Viking freezer door seal replacement VCSB482-SS

[cloemker]

An update:

After getting some help from the King Supreme of Repair, I threw the new seal in the dryer and installed it.  It's pulling up at the inside corners just like the old one.  Attached is a pic. 

I'm perplexed

Chris

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Chris, I replied to your email and am posting it here in case you didn't get it:

Hi Chris,

Gasket work can be frustrating because it's as much art as it is technique.  It's common for new gaskets to need to be relaxed a little bit with a nice, warm massage.  In the mangled words of  the sagacious Captain Ron: a gasket is like a woman, it responds to touch. 

Use a hair dryer and work over the corners. gently tugging the gasket and "teaching" it where to lay.  When you get the gasket to seat properly on the cabinet, leave the door closed for several hours, undisturbed, to allow the gasket to cool and take a new memory. 

Hope this helps git it fer ya!  Lemme know...

Scott

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[AccApp]

There is a magnet behind the plastic liner. If it has become weak the gasket would not easily conform to the desired shape. Run around the gasket target area with a steel item and see what I mean.

I like to boil my ref gaskets, gets them nice and submissive without the potential for liner damage as with heat gun. Try the hair dryer or a steamer.

[cloemker]

I checked for magnetism on the new liner and found (both with a piece of iron as well as feeling with my fingers) that the magnet in the liner stops right where the curling begins.  In other words, the magnet is about an inch shorter than the liner. 

Is that normal?

Chris

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

The magnet can slide up and down inside the gasket, especially during shipping and installation.  During installation, the tendency can be for the magnet to settle down, especially on vertical runs.  I've had some that were so prone to this that the only work-around was to remove the door and lay it down flat so that I could install the gasket without shifting the magnet.  On a properly made gasket (and I used to make custom gaskets for commercial refrigeration units), the magnet should be pretty close to the installed dimension, with maybe 1/4" to 1/2" of play on either end.  You may be alright if you can get the magnet to split the difference between the top and bottom corners.

[cloemker]

Right now the magnet is 1 1/4" from the top, and all the way to the bottom.  What's the best method to shift the magnet so it will stay in place (before having to remove the door and try that)?

CL

[AccApp]

I was talking about a magnet behind the cabinet, not the one in the gasket. You can always slice open the new gasket and insert a splint of magnet from the old gasket.

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

[user=9503]AccApp[/user] wrote:

I was talking about a magnet behind the cabinet, not the one in the gasket. You can always slice open the new gasket and insert a splint of magnet from the old gasket.

Good call, AccApp!