Again, not a Q strictly related to electronics but this group is the closest fit.
I have a GE GTS22KCMBRCC (top-freezer) refrigerator. After a couple of months it developed a minor but annoying habit: when the main compartment door is closed firmly the freezer door pops open. I don't have a problem cultivating the habit of closing both doors at once but I've got two absent-minded school age kids and they're not picking up on this.
How do I go about diagnosing or fixing this?
/ff
fit.
Is the unit level or tilted slightly to the rear? If not correct that. Otherwise, you don't have to fix anything. Call your dealer or GE for a warranty repair.
David, on the Illinois prairie.
I've always wondered about why this usually DOESN"T happen. Is the magnetic gasket dirty, wet, corroded? Do fridge/freezers have some sort of air bladder to equalize the pressure and prevent one door from swinging open when the other is slammed? If so, maybe this device is stuck/frozen/blocked, or otherwise malfunctioning.
Hello, FearlessFerret! You wrote on Mon, 14 Nov 2005 08:12:02 -0500:
F> I have a GE GTS22KCMBRCC (top-freezer) refrigerator. After a couple of F> months it developed a minor but annoying habit: when the main compartment F> door is closed firmly the freezer door pops open. I don't have a F> problem cultivating the habit of closing both doors at once but I've got F> two absent-minded school age kids and they're not picking up on this.
F> How do I go about diagnosing or fixing this?
I think that there must be a crack or opening in the insulating between the two compartments and the compression of air as you close the fridge is pumping through the crack and opening the freezer door. There shouldn't be any passage between the two compartments, but I'm thinking maybe there is a simple valve or venting arrangement that's frozen up. Try De-frosting the whole thing and see if it makes any difference. Should be done regularly anyway.
With best regards, 3T39. E-mail: snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com
The two compartments are joined by an air passage in frost free models (around here at least) so if the magnetic seal on the freezer door isn't working fully, this can happen.
Air bladder? Come on. :)
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Go to an appliance store. Pick a model at random and firmly close the freezer (or fridge) door. You should see the other door move outward slightly. It doesn't come flying open, though. Why? The magnetic strip in the door seal is working properly. Could it be that your absent-minded, school-age kids might have decided it would be cool to wave another magnet around the door seal? That could demagnetize the seal strip.
Alternatively, do you perhaps have a TV set sitting on top of your fridge (or on a countertop right next to it)? It's possible with enough on-off cycles and a sufficiently strong coil, the TV's degaussing coil could eventually demagnetize the door seal strip.
Btw, strong speakers, a powerful fan motor, etc. placed near the strip could yield the same result.
Stop slamming the door!
It might help if you stabilized the fridge to the wall at the back, it stops the case from moving to much, and the slam would not influence the other door so much(it is the frame suddenly moving away from the other door wich causes that one to open).
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