'Flaps' on French Refrigerator Door Gaskets - Worth It? - Or Remove?

[pgtr]

I am dealing with a JennAir JFFCF72DKL04 French Door Refrigerator that at 10 months old has developed a tear at the flap. 

JennAir should replace this as a warranty item.

But it begs the questions...

 

• QUESTION: What is the function of the flap?

 

• QUESTION: And might the gasket last longer WITHOUT the flap? (e.g. cut it straight off w/ a razor) (seems to me no flap is something less to get 'caught' on or 'manipulated' over time...)

 

See attached image - In my case it is on the Right Side Door - this is the door that does not have the hinged 'flapper' door mechanism in it - just a simple door/gasket.

These French Door setups seem a bit convoluted due to the hinged flapper and over time prone to wear/failure at the gasket...? Maybe not...? I generally try to open the right door first, left door second and reverse order when closing to avoid forcing the 'flapper' mechanism to slide into place against a closed door...

Thanks

 

[Guest]

I personally don't see any functionality for that extra flap on the edge.  There's nothing applying and pressure against it. It's either a manufacturing artifact or intentionally left there to sell more gaskets. 

[Budget Appliance Repair]

Unfortunately if you remove that flap you will have a slight warm air leak into the refrigerator compartment under the left door hinge flapper.

Maybe slight enough that it doesn't cause any problems, but no guarantee of that.

[evaappliance]

It would be more of a principle of the matter repair,  the more that companies get away with making inferior products , the more likely they are going to keep doing it .  Loosing money on warranty repairs is the only way to hold them accountable.  They want the process to be so annoying that people just tolerate mediocrity but the more customers let this happen , the more the companies will push the boundaries of what they can get away with before people complain.   I know this is I little over the top for a torn flapper but I’m getting old and cranky

[pgtr]

On 1/18/2024 at 7:01 AM, Budget Appliance Repair said:

Unfortunately if you remove that flap you will have a slight warm air leak into the refrigerator compartment under the left door hinge flapper.

Maybe slight enough that it doesn't cause any problems, but no guarantee of that.

I looked more closely and this is kinda-sorta true. BOTH the left and right doors have the same gaskets (part #s) and in their corners it is oversized w/ that additional extra wide 'flap' molded (shown above) molded into the gasket. 

It's blurred in the background but there is a 1/4 in. GAP at the bottom (and top) of that hinged inner flapper door on the left door fridge door. The oversized 'flaps' molded into the gaskets seal those gaps top and bottom. Whichever door closes last layers it's gasket 'flap' on top of the other doors gasket 'flap'. 

Technically if one gasket is intact - the other is redundant. But I would say BOTH are there by design and provide a double layer of rubber covering the 1/4" gap at the top and bottom.

(I suppose if you cut off both gasket corner flaps on the opposite doors precisely - the gap would be covered with a butt fitting of the gaskets instead of the overlaps as designed. At least as long as the doors retain their mount positions and the gaskets their current shapes. Over time probably not.)

Also note in the photo above - the gasket flap is 'hanging' down and distorted. The fridge is less than a year old and there are other spots (not shown) on the gasket showing separation or splitting. I would say this was a defective gasket when molded and installed originally - not an issue w/ wear.

However If that right door w/ the defective gasket flap closes first - it prevents the other door's gasket flap from properly covering the gap at the bottom because the flap hangs crooked and interferes.

Solution 1: (temporary) Always ensure the left door in the above photo is closed FIRST. The right door w/ the distorted gasket flap won't interfere w/ the seal on the (closed) right door from functioning.

Solution 2: (temporary) Cut off or remove the distorted flap on the gasket - then you need not worry about the sequence you close the doors. But you are without the double redundancy at the gaps. And the gasket still has a split in t. (actually several splits)

Solution 3: (permanent) Replace the defective gasket w/ the molded flappers. You get the redundancy of two layers of rubber gasket covering the gaps at the top and bottom of the inside hinged 'flapper' door. And you don't have to worry about the sequence of the closing of doors.