Refrigerator gasket mess !!!

[groundhogy]

So I have the Dometic RM3804 i believe.
1991 Excella 29

So I pony up for the $100 worth of door gaskets.
Pull the doors, replace. Watched all the videos, etc.

They dont seal worth a ****. Its raining in the refrigerator.
Its an icy nightmare in the freezer.

Obviously moist air is entering the compartments..

gh

[groundhogy]

That sounds like a BINGO to me. Will definitely try this.
You are the first reference ive seen mentioning putting it on the inside of the gasket.

[MURPHY55347]

You don't need to glue it into the tracks. It goes on the inside of the gasket and friction holds it in place. 5/16 or 3/8 will work as some of the thickness is buried in the groove of the gasket. We just placed 2 or 3 inches in the corners and that was enough to get it to seal.

[groundhogy]

You would need like 1/16 th diameter. lol.

[groundhogy]

Yeah, I saw that. How do you glue it into the crack so it stays in there?

[MURPHY55347]

Another thing to try is to get some foam backer rod material. If you are not familiar with this it is foam used to stuff in cracks to take up some space before caulking. It is made in several different sizes. On my fridge the dealer just put some in the corners of the gasket. If your gaskets are like mine they are pleated like an accordion. The foam was put in one of the folds making the gasket a little thicker.

[groundhogy]

Thats a very good idea..

[MURPHY55347]

Set up your cell phone to take a video and put it in the fridge. Shine a bright light from the outside to see if that sheds any light on your problem. Sorry couldn't resist!

[groundhogy]

Oh, and the way these frigerators are constructed, you cant attach the magnets and pull. When you close the door, the gasket is burried deep and you cant see it.

I tried to put a light in and tried to see if light would show outside... not to happen.

[groundhogy]

Well...
I have been reading the ice formations in the ice box, and the water formations in the frige.

So I do have a small heat gun. I first went around the ice box gasket with the heat gun.

Then also, there is a horizontal aluminum strip between the ice box door and the frige door. The pivot hinge mounts to this. It seemed the ice box gasket was resting on this aluminum strip, lifting off the gasket. So I took off the ice box door and put washers on the hinge and lifted the door. This put the door seemingly in a better flatter landing... but i soon learned it didnt do anything as the moisture was still entering.

How do you strangle a refrigerator?

[jerryjay11]

Same here as an appliance tech we do use a heat gun to soften and the door seals to set them. But be very careful not to use high heat and melt the door seal. Been there-Done that! Keep the heat gun or blow dryer far enough away to not melt the seal, just warm it.

What I do is hold the door open just enough so the magnet will hold the seal in place where it is already seating and slowly heat the seal where it has pulled away, running the heat up and down so as not to concentrate heat in one spot. The magnet should pull the seal to the cabinet or you may need to close the door a bit more, but not closed, to give the magnet a chance to seat against the ref cabinet.

DO NOT POKE THE WARM SEAL WITH A SHARP OBJECT! Been there-Done that too!

The object is to get the seal soft enough so it will form properly.

[hugemoth]

I used to be a refrigeration tech. We always used a heat gun on new door gaskets to get them to seal. A hair dryer might be hot enough.

[Ava]

You might try holding a small piece of paper between closed doors and frame in several places around the doors and see if there is the same drag as you pull the paper out. Maybe you will find a gap somewhere. good luck

[ScottG]

Is there something worn in the hinges?