Refrigerator door seal replacement. If you have a lot of people who are dependent on the food you keep in your refrigerator, then it’s no surprise that opening and closing your door so many times every day is bound to wear it out or maybe even break it down.
But don’t despair replacing a broken door seal is something you can actually do yourself without having to go through the inconvenient process of calling an expensive specialist.
Refrigerator door seal replacement
Refrigerator door seal repair. If your refrigerator food compartment is too warm, it might be because the rubber gasket around the door is worn down or stretched out from frequent use. This can be fixed with a screwdriver to pry off the gasket, followed by a replacement from an appliance supply store. New gaskets are usually packaged folded in plastic.
Remove the door gasket from the refrigerator
Flip over the appliance and push the release lever toward the back of the unit to loosen it. Then grasp the top end, and pull the old gasket out.
The screws holding the metal retainer around the entire door
You need to use the hex head screwdriver to do this. Find the plastic liner and remove it before you can do anything else. Next, you’ll be able to fasten the holes where the door seal will get a tight grip on your fridge’s door frame.
Some door seals for fridges may come with a rubber or plastic gasket which is sandwiched in between two layers of fiberglass insulation that are glued together.
A common mistake many DIY-ers like yourself make when replacing their own fridges I keeping the old screws when taking out all three layers and you’ll want them for reinserting everything together later.
You’ll want to use a rubber or silicone sealant or Caulk and apply it along each side of your new entryway into your fridge don’t forget about corners as that’s where most leaks occur.
Pull it out of the door after loosening the retainer screws
Once all of the screws are loosened and detached from the door, it may be easier to take out the plastic part from behind the metal sheet that you have already removed.
Please be careful when doing this step as some metal sheets can be quite flimsy, so try not to scratch them or damage them in any way.
Install the new gasket
To add a new gasket to your refrigerator door, first, position one of the corners of the new gasket at the top of the refrigerator door.
Slowly slide and push the lip of the gasket over the metal retainer, then continue along until you’ve successfully covered every inch around the perimeter of your refrigerator’s door.
To start inserting in corners and easier, begin with the top corners of your fridge and work your way around slowly.
To install the metal retainer, (use the hex head driver)
You don’t want your gasket retainers to be too tight because you could hurt your pipes by doing so. While you might have a bit more of a challenge taking off the screws when it’s time to fix something, at least you won’t have a catastrophe on your hands.
The powder should be applied
If you find yourself stuck for some reason, sprinkle a bit of baby powder or talcum powder on your legs to give you an extra boost.
Apply some powder to the hinge side corners
To prevent the door seal from twisting as it meets the metal of the fridge, place a bolt through the crack where the door closes and put pressure on the two sides of the seal.
Lock the refrigerator door
The gasket should be inspected several times If a gasket has been warped, look for signs of unevenness. Repeat this process several times to ensure that there are no deteriorating sections.
Apply petroleum jelly
You can apply petroleum jelly along the hinged side of the door if there are some gaps. Once the gasket looks as if it’s properly fitted, tighten the screws more.
Alternatively, you can heat up the door seal with a hairdryer to fix the gaps. Doing so will soften up and expand the door seal and allow you to stretch it.
Refrigerator door seal replacement
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