The lower shelf on the door (molded plastic) in my 8-year-old refrigerator is cracked on both ends -- any suggestions for how to repair it?
I tried epoxy, but no luck -- the plastic is pretty thin and I don't think there was enough surface area.
My appliance repair shop suggested duct tape, which would work, but would be ugly and hard to clean.
I'm wondering if there is some kind of kit out there that will do the trick?
Thanks,
John
Epoxy doesn't work well on plastic, except for hard plastics, such as polyester and bakelite. Also don't bother with super glue.
Refrigerator plastic is typically PVC or ABS, both which can be repaired very well through solvent welding with MEK of lacquer thinner. I've also used automotive carburetor or throttle body spray cleaners. Try to let the solvent evaporate for at least 24 hours before applying much mechanical stress to the repair, but since a refrigerator is so cold, I'd extend that to a week.
Don't rule out removing the entire panel from the refrigerator door to reinforce it from the inside. It may be held in place by screws tucked under the gasket.
I have repaired plastic fridge shelves/drawers with pop rivets to hold stainless steel strapping across the break. This creates a "decorative" type of repair as it looks like it should be there. The stainless steel straps are about 1/2" wide and are leftovers from the straps used to anchor road-side signs to utility poles by strapping around the pole. The excess is cut off and that is what I used.
If you find a way, let me know. I've tried two different epoxies so far on the vegetable drawer. No luck.
Good idea, but then I'd want stainless steel EVERYTHING in the kitchen, and I can't afford that. :-)
It could be done but would sure take a lot of those 1/2" straps
AMUN
I had excellent success with a little dorm type box where the bottle holder straps had ripped out and left large holes and some cracking. Used grow foam, injected in the holes. The one I used is a commercial product for setting/insulating windows that does not triple expand and break things. It has been in service for a few years now. I made new bottle rack fronts out of some appropriate material because mine were missing, If I'd had factory ones, I believe they would have reinstalled.
(top posted for your convenience) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) snipped-for-privacy@7cox.net
Look in your phone book for "Industrial Plastic & Paint".. They are plastic wizards. If you have one in your town, take the part in to them and see what they recommend.
Dan --
Many thanks for the great idea -- it worked! I used duct tape to hold the shelf pieces together, then drilled a series of small holes in the bottom of the shelf and sprayed the foam in. I couldn't find the non-expanding type, so I sprayed very cautiously.
Since the fridge was on, it too much longer than usual to cure, but once it did, the shelf was very solid -- certainly good enough to get another 8 years out of the beast.
Thanks again,
John
DanG wrote:
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