Hi,
During a recent kitchen remodeling project, we had a sub-zero model
642 side-by-side installed. So far, it is everything we expected, but
I have an "Is this normal?" kind of question. Every time the freezer
door is opened and then closed, a vacuum is created by the warm air
contracting as it cools. The air that equalizes it enters through the
main seal around the door making a hissing noise for 15 to 30 seconds
during which time, the door can't be opened. I am impressed that the
freezer is sealed well enough to cause that to happen, but I would
think sub-zero would have added some sort of check valve to control it
rather than having it hiss at you for 30 seconds. The manual has a
"noises that are normal" section, but doesn't describe this. Is there
something that got blocked off during installation that I should open
up? The installers mumbled something about "That's to dehumidify the
moist air that entered the freezer while the door was open", but that
doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

One more detail. About 20% of the time, a gurgling sound is made in
addition to the air entering through the seal as though air was also
entering through the defroster drain line.

Thanks,
Pat

greenpjs wrote in
:

Hi,
During a recent kitchen remodeling project, we had a sub-zero model
642 side-by-side installed. So far, it is everything we expected, but
I have an "Is this normal?" kind of question. Every time the freezer
door is opened and then closed, a vacuum is created by the warm air
contracting as it cools. The air that equalizes it enters through the
main seal around the door making a hissing noise for 15 to 30 seconds
during which time, the door can't be opened. I am impressed that the
freezer is sealed well enough to cause that to happen, but I would
think sub-zero would have added some sort of check valve to control it
rather than having it hiss at you for 30 seconds. The manual has a
"noises that are normal" section, but doesn't describe this. Is there
something that got blocked off during installation that I should open
up? The installers mumbled something about "That's to dehumidify the
moist air that entered the freezer while the door was open", but that
doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

One more detail. About 20% of the time, a gurgling sound is made in
addition to the air entering through the seal as though air was also
entering through the defroster drain line.

Thanks,
Pat



It's "normal" for my modestly priced Frigidaire freezer to do this, as
was it for the Sears-branded freezer before it. Sounds like much ado
about nothing.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.

greenpjs wrote in
:

Hi,
During a recent kitchen remodeling project, we had a sub-zero model
642 side-by-side installed. So far, it is everything we expected, but
I have an "Is this normal?" kind of question. Every time the freezer
door is opened and then closed, a vacuum is created by the warm air
contracting as it cools. The air that equalizes it enters through the
main seal around the door making a hissing noise for 15 to 30 seconds
during which time, the door can't be opened. I am impressed that the
freezer is sealed well enough to cause that to happen, but I would
think sub-zero would have added some sort of check valve to control it
rather than having it hiss at you for 30 seconds. The manual has a
"noises that are normal" section, but doesn't describe this. Is there
something that got blocked off during installation that I should open
up? The installers mumbled something about "That's to dehumidify the
moist air that entered the freezer while the door was open", but that
doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

One more detail. About 20% of the time, a gurgling sound is made in
addition to the air entering through the seal as though air was also
entering through the defroster drain line.

Thanks,
Pat



It's "normal" for my modestly priced Frigidaire freezer to do this, as
was it for the Sears-branded freezer before it. Sounds like much ado
about nothing.

--
Wayne in Phoenix

If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.

greenpjs wrote:

During a recent kitchen remodeling project, we had a sub-zero model
642 side-by-side installed. So far, it is everything we expected, but
I have an "Is this normal?" kind of question. Every time the freezer

Not many of us here are SubZero dealers. What did the service department have
to say?

greenpjs wrote:

During a recent kitchen remodeling project, we had a sub-zero model
642 side-by-side installed. So far, it is everything we expected, but
I have an "Is this normal?" kind of question. Every time the freezer

Not many of us here are SubZero dealers. What did the service department have
to say?

I just installed a Sub-Zero 650 with freezer on the bottom and I don't
have the noise you describe.
So far I am delighted with it. Fresh food stays much fresher than
before and I don't have to kneel on the floor to find my salad greens
anymore.

I just installed a Sub-Zero 650 with freezer on the bottom and I don't
have the noise you describe.
So far I am delighted with it. Fresh food stays much fresher than
before and I don't have to kneel on the floor to find my salad greens
anymore.

Hey greenpjs,

The gurgle noise is indicative of the drain hose either deep into the drain
pan(check for moisture while your there) or there is enough slack in the
hose to cause trapped water like an S trap drain does. Is this the newer
energy model? or the older? Fastest way to tell is do you have the ABS
plastic gasket seat(newer) or painted steel?(older) The gasket seal sounds
good by your description, but the hard to open door can be minimized by
using a Bulk tape demagnetizer approximately 8" down from the top and 8" up
from the bottom on the gasket on the handle side only. Only about 4 to 6"
needs to be de-magged... and build up to an acceptable pull, don't just let
it sit there till the magnet is toast. S-Z door pull should be between 6 and
15 lbs. to open.

Luck,
Bulletsnbrains

"greenpjs" wrote in message
...
Hi,
During a recent kitchen remodeling project, we had a sub-zero model
642 side-by-side installed. So far, it is everything we expected, but
I have an "Is this normal?" kind of question. Every time the freezer
door is opened and then closed, a vacuum is created by the warm air
contracting as it cools. The air that equalizes it enters through the
main seal around the door making a hissing noise for 15 to 30 seconds
during which time, the door can't be opened. I am impressed that the
freezer is sealed well enough to cause that to happen, but I would
think sub-zero would have added some sort of check valve to control it
rather than having it hiss at you for 30 seconds. The manual has a
"noises that are normal" section, but doesn't describe this. Is there
something that got blocked off during installation that I should open
up? The installers mumbled something about "That's to dehumidify the
moist air that entered the freezer while the door was open", but that
doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

One more detail. About 20% of the time, a gurgling sound is made in
addition to the air entering through the seal as though air was also
entering through the defroster drain line.

Thanks,
Pat

Thanks for the reply. Your idea about the slack in the drain line is
interesting. I will look into that. Regarding the old and new model,
I would assume it's new since we just bought it recently, but I'm not
sure what part your are referring to that is either plastic or metal.
Opening the door is not a problem except right after closing it when
the air is being sucked in through the seal.

Pat


On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 02:53:00 GMT, "Bulletsnbrains"
wrote:

Hey greenpjs,

The gurgle noise is indicative of the drain hose either deep into the drain
pan(check for moisture while your there) or there is enough slack in the
hose to cause trapped water like an S trap drain does. Is this the newer
energy model? or the older? Fastest way to tell is do you have the ABS
plastic gasket seat(newer) or painted steel?(older) The gasket seal sounds
good by your description, but the hard to open door can be minimized by
using a Bulk tape demagnetizer approximately 8" down from the top and 8" up
from the bottom on the gasket on the handle side only. Only about 4 to 6"
needs to be de-magged... and build up to an acceptable pull, don't just let
it sit there till the magnet is toast. S-Z door pull should be between 6 and
15 lbs. to open.

Luck,
Bulletsnbrains

"greenpjs" wrote in message
.. .
Hi,
During a recent kitchen remodeling project, we had a sub-zero model
642 side-by-side installed. So far, it is everything we expected, but
I have an "Is this normal?" kind of question. Every time the freezer
door is opened and then closed, a vacuum is created by the warm air
contracting as it cools. The air that equalizes it enters through the
main seal around the door making a hissing noise for 15 to 30 seconds
during which time, the door can't be opened. I am impressed that the
freezer is sealed well enough to cause that to happen, but I would
think sub-zero would have added some sort of check valve to control it
rather than having it hiss at you for 30 seconds. The manual has a
"noises that are normal" section, but doesn't describe this. Is there
something that got blocked off during installation that I should open
up? The installers mumbled something about "That's to dehumidify the
moist air that entered the freezer while the door was open", but that
doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

One more detail. About 20% of the time, a gurgling sound is made in
addition to the air entering through the seal as though air was also
entering through the defroster drain line.

Thanks,
Pat

Thanks for the reply. Your idea about the slack in the drain line is
interesting. I will look into that. Regarding the old and new model,
I would assume it's new since we just bought it recently, but I'm not
sure what part your are referring to that is either plastic or metal.
Opening the door is not a problem except right after closing it when
the air is being sucked in through the seal.

Pat


On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 02:53:00 GMT, "Bulletsnbrains"
wrote:

Hey greenpjs,

The gurgle noise is indicative of the drain hose either deep into the drain
pan(check for moisture while your there) or there is enough slack in the
hose to cause trapped water like an S trap drain does. Is this the newer
energy model? or the older? Fastest way to tell is do you have the ABS
plastic gasket seat(newer) or painted steel?(older) The gasket seal sounds
good by your description, but the hard to open door can be minimized by
using a Bulk tape demagnetizer approximately 8" down from the top and 8" up
from the bottom on the gasket on the handle side only. Only about 4 to 6"
needs to be de-magged... and build up to an acceptable pull, don't just let
it sit there till the magnet is toast. S-Z door pull should be between 6 and
15 lbs. to open.

Luck,
Bulletsnbrains

"greenpjs" wrote in message
.. .
Hi,
During a recent kitchen remodeling project, we had a sub-zero model
642 side-by-side installed. So far, it is everything we expected, but
I have an "Is this normal?" kind of question. Every time the freezer
door is opened and then closed, a vacuum is created by the warm air
contracting as it cools. The air that equalizes it enters through the
main seal around the door making a hissing noise for 15 to 30 seconds
during which time, the door can't be opened. I am impressed that the
freezer is sealed well enough to cause that to happen, but I would
think sub-zero would have added some sort of check valve to control it
rather than having it hiss at you for 30 seconds. The manual has a
"noises that are normal" section, but doesn't describe this. Is there
something that got blocked off during installation that I should open
up? The installers mumbled something about "That's to dehumidify the
moist air that entered the freezer while the door was open", but that
doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

One more detail. About 20% of the time, a gurgling sound is made in
addition to the air entering through the seal as though air was also
entering through the defroster drain line.

Thanks,
Pat

Thanks for the reply. Your idea about the slack in the drain line is
interesting. I will look into that. Regarding the old and new model,
I would assume it's new since we just bought it recently, but I'm not
sure what part your are referring to that is either plastic or metal.
Opening the door is not a problem except right after closing it when
the air is being sucked in through the seal.

Pat


On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 02:53:00 GMT, "Bulletsnbrains"
wrote:

Hey greenpjs,

The gurgle noise is indicative of the drain hose either deep into the drain
pan(check for moisture while your there) or there is enough slack in the
hose to cause trapped water like an S trap drain does. Is this the newer
energy model? or the older? Fastest way to tell is do you have the ABS
plastic gasket seat(newer) or painted steel?(older) The gasket seal sounds
good by your description, but the hard to open door can be minimized by
using a Bulk tape demagnetizer approximately 8" down from the top and 8" up
from the bottom on the gasket on the handle side only. Only about 4 to 6"
needs to be de-magged... and build up to an acceptable pull, don't just let
it sit there till the magnet is toast. S-Z door pull should be between 6 and
15 lbs. to open.

Luck,
Bulletsnbrains

"greenpjs" wrote in message
.. .
Hi,
During a recent kitchen remodeling project, we had a sub-zero model
642 side-by-side installed. So far, it is everything we expected, but
I have an "Is this normal?" kind of question. Every time the freezer
door is opened and then closed, a vacuum is created by the warm air
contracting as it cools. The air that equalizes it enters through the
main seal around the door making a hissing noise for 15 to 30 seconds
during which time, the door can't be opened. I am impressed that the
freezer is sealed well enough to cause that to happen, but I would
think sub-zero would have added some sort of check valve to control it
rather than having it hiss at you for 30 seconds. The manual has a
"noises that are normal" section, but doesn't describe this. Is there
something that got blocked off during installation that I should open
up? The installers mumbled something about "That's to dehumidify the
moist air that entered the freezer while the door was open", but that
doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

One more detail. About 20% of the time, a gurgling sound is made in
addition to the air entering through the seal as though air was also
entering through the defroster drain line.

Thanks,
Pat

"greenpjs" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the reply. Your idea about the slack in the drain line is
interesting. I will look into that. Regarding the old and new model,
I would assume it's new since we just bought it recently, but I'm not
sure what part your are referring to that is either plastic or metal.
Opening the door is not a problem except right after closing it when
the air is being sucked in through the seal.

Pat



Hey Pat,

Sub Zero's newest models(to meet federal energy compliance standards) have
been in production for a couple of years now, but the older models had all
metal gasket seat. Meaning where the door gasket met the front of the refer
was metal, not PVC plastic as they are now. The gasket has a magnet in them
that meets the magnet behind the pvc fronts. The older model had a gasket
magnet that just stuck to the metal seat instead. Sorry for the history
lesson...

The older model cabinets had a really hard door pull because of the strength
of the magnet. S-Z de-mag'd the gaskets in certain areas to reduce the pull.
But the new energy models they don't de-mag, because of the artificial air
gap created by the PVC taking up the space. Installers/Service are
instructed to de-mag if customer complains about the pulls. I think that the
vacuum effect will reduce with de-magging the gasket as instructed before
and to check the drain line and pan to be sure no water is standing in the
way of air movement. Just a side thought, also check the drain line inside
the freezer to be sure that the drain line has no droop. It is located
behind the ice bucket against the back wall. You will need to pull out the
bucket and maybe a drawer or two to verify.

Let me know how it goes,
Brian

"greenpjs" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the reply. Your idea about the slack in the drain line is
interesting. I will look into that. Regarding the old and new model,
I would assume it's new since we just bought it recently, but I'm not
sure what part your are referring to that is either plastic or metal.
Opening the door is not a problem except right after closing it when
the air is being sucked in through the seal.

Pat



Hey Pat,

Sub Zero's newest models(to meet federal energy compliance standards) have
been in production for a couple of years now, but the older models had all
metal gasket seat. Meaning where the door gasket met the front of the refer
was metal, not PVC plastic as they are now. The gasket has a magnet in them
that meets the magnet behind the pvc fronts. The older model had a gasket
magnet that just stuck to the metal seat instead. Sorry for the history
lesson...

The older model cabinets had a really hard door pull because of the strength
of the magnet. S-Z de-mag'd the gaskets in certain areas to reduce the pull.
But the new energy models they don't de-mag, because of the artificial air
gap created by the PVC taking up the space. Installers/Service are
instructed to de-mag if customer complains about the pulls. I think that the
vacuum effect will reduce with de-magging the gasket as instructed before
and to check the drain line and pan to be sure no water is standing in the
way of air movement. Just a side thought, also check the drain line inside
the freezer to be sure that the drain line has no droop. It is located
behind the ice bucket against the back wall. You will need to pull out the
bucket and maybe a drawer or two to verify.

Let me know how it goes,
Brian