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Care And Maintenance Of Door Gaskets
(OLD Parts Town Support video)
Full transcript for this video is below:“Hi there. My name is Joe and I’m with Parts Town tech support. Today we’re going to go over maintenance and changing of your door gaskets.
Cleaning regularly helps maintain your gasket and ensure a long life.“If your gaskets are torn and they’re past the point of being cleaned, Parts Town sells OEM replacement parts for most manufacturers. You can buy your gasket and change it out pretty easily. Most of them are push-in or screw-in. Just give us a call and we’ll help you out.”
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17 Replies
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Thank you.
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One rumor I’ve heard is
“Gaskets should be replaced every year” somehow the chefs in my kitchen got that idea and they can’t find anything to back it up and neither can I but I’m just wondering if that is in fact, a rule or something like that?
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If it is still in good shape after a year of use I would keep it installed. I check mine quarterly and replace as needed along with any time I am working on a piece of equipment to give them a visual inspection. My clients are very rough on their equipment and rarely does a gasket last over two quarters without a tear, sag, or rip.
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Olivero, That comes from the old foam filled compression gaskets we used to have before the magnetic vinyl ones used today. Think of the old cooler wood doors and staples or tacks, rubberized clothe and a foam rubber core. We used to carry rolls on the truck it was so often you changed them.
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I should also add that if you have a customer that is tearing gaskets, The door was not properly designed for the application. Look for manufacturers that step the inner panel to recess the gasket to protect it from carts parked to hold the door open and boxes being loaded in and out hitting it. It cost a lot less to make the door flat than stepping the inner panel. You get what you pay for.
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Interesting, good to know though. Now I can debunk that myth finally.
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Isn’t there some product that can be used to fix a small tear instead of having to replace the entire gasket? People close the door and forget something, and instead of waiting, they immediately yank on the door again to try and force it open which ends up tearing the gasket. That’s the #1 cause of tears.
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Most tear’s are during loading. Often one will set a case on the bottom edge, open it and place contents inside the case. As they are doing this they constantly hit the door. Most good boxes have a door open lock for loading, But few people use them. I quess they like it constantly banging them.
There is a liquid vinyl repair available, Used a lot on vinyl furniture. But I’ve never used it. Nor have I seen it used for gaskets. But it does seem that if it will hold up on a seat cushion, it should work. Let us know if you try it.
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If you work in an establishment, the chef’s want them replaced all the time so they don’t have to clean them. And why not? It comes out of someone else’s budget. Our health inspectors can write them up for food encrusted gaskets. I remember running service and those restaurants take care of door gaskets because they pay for them. I’m embarrassed to admit, but I source black gaskets to hide the fact that no one cleans them properly. We’ve even caught chef’s cutting gaskets so we have to replace them, instead of taking a soapy rag and wiping it.
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That’s sad. A bucket of soap water and a towel is easy to clean them. They are made for cleaning. And if it’s done often, very easy. And I’ve seen some that the replacement cost is over $500.
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We had the same stuff happen where I work. We put a stop to that (the cutting of gaskets) by reporting it to our Engineering management. We also started writing install dates on each gasket as we put them on. That helped ALLOT.
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Due to the sheer number of refrigerated equipment doors/drawers we have on property (over 600) and the MANY variations of gaskets specific to each unit (around SIXTY), we had to just order & stock OEM to keep it simple.
Very few manufacturers out there provide black gaskets and custom ordering sixty different types wouldn’t be practical.
That’s a great idea though.
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Oops
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The problem is that many state heath departments require Gray or white gaskets. That’s why black is rare today.
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The places that I saw the most gasket damage was to reach-in freezers. They tend to load cases and not want to take the time to lock the door open or the door locks don’t work or exist. All vending reach-ins have load locks. But not all solid storage versions. Like some used on lines.
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I would flip out if I saw someone cutting gaskets instead of cleaning them.
Lucky for me, the chefs and kitchen staff on my site have good standards. Was just working on a ice machine today and someone that was working with me that usually doesn’t, mentioned it doesn’t even smell like a kitchen.
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