We bought a new refrigerator about two months ago. Actually the wife bought it. Anyway, there is one small problem with it.
The door wont remain open. I will open the door to put away groceries and/or whatnot and what happens is that the door will close by itself, to my great annoyance. When I open the door, I want the damn thing to stay open!
I had a bedroom door in an apartment I rented several years ago that had the opposite problem. For the door to stay closed, it had to be closed all the way. Even if it was ajar, it will slowly open all the way out.
Is there anything I can do to fix this annoying door?
Your refrigerator might be tilted in such a way that the door simply “falls” shut. You can fix this by adjusting the feet that are under the corners of the fridge. Each foot is threaded and screws up and down. Just adjust these feet until the fridge is level.
Since your fridge door tends to shut itself, your fridge is probably tilted backwards a bit. The easiest way to fix your problem is by screwing in the front feet so they’re a bit shorter.
They are designed to swing closed. There are ramps in the hinges. When you open the door you also lift it a little bit as it moves up the ramps. When you let go, the weight of the door let’s it slide down the ramps and close.
I’d agree with this. We recently had the flooring in our kitchen renewed and I found the fridge door would not close by itself as it used to do. Turns out the fridge was now more or less level whereas it had been leaning back a little because the front feet were screwed out a bit before. Moving it must have put it on a slightly different part of the floor, which in our nearly 80 year old house is not completely level.
Some hinges have ramps as described by Shamozzle. But not all.
Almost all fridges have adjustable feet, at least in the front.
Many fridges also have adjustable hinges. You can loose the screws which attach the hinge points to the box body and slide them fore or aft to adjust how aggressively the door swings shut.
The typical advice for a “correct” setting is so the door swings shut on its own.
Given the physics, if you have it set to swing shut from being open just a few inches, it’ll also stay open if openend to, say, 60-90 degrees. This lets you (un-)load groceries without hindrence, but will pull the door shut if somebody just gives it not-quite-a-good-enough shove & walks away. For older fridges which don’t have the vacuum seal feature, a little gravity boost also helps the door seal stay sealed. Which is good for your running costs, fridge life, and food life.
refrigerators with pull out freezers might specify a slight tip to the rear to aid that closing tightly.
which way to tip a side-by-side so that both doors swing shut?
fridges might have closing hinges or require a slight out-of-level. it is best to read the manual for instructions for that unit. if you do have to put the fridge out of level it may be very slight, like 1/4". the machinery of the fridge might require it being level to function well.
I think our fridge also has shims in the hinge where it is fastened to the fridge. Changing the shims (move one at a time from the bottom to the top) may work. Be prepared for some experimentation. You’ll have to empty the door and get something to hold it up while it is open. Also be aware that the door will swing slower when it is empty than when it is full.
If I were doing this, I’d probably set aside a couple of hours including emptying the door and cleaning up afterward. If you try this, make sure that it still closes on its own, you wouldn’t want to come down to a wide open fridge in the morning.
We used to set up refrigerators specifically so that they’d close gently if the door was left open. It keeps someone from accidentally leaving the door open and spoiling the food.
It is supposed to shut on it’s own, they are designed that way. If you want the door to stay open you are going to have to off-set the tilt. But be aware that you are working against the design.
All my life, every fridge I’ve lived with would shut on its own.
My new place, where I’ve been for a month, has the first fridge I’ve ever had to be mindful of whether the door shuts. It’s annoying. I’m paranoid about going to bed and the fridge being open all night. Tilting it backwards sounds like what I should do. I’m going to check the level tonight.