Fix for fridge shelves falling. (2023 Update)

[John]

In case this helps someone else:

We have an older (about 1997) Sears side by side fridge (with water and crushed/whole ice in the door) that still works well. But the fridge side door had warped over time (widened) and the shelves tended to fall out. No fun cleaning up after a couple of jars bang against each other and break spilling God knows what over everything.

The door has a row of studs (14 per side) molded in place that support the shelves. These measure .395" in diameter and are about 7/16" long. The shelves hook over the studs and rest against the back of the door.

To fix the problem I could have hunted up a replacement part but given the age not worth bothering with and probably would have cost big bucks even if I were able to locate something.

So to fix the problem I bought a three foot length of clear 3/8" x 9/16" plastic tubing (seems like vinyl but not sure) and cut 1/2" lengths which fit perfectly over the studs thus making them 1/16" longer per side. The tubing is actually 10mm I.D. (.393") x 13 mm (.512") o.d. not the nominal 3/8 (.375") advertised. The tubing was only a couple of bucks plus tax. Actually less than two foot was plenty but if needed I have some left over if it cracks or the door grows a bit more over time.

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together!

Thanks for listening to my gloat :)

John

[Stormin Mormon]

Excellent idea. Thank you for sharing. Very good job.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

In case this helps someone else:

We have an older (about 1997) Sears side by side fridge (with water and crushed/whole ice in the door) that still works well. But the fridge side door had warped over time (widened) and the shelves tended to fall out. No fun cleaning up after a couple of jars bang against each other and break spilling God knows what over everything.

The door has a row of studs (14 per side) molded in place that support the shelves. These measure .395" in diameter and are about 7/16" long. The shelves hook over the studs and rest against the back of the door.

To fix the problem I could have hunted up a replacement part but given the age not worth bothering with and probably would have cost big bucks even if I were able to locate something.

So to fix the problem I bought a three foot length of clear 3/8" x 9/16" plastic tubing (seems like vinyl but not sure) and cut 1/2" lengths which fit perfectly over the studs thus making them 1/16" longer per side. The tubing is actually 10mm I.D. (.393") x 13 mm (.512") o.d. not the nominal 3/8 (.375") advertised. The tubing was only a couple of bucks plus tax. Actually less than two foot was plenty but if needed I have some left over if it cracks or the door grows a bit more over time.

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together!

Thanks for listening to my gloat :)

John

[hrhofmann]

The shelves are on the door or the main body of the fridge? How can the door widen, did the plastic and metal expand? If the door widened, how come it does not hot the freezer side door? What about the door gasket contacting the main body? Any photos of the "after"? Sounds like you came up with a good solution, just not clear on the problem.

[DerbyDad03]

I don't think the door widened, I think the shelves are getting old and don't like the cold anymore. As I age, I find myself huddling down under a blanket at the same thermostat setting that used to be OK for a t-shirt.

I think the old shelves are just scrunching themselves up a little bit to try and keep warm.

[John]

Beats me! I will say that everything is really thin molded plastic and the shelves were a bit loose even when the fridge was new.

The gaskets and ice maker have been replaced and the doors painted (rattle can appliance paint) in the past. Chances are that when I replaced the gaskets and painted the doors that *I* caused the problem. But its been 3-4 years since I did that and the problem showed up more recently, last year or so -- so who knows?

In any event, $2 beats $1500-2000 replacement costs along with the cats clinging to the ceiling and the wife rushing out at 2 in the morning to see what the "f*7*(" is up when all you wanted was a snack!

And yes, a new fridge would most likely save energy if that is what you are wedging into, but it would take a very *loooong* time to amortize that!

John

[John]

:)

[hrhofmann]

We just replaced a 45+ year old freezer because it finally stopped cooling. We did have to replace the defost heater for the water collection tray across the bottom back of the freezer, and get a new thermostat about 15 years ago, but I did all the work myself so I didn't incurr any large expenses. The shelving was fine, no signs of rust under the plastic coating. The door gasket was also just fine, the compressor just wouldn't turn over, even with a substitute capacitor and bypassing the starting relay.

New freezer is smaller due to kids all gone and no need for 17 cu ft any more, 12 cu ft is just fine.

I would love to see a picture of the "after", to try to understand better what was going on.

[John]

Think one piece extruded plastic *inner door* with a vertical row of pegs sticking out of either side.

The *door shelves* hook over the pegs with the back of the shelves resting against the door. If the plastic inner door expands and/or the plastic shelves shrink the built-in clearance either side (which was sloppy from the get-go) will then increase. Too much slop and the shelf slips off the pegs with contents crashing down -- along with the associated havoc -- cats stuck to the ceiling, wife frantic, Franks' red hot sauce staining everything in sight and etc.

Now imagine increasing the length of said pegs as well as making them larger in diameter (and softer/squishier) to both take up the side to side slop and better grip the underside of the shelves.

It should be noted that the shelves are molded with what could be termed as handles on either side to rest on top of and grip the pegs. Fortunately the slots cast into the shelf handles that fit over the pegs are equally sloppy.

I hope the above description is sufficient as one of those darned cats has made off with the camera and that is as far as you are going to lead me down the rabbit hole.

:)

John

[hrhofmann]

So the pegs have a little hook upward at the ends that the shelves sort of hooked on to. That makes more sense.

[Bill]

Lately I find I need to modify or fix things a LOT on various products so they work properly. Sometimes with things new out of the box!

Glad I am "handy" and can do this stuff.

[bob haller]

New products in general have poor quality control, wires too short to make easy repairs etc etc.

many products that are even brand new have no parts available......

[WW]

In case this helps someone else:

We have an older (about 1997) Sears side by side fridge (with water and crushed/whole ice in the door) that still works well. But the fridge side door had warped over time (widened) and the shelves tended to fall out. No fun cleaning up after a couple of jars bang against each other and break spilling God knows what over everything.

The door has a row of studs (14 per side) molded in place that support the shelves. These measure .395" in diameter and are about 7/16" long. The shelves hook over the studs and rest against the back of the door.

To fix the problem I could have hunted up a replacement part but given the age not worth bothering with and probably would have cost big bucks even if I were able to locate something.

So to fix the problem I bought a three foot length of clear 3/8" x 9/16" plastic tubing (seems like vinyl but not sure) and cut 1/2" lengths which fit perfectly over the studs thus making them 1/16" longer per side. The tubing is actually 10mm I.D. (.393") x 13 mm (.512") o.d. not the nominal 3/8 (.375") advertised. The tubing was only a couple of bucks plus tax. Actually less than two foot was plenty but if needed I have some left over if it cracks or the door grows a bit more over time.

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together!

Thanks for listening to my gloat :)

John

John Glad I am not the only one that keeps things working. 1967 dryer and

1961 washer. (Whirlpool) kept them going with minor repairs until about 2005. They were still working good but wife wanted replacements. So gave the old ones to oldest son and he is still using them. I can repair almost every thing we have. Exceptions are refrigeration when compressor fails or has Freon leak. WW

[Bob]

That's not an example of poor quality control; it's a case of getting the most out of raw materials. Repair-ability takes a back seat to overall manufacturing economy nowadays. The best chance of repairing a modern product comes when you find an identical unit where a different component part failed.

[Stormin Mormon]

My whirlpool washing machine was left here when the other folks moved out. That was in 1994. "needs a $65 part" which turns out to be a motor. (They took the dryer that worked.) I oiled the motor, and it's run since then. Needed oiling again, a few years ago, and the timer got sticky and had to be lubricated. Had to change the fill valve, when it started leaking. The lid switch bracket broke, no longer available. I rewired, and now the machine runs again. I think it's even on the belt that came with it.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

John Glad I am not the only one that keeps things working. 1967 dryer and

1961 washer. (Whirlpool) kept them going with minor repairs until about 2005. They were still working good but wife wanted replacements. So gave the old ones to oldest son and he is still using them. I can repair almost every thing we have. Exceptions are refrigeration when compressor fails or has Freon leak. WW

[DerbyDad03]

That depends on who will be responsible for the repairs. A company that both sells and services their equipment will (should) work together with everyone involved from concept to on-site repairs right from the start.

The concept is known as Concurrent Engineering.

If the design engineers, manufacturing engineers, customer support, repair technicians, etc. are all involved from the initial stages all the way through to the end, then they can all offer ideas that will make the device easier to manufacture, deliver and repair.

It's a hard process to implement in large lumbering companies since it requires multiple disciplines to work together as an interactive team instead of in a straight line "I'm done with my part, now it's your turn" methodology.

Granted, I'm not talking about a clock radio, I'm talking about high tech devices like in the aerospace industry, high end computer industry, etc.

[purepr12]

After living with this problem for years, I also fixed it in less than 5 mi nutes with the same solution: Bought a small piece of white translucent aut omobile tubing (3/8" inner x 1/2" outer), clipped a piece about 5/8" long, slipped it snugly over the too-short pin, done.

[rshellrshell]

This worked like a charm, and I wonder why the manufacturers don't provide little extension kits like this since the problem is so generic. This was never a problem before cheap blow molded plastics came about.

[thomas]

John, thank you so much for this post. I know it was many years ago that you made it, but I just found it today and plan to do what you suggested. I am having the exact same problem. I have several of my refrigerator shelves in a closet in my laundry area, because they keep falling off the refrigerator door. This has been annoying for years.

This is also a great reminder to me post things in case they might be of help to someone else.