Technical Tips #7

By Rob Lowe

Dometic Refrigerator Door Adjustment

One of our Chapter members obtained the following information while at a winter rally. He discovered that if you do not make this adjustment you would eventually replace the refrigerator door gasket. I checked out unit and discovered that I needed to adjust the door. Hopefully this advice will save you the cost of replacing the refrigerator door gasket.

The lower bushing on the refrigerator door will wear due to the weight of the door, the food and the door panel. As the bushing wears, the door will settle slightly and a corresponding gap will appear at the upper hinge pin. If the door is not adjusted upward periodically the increased wear on the lower bushing may allow the door to settle enough that the upper hinge pin may disengage from the upper bushing, allowing the door to come off.

If the gap from the upper bushing is over 1/8” (the thickness of two 25-cent pieces), the door should be adjusted upward. Normally only one adjustment is ever necessary, after the initial wear in and settling of the door.

The lower hinge pin has a shoulder for the door bushing to ride on. The lower side of the hinge pin shoulder rests on the hinge plate. Remove the door, remove the hinge pin and place the appropriate number of flat washers above and under the hinge pin shoulder. If more than three flat washers are necessary, place half above and half below the shoulder. (See Diagram below) Some models come with spare "C”-shaped or flat washers (on the upper hinge pins). The "C”-shaped washers should only be placed under the hinge pin shoulder.

Recent model refrigerators have a hex-shoulder hinge pin that is threaded into the lower hinge plate (mine did). On this style, the hinge pin may be "un-screwed” (up to 1/8”) to make a small adjustment. If a greater adjustment is necessary, washers should be added as described above and the hinge pin screwed back down to its seat.

To remove the door, the upper trim panel should be loosened by removing the two screws on the underside of the plastic. This will exposed the upper door’s upper hinge pin. Remove the pin by lifting out the hinge plate. (If it is a hex shouldered pin as mine was, simply unscrew it.) Lift the upper door off its lower hinge pin. (On the Double Door Side by Side model this step is not necessary) Next remove the upper hinge pin for the lower door in the same manner and lift the door off the lower hinge pin. Make the necessary adjustment by adding the flat washers until the upper bushing gap is gone and reassemble. If the bushing is loose or worn, replace at this time with one of the spares on the opposite side of the door (there are 4 unused spares to accommodate a change in door swing.)

(Reprinted from Dometic Service Bulletin)