Freezer was icing up on the inside door panel. Called Service Care to determine why. Tech came out and determined that door gasket was faulty and would need to be replaced for $330 [est.], which was out of line for a $575 refrigerator. He "adjusted" one corner of gasket which he said was out of place and collected $85 for the service call. On my own I decided to switch over to the refrigerator function from freezer which required turning off the unit to warm up before switching over to refrigerator. As the unit warmed up it began dripping water from the door panel. Placing a catch bucket under the door panel to catch the persistent dripping, it dripped for about 24 hours before finally stopping and required emptying the catch bucket several times. When switch over to the refrigerator function the unit operated correctly at 34 degrees. Conclusion is that ice had built up in the door panel which misshaped the door alignment from closing tightly. When ice defrosted the door alignment was correct. No new gasket was required at all. Why ice built up in the door panel is not known but the unit continues to operate correctly in refrigerator mode months later with no condensation evident on the door panel. A second unit has been switched over to freezer mode now leaving the this unit in refrigerator mode.
RESPONSE FROM Service Care Inc:
We were contacted for service, and based on what the customer described (icing up in door panel) we had a complaint of "DOOR SEAL LETTING MOISTURE IN". -- This is a common issue, and the number one reason (other than a defrosting issue) for icing in the unit. -- We stand by this diagnosis the door is not sealing well. It may be working now because it's in "Refrigerator mode", but that means this is no longer operating as a freezer. It's a cooler, not a freezer. There's no longer any icing in the unit, not because it has no problems with the seal, but because it's no longer freezing. -- If the seal is not right, then this unit may cool, but it is going to waste a lot of energy doing it.
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