Fridge gasket replacement?

[skater]

Has anyone done this?

I decided to get one for mine, because I knew the bottom part of the gasket was leaking cold air. I figured this would help on those hot days when the fridge was struggling.

I ordered a new gasket from Dometic a couple weeks ago and it arrived within a couple days. Tonight I took the fridge door off and cleaned off the old gasket in preparation for the new one.

The gasket was about $150 shipped. In the kit, you get the gasket, double sided tape, silicone sealer, and - most importantly - excellent directions for removing the old gasket and installing the new one.

The old gasket was MUCH worse than I realized. It had hardened at the bottom, plus the metal strip inside had rusted. It took me a while to cut out the old gasket (new knife blade a must here!), but after I did that the mess cleaned up pretty easily with Simple Green.

I do have one tip already if you do this: Don't leave the gasket in the box leaning against a wall. The weight of the gasket was on one of the staples in the box, so the one edge of my new gasket is bowed inward. Not a big deal, I'm sure it'll go on just fine, but it means that the gasket isn't going to go where it should naturally (if that makes sense).

I also intend to sand the frame of the fridge where the gasket mates - there are a couple rust spots (I'm guessing water in the bottom of the fridge came out and rusted the frame and the gasket). I'll sand those smooth, then put a coat of paint on the frame. I don't intend to repaint the entire frame if I can avoid it...

[skater]

Well, I've finished this and re-hung the door. I wasn't able to find paint to match the metal frame, so I put some Rust-Oleum almond color on for now (after sanding off the rust), and once it warms up this summer I'll paint the entire metal frame.

The new gasket went on very smoothly and doesn't seem to be in danger of coming loose or anything like that. The directions included in the kit are excellent. The gasket looks great on the door.

When I hung the fridge door, the new gasket didn't want to stick to the metal frame all the way around. This was covered in the directions, too: close and lock the door tightly for two days. I locked it shut last night, then tried it again an hour later and saw some improvement even then.

I can't wait to use it in some really hot weather to see how it does...

I didn't do my traditional writeup because, really, there's nothing I can add to the directions.