The short answer
A lid or door that does not seal on a Cool Living freezer costs you temperature and gives you frost, and on this class of cabinet the usual cause is a gasket that has stiffened or a lid that is being held off its seat by the contents. Both are owner-fixable. A gasket that has torn is a part, but not a difficult one.
What you are actually seeing
- Frost builds up quickly and always in the same area of the cabinet — Means: on-page
- The lid or door does not pull itself closed over the last part of its travel — Means: on-page
- A visible gap, or a paper slid through the closed seal pulls out freely — Means: on-page
- Condensation or ice forming on the outside of the cabinet near the seal — Means: on-page
- The cabinet runs far more than it used to with no other change — Means: on-page
- Frost everywhere and evenly, with the seal proven good — Means: different-fault — Go to: cool-living-freezer-cooling-failure
- Water on the floor rather than frost at the seal — Means: different-fault — Go to: cool-living-freezer-water-leak
- Body: Match what you see before you move anything. Frost builds up quickly and always in the same area of the cabinet. The lid or door does not pull itself closed over the last part of its travel. A visible gap, or a paper slid through the closed seal pulls out freely. Condensation or ice forming on the outside of the cabinet near the seal. The cabinet runs far more than it used to with no other change. Some near-miss symptoms belong on a different page: Frost everywhere and evenly, with the seal proven good points at a manual-defrost interval rather than a seal fault, covered on cool-living-freezer-cooling-failure; Water on the floor rather than frost at the seal points at the meltwater path, covered on cool-living-freezer-water-leak.
Causes, ranked for this machine
- Contents or a basket holding the lid or door fractionally open — Why this rank: First because it is invisible from the front and because a chest cabinet is normally loaded to the brim
- A gasket that has stiffened with cold and age and no longer springs back — Why this rank: Budget cabinets in unheated spaces harden their gaskets faster than a kitchen appliance does
- The cabinet is not level, so an upright door swings open or a chest lid sits crooked — Why this rank: Levelling controls whether the door helps or fights the seal
- Ice built up under the gasket holding it off the cabinet face — Why this rank: The seal fault and the frost fault feed each other, which is why this belongs in the middle
- A torn, split or detached gasket, or a sprung hinge — Why this rank: Last because it needs a part, and the four above it are free to check
- Body: Ranked for a budget standalone freezer with a mechanical thermostat and manual defrost, usually living in a garage or a basement. Most likely: Contents or a basket holding the lid or door fractionally open. First because it is invisible from the front and because a chest cabinet is normally loaded to the brim. Next most likely: A gasket that has stiffened with cold and age and no longer springs back. Budget cabinets in unheated spaces harden their gaskets faster than a kitchen appliance does. Third: The cabinet is not level, so an upright door swings open or a chest lid sits crooked. Levelling controls whether the door helps or fights the seal. Fourth: Ice built up under the gasket holding it off the cabinet face. The seal fault and the frost fault feed each other, which is why this belongs in the middle. Fifth: A torn, split or detached gasket, or a sprung hinge. Last because it needs a part, and the four above it are free to check.
What to check, in order
- Close the lid on a strip of paper at several points around the seal and try to pull it out
- Look along the whole seal line for a basket, a bag or a box holding it open
- Check that the cabinet is level and that the lid or door falls to the closed position
- Feel the gasket for stiffness and for ice trapped in its folds
- Body: Each check rules out the causes above it. First, close the lid on a strip of paper at several points around the seal and try to pull it out. Second, look along the whole seal line for a basket, a bag or a box holding it open. Third, check that the cabinet is level and that the lid or door falls to the closed position. Fourth, feel the gasket for stiffness and for ice trapped in its folds.
Checks you can safely make yourself
- Close the lid onto a strip of paper at four points around the perimeter and try to pull each one out: it should drag — Tools: paper strip — Time estimate: a few minutes
- Open the cabinet and look along the whole rim for a basket, a bag or a frozen item standing proud of the seal line — Tools: torch — Time estimate: a few minutes
- Rock the cabinet to check it is level, then shim or adjust the feet until the lid or door sits square — Tools: shims or a spanner — Time estimate: a quarter of an hour
- Wipe the gasket and its channel clean with warm water and dry it, clearing any ice trapped in the folds — Tools: cloth, warm water — Time estimate: a quarter of an hour
- Run a finger along the whole gasket looking for a split, a flattened section or a place where it has come out of its groove — Tools: none — Time estimate: a few minutes
- Body: Checks an owner can make with the freezer unplugged or simply observed. Step one: Close the lid onto a strip of paper at four points around the perimeter and try to pull each one out: it should drag. Tools: paper strip. Time: a few minutes. Step two: Open the cabinet and look along the whole rim for a basket, a bag or a frozen item standing proud of the seal line. Tools: torch. Time: a few minutes. Step three: Rock the cabinet to check it is level, then shim or adjust the feet until the lid or door sits square. Tools: shims or a spanner. Time: a quarter of an hour. Step four: Wipe the gasket and its channel clean with warm water and dry it, clearing any ice trapped in the folds. Tools: cloth, warm water. Time: a quarter of an hour. Step five: Run a finger along the whole gasket looking for a split, a flattened section or a place where it has come out of its groove. Tools: none. Time: a few minutes.
Safety first
Safety
Unplug the cabinet before working on a gasket or moving it, and never use a hot air gun or boiling water on a gasket or on ice near the cabinet wall. A freezer holds food safely at 0 °F (−18 °C) or below. Unplug the appliance or switch off its breaker before removing any panel. A capacitor can hold a charge after the power is off. freezer-0f unplug-before-service
Where the owner fix ends
Call a technician when the paper test drags all the way round, nothing is holding the lid open, the cabinet is level and the gasket is clean and supple, and the cabinet still frosts unevenly or runs constantly. At that point the seal is doing its job and the fault is elsewhere in the cabinet.
Nearest pages of the same kind
Generalized information
This page is generalized across the Cool Living freezer line. Chest and upright cabinets, manual-defrost and frost-free variants share the ranking above but not every part, and this page does not cover a specific model or thermostat revision. Family- and model-specific pages, where they exist, are linked below.
Links: - [Common Cool Living Freezer Problems](/blog/cool-living-freezer-problems) - [Cool Living Freezer: Abnormal Noise or Vibration](/blog/cool-living-freezer-abnormal-noise) - [Cool Living Freezer: Controls, Display or Error Code](/blog/cool-living-freezer-control-fault) - [Cool Living Freezer: Not Cooling or Not Freezing](/blog/cool-living-freezer-cooling-failure)
Lead Appliance Repair Technician · 12 years experience
Experienced technician with 12 years specializing in washing machine and dryer repairs across all major brands.
