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Quality of refrigerator gaskets

Fridge-seal


Where can I buy a good quality fridge gasket? Fridge gaskets produced in the EU or US are generally the best choice when it comes to quality. The lifespan of a fridge gasket is closely related to the intensity of use and how it is maintained. Other factors of importance are:

- quality of the soft PVC compound
- extrusion quality
- quality of magnet
- machinery used for welding the seal corners

DSU has decades of experience for selecting the best quality PVC compound for its products. Besides this we make use of unique propriety machinery and techniques to provide our customers fridge seals of equal or better quality than the OEM alternative.

Quality of the PVC profiles

All fridge gaskets produced by DSU meet the highest quality standards. All compounds used meet the European legislation of directive 2011/65/EU or RoHS 2. (read full version of directive)

In 2003 the first European directive 2002/EG (RoHS) for limiting the use of hazardous substances in electronic equipment came into force. These requirements have been further tightened in 2011 in the Directive 2011/65/EU, which was declared applicable as of January 3rd 2014. This new directive additionally complements the specific legislation, such as described in Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 regarding Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restrictions of Chemicals (abbreviation REACH).  This further limits the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment for the protection of public health and the environment. The directive encourages substitution by substances with less or no restrictions toward the restriction policy.

More information about the quality of the PVC profiles

Michel-productie

Often engineers refer to the longer life-span of fridge gaskets in the past. There is some truth to that. The permissible composition of PVC as raw material for refrigerator gaskets has been further restricted by European directive 2011/65/EU also referred to as RoHS 2. Due to these restrictions, the PVC has an increased sensibility to lipids (animal fats) that cause the gasket to become hard and inflexible. We advise customers to frequently clean fridge gaskets in order to maximize the life span.

Special composition PVC

Besides the standard profiles made of PVC, DSU also offers profiles in a different material composition. Each material has specific properties with regard to temperature range, ease of installation and service life.

  Standard Profiles Soft Profiles Extended Life Profiles
Material PVC Soft PVC TPE
Profile code -M, -A (195-M) -MS, -AS (195-MS) -ME, -AE (195-ME)
Temperature range -5 °C to +40 °C -20 °C to +40 °C -40 °C to +130 °C
Installation
Life span


Temperature range
The choice of material is partly determined by the temperature range of the application. The flexibility of a standard profile decreases rapidly as the temperature decreases. Profiles based on soft PVC or TPE are more flexible than standard PVC, even at low temperatures. The degree of flexibility of the material used also affects the service life. A brittle non-flexible seal is more likely to crack. In freezers, a heater tape is often installed so that the seal does not freeze and remains flexible and thus has a longer lifespan.

Installation
The degree of flexibility of the material is related to how easily and quickly seals can be installed on a door or drawer. When fitting seals made of PVC, it is often necessary to heat them to remove folds and creases caused by storage and transport.The highly flexible seals made of TPE deform to a lesser extent during transport and are quicker and easier to fit.

Life span
Maintaining seals is important from a hygiene point of view but certainly also for optimal life span. The effects of dirt, grease and/or (aggressive) cleaning agents cause seals made of PVC to dry out more quickly and, as a result, crack. 

Thanks to the material properties of TPE, Extended Life profiles are less sensitive to the effect of dirt, grease and/or (aggressive) cleaning agents and therefore have a longer lifespan. Seals made of TPE are always the best choice for equipment with a high intensity of use as well as for (blast) freezers, heated cabinets and climate cabinets.

Quality of the welded corners

At our production facility fridge gaskets are produced manually with high precision. It is important that profiles are connected in a 90-degree angle. The several “chambers” of the profile must also be precisely interconnected so the gasket is enabled to make an air tight connection when the fridge door or drawer is closed.

The chance of a manufacturing defect is reduced to an absolute minimum through our quality assurance system.

In our production process, all welding seams are checked for quality. In this regard we check:
-       Level of fusion of the material at the weld seam
-       Full connection of the entire profile, outside as well as inside

Magnet

There are many different sizes of magnetic strips. Besides this there is a difference in magnetic strength and polarization. More information on magnets.

The right profile and the right magnet combined make the optimal air-thigh closure of the refrigerator door or drawer.

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