What causes the seal on a refrigerator to keep the door from closing all the way?

[Cap'n Crunch Killa]

The house I bought back in August had a fridge in the garage and the door doesn't close all the way. I'm using tape to keep it closed now and I have looked at it and the only thing I think that can be wrong is the door hinge. What would cause this?

[havasu]

Most modern fridges have a hinge that is designed to automatically close when nearly shut, and the magnets in the door seal keep it tight against the frame and prevent the door from opening without assistance.

[Cap'n Crunch Killa]

So maybe the hinge is out of wack? This is one of those cheap fridges that has the small freezer on top and the fridge on bottom. Whenever I close the freezer the fridge door opens and when I close the fridge the freezer opens and they both don't close worth a damn anyway.

[havasu]

First thing you need to do is to clean everywhere the seal touches, and the seal itself. There should be a magnet that stops it from popping open. Also, some refrigerators have humidity controls which allow air to pass in and out of the fridge, which might be the reason for the opposite doors to pop open. Lastly, check to make sure the fridge is level. Any tilting forward will cause doors to pop open too easily.

[bisjoe]

On the old fridges the magnetism weakens over the years. I'd suspect that as your problem, the best solution being to replace the entire door seal strip with new, which should still be available from the parts house. If not, since it's an extra one in the garage anyway, just add a simple hook and eye or gate latch
to it, just be sure to use silicone to seal the holes you drill for the screws to keep the insulation sealed in.

[Cap'n Crunch Killa]

It's a new fridge, at least withen the past few years and the seal is clean and like new. It could be unlevel but it's in my garage and the floor should be level enough not to cause that. It could be the humidity control, but I'm thinking this thing is bottom of the line and doesn't have that. I'll have to look.

[ThePhotographer]

If you didn't get the hint ... it's likely the hinge out of alignment. This can happen from the screws on top becoming loose or stripped. These parts are replaceable. If it were the strip (which is replaceable) you could tell when it's "shut" because it would be warped or coming undone from the door.