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Posted by Martin on June 7, 2007, 11:24 am
I can see that icing in the freezer is linked to air leakage past the top of
the door seal. As the seal contains a magnetic strip embedded in
plastic, I can't envisage what could possibly wear or age over time, which
makes me think it would be pointless replacing the seal; there are no moving
parts and I doubt the magnetic strip loses its effect over time.
So do these door seals lose their capacity to seal over time and, if so,
what is the mechanism of this ageing/wear process?
Thanks
Martin
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Posted by dpb on June 7, 2007, 3:06 pm
Martin wrote:
> I can see that icing in the freezer is linked to air leakage past the top of
> the door seal. As the seal contains a magnetic strip embedded in
> plastic, I can't envisage what could possibly wear or age over time, which
> makes me think it would be pointless replacing the seal; there are no moving
> parts and I doubt the magnetic strip loses its effect over time.
>
> So do these door seals lose their capacity to seal over time and, if so,
> what is the mechanism of this ageing/wear process?
Yes, and it is simply aging -- they lose their flexibility so they don't
seal as well as they may not be able to "reach" far enough for the
magnet to make firm contact.
Also, it's possible the door hinges have worn and are letting the door
sag or not close evenly which results in the seals not having enough
"stretch" to allow them to mate. An adjustment there can fix/alleviate
the problem at least in the short term. May eventually still need new
seal(s) or hinge(s) depending on the type and what is/isn't adjustable
for the particular model...
--
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Posted by Edwin Pawlowski on June 7, 2007, 3:40 pm
>I can see that icing in the freezer is linked to air leakage past the top
>of
> the door seal. As the seal contains a magnetic strip embedded in
> plastic, I can't envisage what could possibly wear or age over time, which
> makes me think it would be pointless replacing the seal; there are no
> moving
> parts and I doubt the magnetic strip loses its effect over time.
>
> So do these door seals lose their capacity to seal over time and, if so,
> what is the mechanism of this ageing/wear process?
Yes. You can find more information at www.repairclinic.com or
www.applianceaid.com
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Posted by Nexus7 on June 7, 2007, 4:24 pm
> I can see that icing in the freezer is linked to air leakage past the top of
> the door seal. As the seal contains a magnetic strip embedded in
> plastic, I can't envisage what could possibly wear or age over time, which
> makes me think it would be pointless replacing the seal; there are no
The plastic is torn, or has pieces chipped out of it, or might've
hardened with age.
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Posted by John McGaw on June 7, 2007, 4:38 pm
Martin wrote:
> I can see that icing in the freezer is linked to air leakage past the top of
> the door seal. As the seal contains a magnetic strip embedded in
> plastic, I can't envisage what could possibly wear or age over time, which
> makes me think it would be pointless replacing the seal; there are no moving
> parts and I doubt the magnetic strip loses its effect over time.
>
> So do these door seals lose their capacity to seal over time and, if so,
> what is the mechanism of this ageing/wear process?
>
> Thanks
>
> Martin
>
>
Yes they do wear out by the simple loss of magnet strength. They are not
very powerful to begin with (think door which can only be opened by a
weightlifter) and the technology which embeds metal particles in a
flexible substrate may not offer the longest life. But it is possible
that the seal is not the problem -- if it is then the strength should be
lost fairly uniformly over the whole seal. Sometimes it is a matter of
misaligned hinges or even a warped door (think child swinging on door)
so if the leakage seems to be in only a limited area that might your
problem. The old dollar bill test still seems to be the standard for
checking seals. If one had access to a hall-effect gauss meter then a
more scientific check of the seals magnetic force could be done but I've
never seen one outside of a laboratory.
--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com
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