Samsung Fridge Door Seals and Gaskets
How to tell when a Samsung fridge door seal needs replacing, how to test it with the paper trick, and how to fit a new gasket correctly.
The door seal (or gasket) is the flexible magnetic strip running around the inside edge of each door. It keeps cold air in and warm, moist air out. A worn seal makes the compressor run longer to hold temperature, pushes up your electricity bill and causes frost build-up in No Frost freezers that should never see ice.
Seals harden and crack with age, and the corners are usually the first place to fail. Splits, permanent kinks, mould that will not clean off, or a seal that no longer springs back into shape are all signs it needs replacing.
Find a UK Parts RetailerThe paper test
Close the door on a strip of paper so half sticks out, then pull it. You should feel firm resistance; if the paper slides out easily, the seal is not gripping at that point. Repeat around the full perimeter of the door, especially the corners. If the paper pulls free anywhere, warm air is leaking in at that spot.
Before ordering a new seal, try cleaning the old one with warm soapy water and drying it thoroughly. Grease and grime stop the magnet seating properly, and a clean often restores a seal that seemed to have failed. A hairdryer on a low setting can also relax minor kinks back into shape.
Getting the right seal
Seals are specific to the model and to the door (fridge and freezer doors take different sizes, and left and right doors on side-by-side models can differ too). Order using your full model number from the label inside the fridge compartment, and specify which door the seal is for. Genuine seals come pre-formed to the correct profile; generic cut-to-size seals rarely seal as well on modern cabinets.
Fitting a replacement
On most Samsung models the seal pulls out of a channel in the door liner and the new one presses in, starting at the corners and working along each edge. No screws are involved on current models. New seals arrive folded, so lay the seal in warm water for a few minutes or warm it gently with a hairdryer first; this softens the rubber and helps it seat without waves. Expect the door to feel slightly stiff for a few days while the new seal beds in.