Blowing a Gasket

Once the refrigerator door seal on the magnetic gasket gives way, a common solution is to buy a new door — which is expensive and not very convenient. Creative use of 3M silicone sealing tape can solve the problem without doling out a pile of cash.

That said, these universal gaskets are difficult to install — and to make matters worse, if they are not installed precisely the seal won’t last very long and you’ll be back to square one.

Rather than spring for an expensive new refrigerator door, I decided to try the 3M silicone tape that I used to seal my shower door a while back, figuring I had nothing to lose but a little time. The silicone seal tape comes in a 26.3-foot x 1 ¼-inch roll (if you Google “26.3 feet silicone seal strip” you’ll find this product on Amazon for less than $14).

I cut longer pieces of silicone tape to cover a torn seal at the top of my right-hand-opening refrigerator door several months ago and, to my surprise, it is still holding in place even after tugging on it to simulate wear and tear. Now the seal on the bottom of the same door has torn — and since cold air falls to the bottom, this compromised seal was preventing the refrigerator from reaching optimum box temperature. Once again, I cut the damaged section of door seal away from the magnetic gasket to make way for a new piece of silicone tape.

The key to success is preparation of the area where the tape will be applied. Considering that the refrigerator runs full time (I live in the fifth wheel), there was constantly a certain amount of condensation on the seal. Using a hair dryer or a heat gun (with great care) the sealing area was dried thoroughly and cleaned with a paper towel and alcohol. Carefully set the silicone tape on the magnetic gasket and press firmly, sliding your thumbs up-and-down across the seal to make sure that it adheres properly. Next, shut the refrigerator door two or three times to make sure that the seal does not bind.

That’s it — you’re set to go.

One of the good things about making the repair with silicone sealing tape is it can be redone down the road, if necessary. And, you’ll continue to save a bunch of money.