How To Fix An Air Fryer Door Won't Close?

You are en route to preparing the most mouthwatering air fryer meal, Beef Rib-eye steak. The ingredients are ready, but the worst happens. Your air fryer door won’t close! That’s a bad sign, as you cannot continue with your recipes. The air fryer won’t start, and the heating element won’t become hot. In short, your air fryer cannot begin cooking if your door hasn’t latched.

The problem could be your steak overfilled the basket and cannot allow full door closure. You must reduce your meat to fit well in the tray. Please correct the position if it is a wrong tray/basket placement. Your air fryer door won’t close if the components are warped or defective. Try to examine factory defects and call the product’s assistance desk for further advice.

Here are 10 unique ways to fix an air fryer door that won’t close;

Close The Door Properly

You might have missed the proper closing process. If your air fryer door didn’t close with a click, it didn’t latch well. It is not necessarily a broken component but your failure to close it with the right pressure. And that doesn’t mean a bang! Please close your air fryer door with a little force to allow latching. If you shut the air fryer several times and it isn’t yielding any fruits, check the level of ingredients in the next step.

2. Reduce Your Ingredients

Stacking pounds and pounds of ingredients in your air fryer does more harm than good. Instead of saving you on time, the results are dire. Your door won’t close, plus it may end up with broken components. Load your air fryer basket with considerable meat, veggies, and other ingredients. You can trim irregular-shaped meats to fit well in your basket. Also, if there is a heap, reduce the food in your basket.

If you use the rotisserie option, load it with the required weight. Excess amounts will block the door from latching and cause the feature to become immobile. The results are not what you expect. You will end up cooking for longer and still get unevenly cooked food. So, load the right amounts!

3. Check For Obstruction

If it is not the large chunk of meat on your rotisserie blocking the door, check if other objects are causing an obstruction. They could be wrongly-placed accessories or food debris from the last frying session. You didn’t clean your air fryer, so some food pieces that fell below the air fryer basket are still there. That’s also a hygiene risk. Cook with a clean oven to avoid contamination and obstruction.

4. Replace Broken/Disfigured Door

Your air fryer door can get disfigured over time. That can also happen if you remove the door for cleaning exercise and submerge it in water. Also, impact due to a fall can distort the and cause trouble when you try to lock it.

First, you must know that your air fryer door may not be dishwasher safe. Water may cause it to swell and lose its shape. Before cleaning the unit, master the cleaning process to avoid damaging the component. If you just did that unknowingly, leave the door to dry and see if it retrieves its shape. Failure to do that means you must ask the experts or order a new replacement.

When an impact or a fall happens, inspect your air fryer dents. The door may have been disfigured and requires a change. Why don’t you place your oven on a stable top to avoid this issue? A permanent countertop is perfect for cooking appliances. If you are on the move, ensure that your RV has a stable cabinet that offers stability to your appliances.

5. Realign Drawer And Basket

Check the drawer and basket alignment if your air fryer door won’t close. Any of them could have tilted due to the weight of the food. If the drawer gets off its sliding pane, then closing is impossible. It might be bothersome, but you must remove all the food and try to align the door.

Check if you heaped lots of food hence the excess weight. Remember that the sensors will remain dormant if the drawer/basket doesn’t align well. The entire unit will also shut down. Luckily, you can realign your air fryer door without the help of an expert. If not, other issues could be causing the non-latching.

6. Check For Rusts

Rusts on the hinges and other door parts occur due to moisture. If you haven’t used your oven for a while, you might experience this menace. It also occurs if your oven is of a cheaper quality. A rusty oven means that the hardware is not pure stainless steel or brass, hence the rust.

The rusty screws may even fall off, causing a closing error. Whether or not your oven is high grade, oiling its mobile parts like the hinges prevents rusting. After cleaning your air fryer, leave it to dry and oil the hinges and other hardware with food-grade grease. The layer will protect against rusting. Also, store your appliance away from the sink and water.

7. You Can Reset Your Air Fryer Door

Sometimes, it’s a minor issue of resetting your air fryer door. But how do you reset? Hold the door handle and gently push it to close while applying some pressure. Any resistance? Wiggle the door from side to side but gentler to avoid breaking the component. It could be rust or misaligned hinges that are not allowing full closure.

8. Examine Latching Mechanism

Besides the door and the hinges, your air fryer has a common latching mechanism. It enables the unit to shut without opening. This latch can get old or develop mechanical failure. The door will not stay in place. If you tried the first step (closing the door properly) and it didn’t work, the locking mechanism might be dead. Walk to a nearby appliance repair center for recommendations.

9. Inspect Factory Defects

It is a new air fryer, yet the door won’t close. Why don’t you inspect for factory defects? If the unit has a warped door or a defective latching mechanism, your air fryer won’t close, start, heat, or cook. The latter is difficult to diagnose, but a warped door tells you all is not well.

If you notice physical dents on your new air fryer, report them immediately to the product’s service department. Do not try to force close your air fryer.

Take a snap of the warped door and call their toll-free numbers at the bottom of the user manual. Their assistant will direct you on what to do or how to ship back the oven.

10. Is It An Aged Air Fryer? Dump It!

Yes, old appliances are more costly to maintain. They do not add any value. Instead, they cause more heartache. If the gadget is a decade old, your air fryer oven door won’t close. There are modern air fryers that can make your life smooth. Check out our website for better, sophisticated, and modern air fryers.

Read more