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Old 07-11-2018, 02:39 AM   #1
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RM8551 Door Seal Issue

A couple of trips ago we had our "door not closed" beeper start going off. We had typically been putting the door latch into the disabled "don't need to press the button to open the door" position when staying at a location for a couple of days or more - it just locks the latch claw into the "up" position so the magnetic door seal sticks to the metal frame around the fridge opening and the latch itself isn't doing any mechanical latching.

Anyhow, if we enabled the latch to actually latch, the beeping would stop and the inside light would go out as expected, but if not actually latched then the inside light would stay on and we would get the beep. It appears that when the latch is enabled, the latch claw hits a switch and that turns off the light and the beeper regardless of whether the door is really sealed or not (pic 1 shows location of the switch). And apparently there is a magnetic reed switch that senses the proximity of the magnetic door seal and defeats the inside light and beeper. What I found is that we have a uniform ~ 1/16" gap running all the way around the door seal, and this gap is keeping the reed switch from "seeing" the door seal. What I don't understand is the 1/16" gap which seems to have appeared out of nowhere. I put a piece of 1/16" shim stock between the door seal and the metal frame around the fridge opening, and could run it around the whole perimeter and could feel uniform resistance. It's like the entire door is evenly displaced away from the fridge opening. I know that it's not a hinge adjustment of some sort, since the latch edge of the door has the same gap, and I can't believe that the hinge(s) and latch happened to simultaneously adjust themselves and maintain the uniform gap. The gap is wide enough that the magnetic door seal is too far away to be attracted to the metal frame around the fridge opening, and even with the latch enabled we still have the 1/16" gap - so says the flashlight inside the fridge (pic 2 looking down the latch edge of the door). I don't particularly care about the inside light and beeper - that can be "fixed" by enabling the latch - but we're obviously loosing all sorts of cold air through the gap.

I see all sorts of magnetic "tape" on Amazon, 1" wide by 2 mm thick (.0787", just a bit over my 1/16" (.0625") with adhesive on one side), which should pretty much fill the gap when stuck to the metal frame around the fridge opening, and hopefully cause the door seal to actually seal.

Has anyone else run into this? Or am I, as usual, the only lucky one?

I have seen plenty of posts regarding fans, thermistors, etc, but this is simply a mechanical door seal problem. Our fridge (thankfully enough) seems to keep everything cool even when the ambient temps are high, but this gap certainly isn't helping matters, and this really ups the duty cycle of the fridge unit.
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Old 07-11-2018, 04:24 AM   #2
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If I recall, that away latch is for storage use, otherwise if in use it should be disabled/bypassed.
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Old 07-11-2018, 07:29 AM   #3
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Hi: Great Eggstrications... When out camping I check our fridge door frequently for condensation. It's a tell tale sign of air leakage. Usually it's only in a spot or two. The fridge magnetic seal is quite weak. Our latch hook tension spring broke last trip and I'm currently waiting for a new door latch assy. from Dometic. Cost a C note + inst. Looks to me like the entire door has to be taken apart to line it up with the connecting rod inside the door. SHEESH!!! Alf
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Old 07-11-2018, 01:24 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 View Post
If I recall, that away latch is for storage use, otherwise if in use it should be disabled/bypassed.
You remember correctly.
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Old 07-12-2018, 04:20 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 View Post
If I recall, that away latch is for storage use, otherwise if in use it should be disabled/bypassed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seef View Post
You remember correctly.
I know what you guys are talking about - I use that to keep the door open slightly while in storage. The latch assembly slides out from the fridge and when it's latched (but not sealed) you get a 3/4" gap so air can circulate. Pics 1 and 2.

What I'm talking about is the ability to lock the latch claw in the "up" position so it doesn't engage the latch assembly inside the fridge at all. if you slide up on the tab just below the claw, it locks it up so you don't have to keep pushing the latch release button every time you want to open the door. Sideways pics 3 and 4. Pretty clearly the intent is that the magnetic seal material will be grabbed by the metal frame around that fridge opening thereby sealing the fridge. The problem is that I have a 1/16" gap running all the way around the door seal - whether the latch is actually engaged or not.

I ordered a roll of magnetic "tape" from Amazon and will stick it to the metal frame around the perimeter of the fridge opening. Hopefully the 2 mm thickness will be close enough to the door seal that it will make a magnetic connection and I'll get a good seal.
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Old 07-12-2018, 05:00 PM   #6
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Yes, the procedure is coming back and yes I remember disabling that latch several times, but the magnetic catch was opening properly on mine.
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