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Ice Buildup on Dometic Refrigerator Fins

Ice Buildup on Dometic Refrigerator Fins
Dometic RM1272 refrigerator rebuilt with an Amish refrigeration kit from JC Refrigeration. It’s been running great but recently building up a large ice deposit on the refrigerator fins. Defrosted it with a hair dryer and lots of towels. Called Dometic to ask about cause and fix. They say it is due to air leakage around the door gasket and the gasket needs to be “rejuvenated”. You can’t replace the gasket without replacing the entire door. Dometic sent a “rejuvenation” procedure (see below), but I am confused. Anyone done this? Got pictures or a video of the process? If you can pull the gasket away from the frame of the door, why can’t you just replace the entire gasket??
1. Pull gasket away from frame of the door
2. Put cotton balls or polycord in the valley behind the gasket
3. Use hair dryer to heat up gasket and make pliable. Use your hand as a guide to ensure you do not melt the gasket.
4. Once pliable, close the door and leave for 3 to 4 hours
5. This will pull the magnet back up snug to the door and create a seal as good as if not better than the original seal when the refrigerator was manufactured
Thanks, Steve, 2002 Intrigue #11386
Steve Bufty
2002 Intrigue #11382

Re: Ice Buildup on Dometic Refrigerator Fins

Reply #1 –
Those directions are correct as far as they go but I'm pretty sure they are greek to anyone who hasn't already done this. I understand your confusion Steve.

I'm glad you started this topic. I've done this before many years ago and I've been trying to refresh my memory on some of the details.

I'm not an expert and I'm sure there may be some tricks that would make this easier but I will share what I know.

First the problem:
Your refrigerator door seal is leaking. That makes it harder to keep the unit cool and allows moisture into the relatively dry space of the refrigerator. The obvious result is the frost of frozen water vapor on your fins. Your seal is probably fine it just need's a little maintaince.

The seal on these doors depends on the seal being flexible enough to allow the magnetic strip inside the seal to pull the flat seal face into close contact with the door frame all the way around the door. This is a very effective solution and is pretty common in refrigerators and freezers from what I have heard.

The first step is to check your seal for rips, tears or holes. These seals are really tough and it's unlikely you will find any of these problems but if you do they will need to be addressed before proceeding. That might require a new (or used) replacement door.

To rehab your old seal the first thing you need to do to turn the refrigerator off and remove all the stuff for the hour or two this will take. Then clean the seal really well. A tooth brush comes in handy for this part. Don't use anything abrasive you want the plastic surface to remain as smooth as possible While you are cleaning don't be afraid to stretch the seal by pulling it directly away from the door. This will help you get between the pleats on the seal and it will reveal treasures never imagined stuck in those nether regions.

Now that you have the seal clean (I'm still working on mine) you will notice the seal is already a lot more pliable. It probably already seals better. If your seal was like mine you probably now have a good idea why these seals fail to seal over time. I'm not saying the previous owners were pigs but I think they did have some as pets...

Now to the confusing part. That plastic seal is a pleated U shape. The seal has become compressed over time and and the U shape is squashed down with the side pleats on the U becoming more compressed. Luckily the seal is a form of low temperature thermo plastic and can be reshaped with heat.

Heat alone isn't going to stretch out that plastic so you need to create a few high spots in the seal to establish how much the seal needs to stretch when it's heated. I did this previously by lifting the seal at each corner of the door and shoving a small ball of rolled up insulation under the seal. This left me with a door that had a little more than 1/8" air gap all the way around the door except at the four corners that were all touching the door. You may have to fiddle with the packing in the corners to get them all to touch at once. I found using measured pieces of insulation helped keep the the door even.

Now the magic happens. I used a heat gun to raise the temperature of the entire seal to a little more than safe to touch temperature. This took a while, be patient always keep the heat source moving and be careful not to overheat anything.  I don't know if a hair dryer would work, it would probably take quite a while. Heat guns are really cheap and you don't need a particularly hot or fancy one for this job.

When the seal is hot all the way around shut the door. Your work is done. The magnetic strip pulls the entire softened seal into close contact the face of the door. Wait about an hour to make sure the plastic has cooled and you should have a seal that is as good as new.

Now for the part I'm still trying to remember. How to get that darn seal lifted at the corner and put back in? I seem to remember there was a trick but I'll be darned if I remember what it was.

I hope that helped Steve. I'll let you know when (if?) I remember how to lift that seal.

Re: Ice Buildup on Dometic Refrigerator Fins

Reply #2 –
Wow! Thank you, John, for that great detailed explanation. We're on the road right now, but will soon have the opportunity to empty the refrigerator and turn it off for an extended period which would obviously be beneficial for conducting this procedure. I have printed out your instructions which do clarify the steps delineated by Dometic. If you do remember any of the other steps that you referred to, I look forward to hearing from you again. Thank you again, Steve
Steve Bufty
2002 Intrigue #11382
 

Re: Ice Buildup on Dometic Refrigerator Fins

Reply #3 –
Yes, the “rejuvenation” works by reshaping the old gasket with filler behind it and heat. You can’t replace it separately because it’s molded into the door. This method helps improve the seal without needing a new door.