Refrigerator Tips

REFRIGERATOR DOOR SEAL REPLACEMENT

Door gaskets can sometimes be tricky to install, but with a little patience, it can be done.  Due to shipping requirements, they are placed in a small box and do require some massaging, patience, and time to get to fit properly

Note : First Thing ... Check the door liner under the door seal. If it's cracked around the screws or anywhere else, you will not be able to get a door seal to properly seal. You will have to replace both the door gasket and the inner door liner.

1. Buy a Factory gasket that fits your door exactly.  Example : If its a Whirlpool, buy a Whirlpool door gasket.

2. Soak the new gasket in hot water in the sink to make it more flexible and easier to work with. 

3. Make sure the refrigerator is level. 

4. Find a nut driver or screwdriver, that will fit the screws holding the old gasket in place.

5. Start at the top outside corner of the door and fold the old gasket back as you partly loosen the screws around the door. Don’t loosen them all the way. If you do the door liner will fall off of the refrigerator

6. Pull the old gasket out. 

7. Attach the new gasket by pushing it beneath the metal retainer and party tightening the screws. Do not tighten them all the way. 

8. Shut the door and check for gaps. The seal should lie straight and smooth all the way around the door. 

9. The screws that hold the door seal on also hold the door liner on. Together they keep the door from flexing. When you loosen those screws you may need to flex the outer door skin to get it to line up again. 

10. Finish tightening up the screws around the door after checking that the door isn't flexed.

11. Small wrinkles and gaps are normal and can be removed using a hair dryer to heat the door seal. and over time ( a few days) they will work themselves out as the door seal will shape itself to the refrigerator cabinet.

Note: If after replacing the door seal it binds on the hinge side, you may have to add shims behind the door hinge as the new door seal is new and not compressed and is thicker. You can make shims out of thin plastic material. Use the existing shims as a template. I've seen people even use plastic lids off of like butter bowls as shim material. 

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