Refrigerator door with rust bleeding through needs painting

A. Hi Sheila. Your question is very welcome here, of course, but don't hold your breath waiting for an answer because the focus of the site is metal finishing ... and that is my area of expertise and of most of the readers we attract.

Your question is probably better answerable by real estate lawyers, consumer advocates, or refrigerator repair services. But I would say that modern refrigerators are generally reasonably quiet, reasonably energy efficient, and should never require cleaning up of orange goo :-)

Luck & Regards,

Thank you so much for your answer Mr. Mooney! :)

A. I almost hate to suggest the possibility, but the utility may have changed the switch position to make the fridge test so well for energy efficiency, which may be what caused it to suddenly rust. As you probably know, condensation forms on cold surfaces. To keep it from forming on the outside of a refrigerator, there are small heating coils in the door and sides that keep the outside a little warm. If you turn them off you save electricity but you open the chance for condensation and rust.

You should probably treat the rusty areas with Naval Jelly.
before painting, and keep the switch off of the energy-saver position.

A. Hi, Simone.

You may be able to get an owner's manual for your refrigerator right on line. Appliances are different and the reason the previous writer had to move his switch to the right was that the off position was to the left. Some refrigerators will be different, and some will not even have a switch (the heating coil is always on). If the unit isn't plugged in except in the summer, the coils will not be functioning the rest of the year anyway.

Regards,

Q. I've spent hours taking off the rust with C-L-R, Mister Clean Magic Sponge, mildew spray and every other type bleach I can think of. It does go away, only to reappear the following day. is there any way to keep the rust/mildew off for good? if I paint the fridge will it come thru that too?
Thanks for responding. Simone

A. Hi, Simone.

Unfortunately, bleach causes rapid rusting. Don't use any cleaner that contains bleach on the outside of your fridge. Try to neutralize by washing with a solution of baking soda [on eBay or Amazon] (sodium bicarbonate), then apply car wax [on eBay or Amazon] . Wax doesn't last long, but is better than nothing. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi Ann. If rust is showing through, use the naval jelly on those areas first. Then spray with appliance paint.

Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi Lynn. First off, see if there is an energy saver switch to turn anti-condensation heaters on and off. If there is, turn them on to minimize the on-going corrosion. If you can't paint it, consider brushing on the naval jelly, and then a single component clearcoat, or at least paste wax. Good luck.

adv.: Everbrite [a finishing.com supporting advertiser] clear protective coating.

Regards,

A. I Have two upright freezers which the door rusted from the back side. Both had the same problem. When I shut down the freezer after an hour water started to run out of the bottom of the door. There no Ice maker and no connection for water to the unit, a Kenmore about 12 years old. Door gasket and inside in good condition. When I removed the door from the freezer and removed the inside shelf unit I found the fiberglass mat saturated with water and frozen solid. I removed the fiberglass insulation. Then painted the door, inside and out, with a rusty metal primer and refinished the front in white. I then replaced the fiberglass with a sheet of foam sealing the edges with spray foam and reassembled the door. In both cases the lock had been pried out of the door leaving a 3/4 inch hole which I believe let moist air into the door where it condensed and froze. Repair took about 10 hours spread over 10 days.

A. In order for the finish to last, the rust needs to be removed to bare steel or treated to chemically neutralize. If the rust is so heavy that sanding it would go through the top, it is probably not worth refinishing in any way that would last.

If the base metal is sound, try the following steps:

1) Remove as much loose rust as you can
2) Treat with Phosphoric acid, available in the forms of Naval Jelly, Rustoleum rust converter [on eBay or Amazon] , etc. This will stabilize the rust.
3) Paint with Rustoleum Rusty Metal primer
4) Finish with the appliance epoxy

You may want to see if your panel is rusting from the inside and through the metal. if it is, no outside surface treatment will stop the rust.

Hi Bob. I find your question a bit vague. If you are asking whether magnetism per se leads to rusting, I'd say no; in fact the refrigerator already has magnets in its electric motor and maybe elsewhere.

But if there's a round or square discoloration where a magnet would likely have been used, which could have chipped the paint, worn it away, or under which moisture was retained I suppose it could contribute to rusting there especially if it was a very strong neodymium magnet.

Regards,