How to Adjust Samsung Refrigerator Door Swing [Quick & Easy]

Have you noticed that your Samsung refrigerator’s doors swing too loosely? It may feel like it isn’t a problem at first, but it will surely turn into one if you don’t address it quickly. 

Don’t worry because this article is here to provide you with all you need to know about adjusting your Samsung refrigerator’s door swing. We also included some maintenance tips on keeping the doors tight and properly closed.

Each set of instructions will be easy to follow. You can do most of the maintenance by yourself and only a few will require professional assistance if you find any difficulty.

How do you adjust a Samsung refrigerator’s door swing? 

Samsung refrigerator doors swing loosely because the doors are not leveled. Adjust the height of the doors by tightening/loosening the hinges until both doors are leveled and swing properly.

Here are the instructions to level and adjust the height of most Samsung refrigerator doors:

• Step 1: Turn off and unplug the refrigerator.
• Step 2: Verify if the doors are not leveled using a measuring tool (e.g. level tool, a tape measure, or a ruler). Sometimes the legs of the refrigerator may cause the doors to seem unleveled.
• Step 3: If the refrigerator doors are not leveled, open the doors and freezer drawer to access the bottom hinge.
• Step 4: The bottom hinge has a pinhole below it for adjusting the height of the refrigerator. Insert an Allen wrench into the hinge pinhole and turn it left or right to adjust the door’s height.
• Step 5: Adjust the doors until they are leveled – make sure to check using the measurement tools earlier.

If you have trouble leveling the refrigerator doors yourself, feel free to call for professional help.

Why is my refrigerator door not closing by itself? [How to fix]

The refrigerator door is not closing by itself because the doorway may be obstructed by something inside the refrigerator.

It is also possible that the refrigerator door has problems. The hinges, door seals,  and the door itself may be defective and require maintenance.

Problem	Solution
Obstructed Doorway	Rearrange the shelves to prevent items from blocking the doors and seals.  Make sure that the door bins inside the refrigerator do not contain heavy items as well.  Heavy items constantly pull down the refrigerator doors and cause them to be unleveled and misaligned with the door frame.
Damaged Door Hinges	Damaged hinges cause the refrigerator to either shut too light or too loosely. It is advised to replace the old hinges with newer ones. Access the hinges by removing the top cover of the refrigerator. Unscrew the top hinge and carefully lift up the door to detach it from the bottom hinge and the refrigerator.  Replace the bottom hinge with a new one and carefully reattach the refrigerator door to it. Install the new top hinge on the refrigerator door to secure it in place. Finish by reattaching the top cover of the refrigerator and screwing it back into place. If you have trouble replacing the hinges, do not hesitate to call for professional help.
Faulty Reed Switches	Faulty reed switches need to be replaced with new ones.  To check if yours need replacing, you can test them by placing magnets in front of the switches. If the refrigerator does not respond to the magnets (e.g. the interior lights remain lit up), then the switches are faulty and need to be replaced.
Defective Door Gasket	The door gasket is the rubber seal of your refrigerator doors. Inspect it for any dirt buildup or damage.  Clean the gasket with a soap-water formula. If you find damage in the gasket, it needs to be replaced.
Broken Refrigerator Doors	Check if the refrigerator door has any sustained damage (e.g. dents, cracks, etc.).  If the damage on the door is significant enough, you need to replace it.  Remove the old door by removing the top cover and unscrewing the top hinge of the refrigerator. Lift up the door to detach it. Gently fit the new door into the bottom hinge. Screw the top hinge back in to secure the new door into place. Reattach the top cover to finish. It is highly recommended to call for professional help if you have trouble doing these steps.

Quick Note: If you are unsure of which brand/type of specific parts you need for replacement (hinges, reed switches, door gasket, refrigerator door), you can easily check your user manual to verify each part’s model number. Your refrigerator’s serial number can also help you identify which exact parts you need.

Obstructed Doorway

The most common reason for the refrigerator doors not closing by themselves is that there is something obstructing them from doing so.

The door bins inside the refrigerator may have been storing heavy items, causing the door to be unleveled and obstructing them from closing properly. 

There could also be items inside the refrigerator’s shelves that are in the way of the door seal and the door itself.

Solution: Rearrange the shelves and door bins of your refrigerator. 

Make sure that the door bins are not storing anything too heavy (e.g. gallons of milk, water jugs, etc.), and organize the contents of your refrigerator to avoid any obstructions to the doors.

Damaged Door Hinges

The refrigerator’s hinges are primarily responsible for allowing the doors to swing open and close. 

Any sort of defect or damage to these hinges will prevent the doors from closing or opening – the swing can become looser or too tight.

Solution: Replace the door hinges with brand-new ones. Here are the instructions:

• Step 1: Turn off and unplug the refrigerator.
• Step 2: Empty out any items that may be in the way while replacing the door hinges (e.g. items from the door bins and shelves).
• Step 3: Use a screwdriver set to unscrew the top cover of the refrigerator and carefully release the 4 safety locks to remove the top cover.
• Step 4: Tape the door to the refrigerator to help secure it while removing the top hinge.
• Step 5: Remove the hinge fixer (the metal lock above the top hinge) by rotating it up and sliding it out. This will give you access to remove the top hinge.
• Step 6: Remove the top hinge by gently lifting it up from its place.
• Step 7: Grab the refrigerator door’s handle and remove the tape, then carefully open the door halfway and lift it up to detach it from the refrigerator.
• Step 8: Open the freezer drawer to get better access to the bottom hinge. Unscrew the bottom hinge from the refrigerator.
• Step 9: Repeat all the steps in reverse but use new hinges to reassemble the refrigerator. Make sure the doors are leveled after the replacement process.

If you are having trouble following the instructions provided above, it’s better to call for professional help to have the door hinges replaced.

Faulty Reed Switches

Reed switches are magnets that detect if the doors are closed or open and will signal the refrigerator to adjust its functions depending on the situation.

Faulty reed switches cause the doors to be falsely detected as closed/open, and there are cases where the magnets do not work properly to keep the doors shut.

Solution: Test if the reed switches on your Samsung refrigerator’s doors are working. 

• Step 1: Locate the reed switches of your refrigerator. They are indicated by arrows on the top cover of the fridge.
• Step 2: Place magnets in front of the reed switches. This is to simulate closed refrigerator doors.
• Step 3: Observe if your refrigerator reacts to the magnets. A good indicator is if the interior lights of the refrigerator turn off or not – if the lights shut off, the reed switches work. 

If the reed switches didn’t react to the magnets, then they are faulty and need to be replaced. Here’s how to do that:

• Step 1: Unscrew the top cover and then locate the locking clips (indicated by faced-up arrows). Pry the top cover open.
• Step 2: Disconnect the electrical plug and fully remove the top cover of the refrigerator. 
• Step 3: The reed switches should be attached to the top cover. These can be easily removed by using a flathead screwdriver to pry them off the holders.
• Step 4: Install your new reed switches by snapping them into place on their respective holders.
• Step 5: Reconnect the electrical plug, snap the locking clips back into place, and screw the top cover on.

If you find it difficult to replace the switches, feel free to call for professional help to avoid any further complications.

Defective Door Gasket

The door gasket is the rubber seal designed to allow the refrigerator doors to shut tight and trap the cold air inside. A dirty or broken door gasket will cause the refrigerator doors to shut loosely.

Solution: Sometimes, dirt and other particles in the gasket cause faultiness. Try to first clean it with a soap-water formula.

If you’ve cleaned the gasket and the problem still persists, you can now safely assume that it is broken. It’s most likely worn out and at this point, needs to be replaced as soon as possible.

Here are the steps for replacing your old refrigerator gasket with a new one:

• Step 1: Remove the old gasket from the door frame. You can do this by gently peeling off the old gasket starting from the top corner and then making your way down.
• Step 2: Fit the new gasket in by pressing it into place. Start from the corners and then make your way around the whole door frame.
• Step 3: Keep pressing the new gasket into place until everything is secured properly into the frame.

If you find trouble installing a new gasket, call a professional to help.

Broken Refrigerator Doors

Refrigerator doors that sustained enough damage (e.g. dents, cracks, and naturally being old) can eventually have trouble shutting tight.

Solution: Replace the old refrigerator door/s. Here are the steps for doing so:

• Step 1: Power off and unplug the refrigerator.
• Step 2: Empty out any items from the refrigerator doors (e.g. the bins and shelves).
• Step 3: Take off the screws from the top cover of the refrigerator using a screwdriver set and carefully release the 4 safety locks to remove the top cover.
• Step 4: Secure the refrigerator door by taping it onto the refrigerator.
• Step 5: Remove the hinge fixer (the metal lock above the top hinge) by rotating it up and sliding it out. The top door hinge below it should now be accessible.
• Step 6: Remove the top hinge by gently lifting it up from its place.
• Step 7: Carefully open the door halfway and lift up the door to detach it from the refrigerator.
• Step 8: Repeat all the steps in reverse but with the new refrigerator door instead. Make sure to level the doors after replacing them.

Feel free to call for professional help If you are having trouble replacing the refrigerator door/s.

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Now that you know how to adjust your Samsung refrigerator’s door swing, you should be able to do proper maintenance and address any future problems that may happen to it.