Custom-made door gaskets are most commonly used in commercial refrigeration for two main reasons: 

  1. Older refrigeration units

  2. Custom-fabricated refrigeration units

Business owners often have refrigerators or freezers they bought many years ago and now discover that they’ve been discontinued, leaving them nowhere to buy the replacement gaskets/parts they need for their doors. They also invest in customized units with unique gasket profiles that standard gaskets can’t fit.

In this beginner’s guide, we’ll discuss the basics of custom door gaskets, why they’re made, and how they support your commercial refrigeration needs. 

 

Custom Gaskets 101: Understanding Their Role in Commercial Refrigeration & Why They’re Made

If you don’t know, commercial refrigeration gaskets play a crucial role in your door’s structure and overall functionality. They’re flexible, elastic strips that attach to the outer edges of your appliance doors to form an air-tight seal. They prevent warm external air from seeping in while maintaining cool internal temperatures from leaking out. 

Gaskets help protect your temperature-controlled commodities from being compromised by securing your refrigeration's doors shut while allowing flexibility to open and close smoothly. By sealing your door, they also reduce energy consumption and wear and tear on your refrigeration system.

On the other hand, custom door gaskets are, as the name suggests, made to custom, non-production sizes to fit particular refrigeration doors. They're equal to production gaskets in quality since they're manufactured using the same process and gasket materials. The only difference is that they aren’t mass-produced and are made-to-order. 

Below, we detail why various industries utilize custom door gaskets instead of stock gaskets for their commercial refrigeration needs.

Old, Discontinued Refrigeration Units

If your commercial refrigerator, freezer, or walk-in cooler is over 15 years old, there’s a chance you may find the appliance or its parts have been discontinued. OEMs may have released a new version of the unit you have or stopped producing specific products for the unit you have. 

Even though a refrigeration unit is aged, many business owners are satisfied with it and don’t want to invest in a new one when they have cost-effective solutions by replacing their gaskets as needed. 

This is where custom gaskets come in. A fabricator, like Breakaway Enterprises, will cut a gasket profile according to your appliance’s dimensions and ensure it securely fits your doors. That way, no matter how old your refrigeration units are, you can still access compatible replacement gaskets if OEMs no longer offer them.

Custom-Fabricated Refrigeration Units

Businesses with specialty fabricated refrigeration units typically use custom-made gaskets. Medical-grade refrigerators storing pharmaceutical drugs or oversized walk-in coolers at grocery stores often have customized gaskets to fit their distinctive specs.

While standard gaskets are available, they usually don’t have retrofitting options for custom-made appliances since they’re designed for the general refrigeration market. If you buy incompatible gaskets, they won’t seal your doors properly and can pose several risks to your business.

Heat leakage can occur, causing commodity spoilage and increased energy costs because the stock gasket you purchased isn’t molded to your unique unit. Although you can utilize standard gaskets as a functional replacement, it’s rare to find ones with specialized profiles perfectly sized for custom commercial refrigeration appliances. 

 

Seal Your Refrigeration Doors Properly with Custom-Made Gaskets from Breakaway Enterprises

Breakaway Enterprises is a distributor and manufacturer of standard and custom commercial refrigeration gaskets. We can cut gaskets of all shapes and sizes to fit any door, model, and equipment for diverse industries. 

We also have a vast inventory of stock gaskets with popular OEM brands like Hussman, True, Traulsen, Silver King, and more. Whether you have a refrigerator, freezer, or walk-in cooler, we can mold door gaskets to meet your needs. 

Order custom door gaskets or contact us for help deciding if they’re best for your commercial refrigeration today! 

 

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an image displaying the funny motto 'shut the fridge up' used by Breakaway Enterprises