How to Stop a Refrigerator Door From Swinging Open
Without a supporting latch, refrigerator doors can open while the appliance is moving. This is especially true of older models that lack door-latch hardware and rely on gravity to hold the door shut when not in use. Replacing an old refrigerator with a new model or adding a door catch can help prevent accidents from opening doors in transit. The potential for injury increases when it’s summertime, and someone accidentally leaves the refrigerator running because it’s packed full of food. For this reason, make sure there isn’t anything inside before you close the door behind you after loading your groceries into it at home or in an RV. Today I am going to discuss a technique on how to stop a refrigerator door from swinging open.
Step-Wise Guide on How to Stop a Refrigerator Door From Swinging Open
Align the Door Close Hinges
The bottom hinge needs to be aligned with the refrigerator doorstop. The upper hinge should properly align with a wooden board positioned along the upper edge of the fridge door. The doorknob is then positioned in front of the bottom hinge, and similarly, another wooden board can be placed across it to ensure proper alignment. The job is done well when you hear a click sound indicating that both hinges are aligned in their respective positions.
Secure the Upper Hinge Into Position
Place foam rubber on top of two pieces of wood which will then be used as spacers between these boards and the lower part of the refrigerator door frame to lift its opening arc. Next, secure this wooden board by using a few screws or nails.
Install the Door Close Hooks
You can also use door closer hooks to keep your refrigerator door from swinging open. These are effective devices that will safely hold and shut down the refrigerator door for you automatically, without using any push buttons or switches. Place these hooks on the fridge frame to be out of sight but can remain closed until they’re needed again.
Test Your New Refrigerator Door Stopper Setup
That’s it! You have successfully fixed an annoying problem with your refrigerator keeping it functional and safe at home now. To test if everything is working properly, gently swing open the fridge door: as soon as the top hinge reaches its limit, it triggers the door closer hook, which will gently push the door back into place.
Why Do Refrigerator Doors Swing Open?
Refrigerators Have Several Safety Devices Built Into Them, Including an Automatic Door-closing Device (Which May Require a Reset). Other Reasons for Your Refrigerator Doors Swinging Open Include:
- Improperly installed hinges or rollers. Replacing these parts should solve the problem.
- Also, the door is crooked or off-level. Adjusting the hinges may fix this; also, leveling the unit might solve this issue – make sure it’s straight and not sitting on any tilt (it could be sitting on a carpet/rug that got bunched up under one side).
- Something is blocking the pull-out freezer drawer or other parts of your refrigerator. This could include a large appliance like an oven or dishwasher and simple items such as tall drinking glasses, which are just tall enough to block the drawer from shutting properly. You can remove these objects yourself with no issues or call in for a maintenance man if you have any questions about moving specific appliances around.
- A faulty safety mechanism, which sometimes prevents the door from closing all the way. While this is definitely a maintenance issue, you can also very easily cover it yourself: just remove the kick plate beneath the refrigerator and look for a small wire that may be sticking out. If you see one of these wires, simply tuck/squeeze it back into place – your refrigerator door should close properly after that.
- A faulty gasket or seal on your refrigerator doors. Look at the rubber around your doors for wear – if so, buy replacement parts on Amazon or at Lowe’s and replace them now before they get worse!
Precautions While Fixing a Refrigerator Door From Swinging Open: It would help if you did not touch the door while it’s swinging.
- To avoid injury to your fingers, never try to push a swinging door closed by hand. If you can’t grab it with one hand, don’t try to close it at all and leave it open until you can get help from someone else or another appliance repair person.
- Never use solvents or strong cleaners when working on a refrigerator unless the instructions specifically tell you to do so because they could damage seals, gaskets, and other parts that might fall off into the inside of your refrigerator.
- If you see ice crystals on the freezer walls or in other places where there shouldn’t be any ice because something is wrong with your freezer’s temperature control, then immediately turn off the refrigerator and don’t use it until you can have an appliance repair person look at the problem.
- If your refrigerator is a top-mount model and somebody accidentally pushes hard on a door’s handle or pullout drawer while the part of the door that swings open is up against something like a wall or other cabinet, that could cause serious injury to fingers, hands, arms, or shoulders if they get stuck between the swinging door and whatever it hits. So never let small children run around unsupervised near a top-mount fridge’s doors.
Some refrigerators are equipped with self-closing hinges for their doors so that when weight is taken from them, they automatically swing closed all by themselves. So if you have that kind of refrigerator, with a little effort and patience, it’s possible to adjust its self-closing mechanism so that the door swings almost all the way closed on its own without having to apply much force at all for the last bit of movement.
You Can Check It Out to: Box in a Refrigerator
Conclusion:
If you have a top-mount refrigerator, be sure to lock the door with an appliance repair person before letting small children play near it. And if you’re not having problems with any of your refrigerators’ doors swinging open all by themselves, don’t try to adjust them. Hence, they do because that could cause serious injury or damage to your refrigerator’s self-closing mechanism. I hope you have obtained all the information about how to stop a refrigerator door from swinging open from this article. Thank you, and have a good day!
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