Broken Freezer - DIY project

[JogaBonito1502]

humm....i like fisher's idea:

some sort of catch stuck to the side of it that will keep it closed and when you lift it up the door will spring open

Try to do what he said, and build some sort of rig to latch it on. It won't be pretty but should do the job.

 

[Lowndsey]

they are held closed by the seal which has magnets in them. When the door is closed it will form some some of suction vacuum thing also...which is why they are sometimes hard to open after they have just been closed. No doubt your seal is buggered and needs replacing. Ring a refridgeration mechanic and get the seal replaced properly as if it is stuffed it is no doubt wasting electricity also.

 

[Juice1]

Cant beleive this hasnt been said.

Pics

 

[Ahyoka]

Lol. Yeah, "Pics or it didn't happen".

Hmm...so you need a temporary repair you say? I believe that would call for every handyman/do it yourselfer's best friend...duct tape. And lots of it.

 

[root]

Yes, either replace the seal,
or if it just needs to be held shut and the seal is otherwise intact then perhaps one of those child locks for cupboard doors that holds things closed.

 

[Brookfield]

My guess is that the rubber seal around the door is perished & not providing suction as it did when it was new, how old is it?, plus the fact that the fridge may not have been levelled correctly when it was built-in, I know some fitters rush these jobs as time = money, a neighbour had her kitchen completely re-fitted at considerable cost, that night there was an almighty crash, a six foot wide wall unit had fallen off the wall pulling a large section of plaster with it a load of stuff was smashed, pots of jam, china & glassware, she showed me, what a mess!!!

 

[Juice1]

I have the perfect idea.

 

[Jesusfrk611]

We have an upright freezer that doesn't shut right either. We put velcro on ours to keep it closed. Just put the velcro on, then when you go to shut it, hold the door shut tight as you put the velcro in place to keep it shut tight. That's the easiest and most cost effective way to do it really. I don't know how it would work for you since yours is built in. Ours is stand alone.

 

[mayorredbeard]

My guess is that the rubber seal around the door is perished & not providing suction as it did when it was new, how old is it?, plus the fact that the fridge may not have been levelled correctly when it was built-in, I know some fitters rush these jobs as time = money, a neighbour had her kitchen completely re-fitted at considerable cost, that night there was an almighty crash, a six foot wide wall unit had fallen off the wall pulling a large section of plaster with it a load of stuff was smashed, pots of jam, china & glassware, she showed me, what a mess!!!

Ok so by what Brookfield and Lowndsley told me I was able to figure out how it use to work, and actually fix it. When closed a rubber-like material forms a vacuum seal to the door. I did not see any magnets; and why when I tried to use the magnets it did not close properly or at all.

It was the seal that was the problem, upon examination it had some cracks and rips in it:

I don't know if you can see that in the picture. But its got a signifigant amount of ware. I found a basic guide on how to replace a door seal on wikihow.com . The link is at the bottom for anyone else who has a similar problem.

I didn't want to use a latch cause it would leak cold air and not be very energy efficient

http://www.wikihow.com/Replace-a-Refrigerator-Door-Seal

 

[Tommy Boy]

http://www.wikihow.com/Replace-a-Refrigerator-Door-Seal

I've done that before and it's NOT as easy as they make it seem. It's a pain, good luck.