if the problem can be solved by yourself.

The sealing gum is responsible for the tightness of the chambers, it tans over time, clings worse, ceases to be magnetized to the refrigerator body, or even cracks and tears.

You can pick it up at your local refrigerator service and repair center or order it online, for example here https://www.partsdirect.ru/parts_refrigerators.
But first, let’s look at the state of our failed gum. If it is intact, elastic enough, but rough in places and does not fit snugly against the refrigerator body, replacement may not be required. Let’s try to revive it. For this:

• Rinse the gum thoroughly, removing all debris, dust, and grease.
• Take an ordinary hair dryer, which is used for drying and styling hair.
• Warm up the entire gum around the perimeter, slightly pulling it away from the door with your hands and, kneading, heat each section until the gum becomes soft and plastic.
• Close the door tightly, and check if the rubber is firmly pressed against the refrigerator body everywhere, if there is a gap in the corners or in another part of the door, heat this area of ​​the sealing gum again and press it against the body.
• Do not open the door for a couple of minutes to allow the gum to cool.

If the situation has not improved, we will try to warm the sealing gum with hot water.

• Boil a kettle of water.
• Under the refrigerator, under the door, place a tray or baking sheet from the oven, lay a rag.
• Slightly open the refrigerator door and slowly pour the gum with boiling water, kneading it with your fingers and pulling it to give the desired shape.
• Walk like this around the perimeter.
• Close the refrigerator, check the tightness of the gum, if necessary, additionally pour boiling water over the corners and press the gum against the body.
• Let cool. If everything is done correctly, the elastic band will partially return the lost elasticity and will serve you for another couple of years.

If there are gaps in the sealing gum, silicone sealant will save:

• Prepare everything for repair, rinse and degrease the sealing gum. In order not to spoil the refrigerator itself with a sealant, temporarily stick a regular or paper tape on the refrigerator body at the place where the rubber band fits.
• Carefully squeeze the sealant into the gum at the break, and close the refrigerator door
• Do not press too hard, so as not to compress the sealant,
• With your fingers, gently press the elastic against the body, fixing its fit.
• With a piece of tape, pull the door a little to the refrigerator and leave it overnight.
• When the sealant in the gum hardens, the door can be opened.
• It remains to remove the protective tape. If glue remains on the refrigerator from it, wipe it with a cotton pad soaked in vegetable oil, then with warm water.

Well, the last option, if the gum is very worn out and cannot be restored, buy a new sealing gum suitable for your model and install it in place of the old one. On your own, or by calling the master.

Also, in case of failure, breakdown of other parts of the refrigerator not directly related to the operation of the engine, electronics or freon (trays, trays, panels, etc.), it is sometimes easier to purchase the failed part yourself and install it than to give the unit for repair or change it to new.