On Monday, July 11, 2016 at 8:33:15 AM UTC-4, wrote:
We have a GE Profile Model PSHS6RGXCDSS and I think the freezer door gasket needs to be replaced.

A few days ago I noticed all the ice pops were mushy so I looked at the temperature and the freezer was up to 19 degrees F. I took all the food out and coincidentally we had a power outage and the freezer made it back down to 6 degrees F so I reloaded it and it went back up to 11 degrees and overnight it managed to get back down to 0 degrees. I thought we were back in business.

I should mention that about a week ago someone left the freezer door open all night and there was lots of frost all over everything and I did read that the coils can become a block of ice when this happens and it might need a manual defrost.

Now I am noticing that during the day it goes back up to 6 degrees F and I am still seeing some mushy ice pops. In the morning it was at 0 degrees but it is already up to 4 degrees now at 8:30 a.m. I was opening the door a lot earlier looking at the gasket but it should be able to get back down to 0 and it is not able to do this until it has the entire night to work.

I noticed that the freezer door bounces open a bit when I close the fridge. It is also noticeably easier to open the door than the fridge side. So I am thinking that our problems are due to a weak gasket. It definitely does not have a strong pull anymore.

I realize it could also be a defrost timer or some other problem.

Does this sound like a weak gasket problem?

The part is only $65 but after reading a few posts it seems like a job that would be better left to a repairman with experience. Probably about a $300 repair. Around here they charge $95 just to show up.

Thanks for any advice on this problem.

Steve

You mentioned the "defrost cycle". I would not be concerned with a
4-6° temperature rise during the defrost cycle. The correct way to
check/monitor the freezer temp is to put a thermometer in a liquid
that won't freeze, such as vodka, and monitor that. If the change
in the liquid's temperature doesn't vary as much as the air temperature,
then it is not staying at the higher temp for long enough for it to
be an issue. I've done this monitoring with an indoor-outdoor
thermometer of the style where you hang a probe out of the window:

http://www.sears.com/extech-big-digi...p-03416322000P

Put the probe in the liquid and you're good to go.

You said: "it might need a manual defrost"

Have you done this? I sure would. It's free! In case there is a lot of ice
built up, I'd suggest a few towels under the unit to catch the water.

Once this is done, if you still suspect the freezer door seal, you could
securely tape or strap the freezer closed and then monitor the temp with
the probe and see what you can determine.

I have also used an indoor-outdoor thermometer with the transmitter
that records the min-max temps so I can see what happening at various
times. In my case that only monitored the air temp.

I sure wouldn't pay anyone $300 to replace a door gasket. You can find
a repair video here. The skill is listed as 1 out of 4 wrenches - Beginner.

http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDeta...X10156/1092496

While the part might be a little more expensive from that site than others,
I would do the right thing: If the video saves you a $300 service call,
spend the extra $12 and buy the part from them. I've used the videos and
troubleshooting procedures found at repairclinic.com numerous times. I
gladly pay a little extra for parts in order to keep the information
available for free. It is not free for them to produce the "help" and I
don't mind supporting their efforts.