GE refrigerator door won't stay shut..

[whirlcool]

A neighbor has a GE SXS GE Profile refrigerator that has developed a very strange problem. The refrigerator side of the door will stay shut but when you open it, it seems that there is little to no resistance when you pull the door open. Plus after you close the refrigerator door and then open and close the freezer door the refrigerator door pops open about an inch.

The refrigerator is very well cared for, the owner keeps it immaculately clean.
The seal around the refrigerator door is in mint condition, not torn or compressed in any way. It's like the door seal suddenly lost its magnetism. I checked to refrigerator for level and it's about 1/4 of a bubble off towards the rear which should be ok because that is angled so the doors close on their own. We have checked to make sure nothing at all is hitting the door on the inside of the refrigerator. There isn't. That's what is so strange about this, one day it was working properly the next day it wasn't. The doors move freely on their hinges with no resistance whatsoever.

Any ideas?

The model number is PSF26MGWCWW.

 

[goatfarmer]

You can try adjusting the hinges. But the door itself might be sprung.

 

[rp2813]

Our '85 Whirlpool SxS behaved similarly when a hinge broke. One of the neoprene rings on the bottom hinge pin failed. The door still worked, but we had to force it closed. It was time to replace the fridge anyway, and the hinge issue gave us the excuse we needed.

 

[whirlcool]

OK, found the problem.

On GE SxS refrigerators on the bottom of the doors there is a plastic block. This plastic block engages a rod/assembly that has a wheel on the end of it. This part with the wheel wraps around the block on the door when it is closed to hold it shut. The protrusion instead of being tight, is moving around all sloppy and not correctly engaging the block on the door. The part has been ordered. Thanks again guys!
Here's a pic of the part....

 

[danemodsandy]

What the Hell....

....Was wrong with a plain metal pin hinge and a magnetic door gasket?

 

[ken]

Sandy

Nothing at all but always seems someone has to reinvent the wheel.

 

[danemodsandy]

Ken....

....Usually in the interest of not having the new wheel last as long as old ones.

 

[ken]

Yup. Planned obsolescence is a great thing isnt it?

Or a case of manufacture the widgit as cheaply as possible to maximize profit. [this post was last edited: 6/12/2014-20:49]

 

[whirlcool]

For anyone familiar with this design. There seems to be a spring associated with the wheel assembly. Where does this spring connect to in the refrigerator to provide the tension to keep the door shut? Hopefully the spring just came off the assy as the part with the wheel on it seems intact, there is just no tension on it like there should be.

 

[ken]

The spring may have broken.

 

[whirlcool]

Duh.

 

[ken]

Duh?? Are you serious? Thank you very much for making a person feel like they want to give their thoughts to try and help answer a question posted on AW.

The spring wasnt even mentioned until you stated "hopefully the spring just came off the assy". Which in no way would indicate it was broken. You're the one looking at the refrigerator. If you found that the spring was indeed broken (prompting your "duh" reply to my comment) then why didnt you state it was broken when you posted that you found the problem? Furthermore your indication in your follow up post is that the rod/wheel assembly is intact and the problem lies in the spring having become detached. Again no mention that it was broken.

An hour after stating you had already ordered a rod/wheel assembly you posted that you hoped the problem was with the spring either due to it becoming detached or having actually broken. If that is the case then it would seem you jumped the gun by ordering a rod/wheel assembly. What you actually needed to order was the door closure spring. Part #WR1X2027.

If it should have been obvious enough to me that the spring was broken to stop me from posting my "duh" comment then it should have been obvious to you that that was the part you needed to order. Heres a picture of it for your reference. Glad to help out.

 

[goatfarmer]

That part is a door closer. When you get a heavy SxS door, loaded with food, bottles, etc, the magnetic seal sometimes isn't enough to keep it closed on it's own. Hence, the above mentioned part.

 

[danemodsandy]

Kenny:

Now that you have explained it that way, I can see the necessity for a door-closing mechanism.

I cannot see the necessity to have it made by the people who used to manufacture Cracker Jack prizes, which would seem to be the case, looking at the photo above.

 

[whirlcool]

I apologize for the duh. I thought you were being funny as it was obvious that the spring wasn't working be it broken or just came off. I guess I was wrong. I never did find the spring, BTW.

Well after the duh, you gave me a good amount of information. Thank you. It gave me a greater understanding of how the door operates. In fact, I bailed on this repair job. I just told the guy that owns the refrigerator that this repair is probably beyond my skills and he will have GE service come to his house on Monday to fix it. I'll probably go over there and watch the repair guy because the GE refrigerator I own uses the same system for door closure.

I'm not too worried about this as the guy definitely has bucks and the $129.00 house call charge is probably pocket change for him.

I really depend on the help that I get from members of this site. And as past history has shown I am normally very appreciative of any help I get here. So I hope no long term offense is taken.

 

[ken]

None at all.

 

[DADoES]

 
Allen, my GE Arctica has similar closer arms on the doors.  I examined briefly (meaning no disassembly) and do not see a spring.  Parts diagram shows it, so perhaps it's recessed into a channel behind the closer when it's installed.

 

[whirlcool]

That is one of the reasons why I bailed on this job. It seemed that there were several places that could contain "gotcha's" and I'm not familiar with the design. I also sensed that there was a strong possibility that I could screw something up that was previously OK.

What surprised me most about this fridge is that there are no exposed coils on the unit. None on the back and none underneath. How in the hell does that work? The Owners Manual states that there is no need to clean the dust off of the coils because they are sealed within the walls of the refrigerator and the heat is dissipated through the walls of the refrigerator cabinet. So I guess that you can't do a "death by dog hair" on this refrigerators.

Thanks for looking at your refrigerator, Dadoes. I suspected something like that.

 

[DADoES]

 
The condensor on mine is behind the lower rear panel.  A cylindrical "jelly-roll" unit with a fan on one end that pulls air through it.  While it may not need as much cleaning as other types of condensors, dust/debris DOES accumulate.  I've cleaned it both times when I was back there (replaced the motherboard in Dec 2010, and the water valve in April 2013).

Maybe your neighbor's unit is a different design.  Look up a parts diagram if you have the model #.