I fixed my freezer with vaseline

shanie5

Wed, Jul 11 2018, 7:32 pm

I have a 40+ year old upright freezer. The gasket (rubber rim that helps seal in the cold) was not good. My freezer was making snow. There was a gap at the bottom of the freezer allowing warm air in, which would freeze into snow. I was watching you tube videos on how to change the gasket, but you need to buy the gasket made for your model freezer-not gonna find one for such an old appliance.

While watching you tube, I saw a 'hack' video. This guy said to put vaseline around the edges of the door and freezer where it should close. SO I figured "why not? better than having to buy a new one". I slathered the vaseline where the gap was-and my freezer is staying sealed shut! It even has that extra tug needed to open a freezer. (before, when I opened it, I kept thinking it hadn't been shut properly).

I defrosted all the snow (and ice), put everything back in, and it's working perfectly! I am keeping the vaseline nearby in case it needs to be reapplied at some point, but it's been over a week now and staying sealed.

Anybody else have crazy fixes like this? (Not just for freezers, but anything broken around the house).

amother

Hotpink

Wed, Jul 11 2018, 8:02 pm

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing.

When I moved in to this apartment, I inherited the fridge from the previous tenant. I couldn't afford to buy a new one.
The freezer didn't work properly, in that every now and then the food would spontaneously defrost.
The fridge always made rattling noises, it drove us crazy. It sounded like mice scratching inside the fridge.

A few months ago we cleaned out the freezer and look and behold, we noticed the temperature was set to low!
We immediately switched the setting to high and we've never again heard the sounds of mice scratching....
And our food remains frozen in the freezer.

amother

Papaya

Wed, Jul 11 2018, 8:14 pm

Never done anything so out of the box. But I have used YouTube to replace a laptop screen, hang a new light fixture. Snake out the drain etc.
My freezer also has issues. I never thought of using YouTube for a fix but will try that later thanks for the tip!

amother

Powderblue

Thu, Jul 12 2018, 11:20 am

I was finding lots of water in my fridge. Saw on you Tube to defrost and clean the drain pipe. Emptied the freezer and ran a blowdryer against the back of the fridge and bottom of the drain pipe until it started dripping.
Haven't seen any more water.
I tend to fix a lot of things based on you tube videos.
And buy a lot of cheap parts on ebay.

Chayalle

Thu, Jul 12 2018, 11:31 am

Nothing so out of the box for me either. But I have cleaned out my own clogged bathroom sink drain....replaced the flappers ($6.33 each on Amazon) in the toilets in two bathrooms (now you don't have to hold down the flusher and count to 4 in order to flush)...cleaned out the drain in the shower (it was a wierd type and I couldn't figure out how to unscrew it at first) so the water goes down.....and DD unscrewed and fixed the pedals on our piano, which were sagging and not working properly....all thanks to YOUTUBE.

Oh, and DD taught herself to play the guitar with YOUTUBE lessons, free of charge.

When my sister and BIL moved into their house, the washing machine was broken. BIL unscrewed it, removed a ragged looking part, found it online, ordered a replacement, and now has a working washing machine.

amother

Ecru

Thu, Jul 12 2018, 4:22 pm

When the pilot light on my water heater went out, I was nervous about lighting it myself because risk of explosion so I watched a youtube clip to see how.

Also used youtube to figure out how to regrout my bathtub and for really minor car stuff, like checking the oil.