[SOLVED] Freezer drawer repair (2023 Update)

[jkn]

Hi all some of our freezer drawers are broken - either the front wall where people have pulled at semi frozen-in drawers, or on some drawers the clear insert which forms part of the handle has similarly broken. I have no intention of paying the ridiculous prices for replacements, so I'm looking to repair these in some way.

Any thoughts on the best type of adhesive & repair method to adopt? It's a Whirlpool freezer FWIW. I'm not sure what plastic the drawers are made of, and what would be appropriate, given the materials and temperature.

Thanks Jon N

[Huge]

These drawers appear to be made of something that is entirely unsuitable, since it becomes brittle at low temperatures, and virtually all of ours have broken at one time or another; the handles come off, the hinges break and the faces snap.

I've tried loads of repair methods and the best I've used so far (and beware, it ain't pretty) is to drill a row of holes either side of the crack, stitch the crack with cable ties through the holes, and then liberally slather everything with hot glue. Ugly, but it works.

If there's a better method, I'd like to hear it.

[jkn]

Hi Huge Thanks for the suggestion. Pretty is not of the essence here...

I wondered about reinforcing behind the crack with a sheet of thin Alu, or even hardboard, and riveting the two together in multiple places. It's the sort of 'guvvo' approach my dad, a 'Leyland Motors' employee all his life, would be proud of ...

Jon N

[LSR]

We have a Whirlpool freezer too- 4 or 5 years old. The pull-out drawers are OK but the hinge pins on the fold-down door broke within weeks; our fault really trying to squeeze too much stuff in. I've used. I've used plywood to fill/reinforce the hollow end sections, then drilled through for wooden dowels in place of the broken plastic hinge pins, all held in place with hot-melt glue.

[jkn]

Hmm ... Whilst I'm on this thought path ... my dad used to make great use of sheets of 'fibreboard', which I think would be better known as red vulcanised fibre. It had very useful properties ... could be drilled, sawn and filed, yet had some flexibility and resilience. Any ideas as to where I could get hold of sheets of this stuff nowadays?

Thanks J

[Huge]

I tried gluing some on like this, but no matter what glue I used, it fell off in the freezer.

[MikeH]

I've used a runny fibreglass mix (the red stuff that's used on boats and car bodies) and fine matting very successfully. I used cyanoacrylate (sp?) to initially repair the jigsaw of broken pieces (the drawer had been pulled out fast and had fallen to the floor, fully laden!), and then used fibreglass and matt on the rear face. OK, you can see the joins, but it's still strong about five years after the repair.

Mike

[Chris Hodges]

I would have thought hardboard would get soaked through when you defrost.

[mike]

Chris Hodges wrote in news: [e-mail]:

As the OP is mending his drawers, I guess they'll be removed for defrosting the equipment.

(This is getting altogether to Freudian for me, I think I'll have a lie down)

mike

[jkn]

Hi Chris

Well yeah, that's why I started wondering about various forms of fibreboard. Still haven't tracked down the stuff my dad used to use. It's the same material as in the red 'fibre washers' you get for insulation & vibration resistance, but in sheets ...

Jon N

[Tony Williams]

Aluminium, (sheet or angle, as required), and *lots* of pop rivets. Gives repairs that tasteful look.

[ciaran caughey]

replying to jkn, ciaran caughey wrote: For cracks on freezer drawers the solution is very simple and cheap.Use Unibond Duct Tape.Super job and waterproof to.

[Bob Minchin]

I expect he has a new freezer by now. The OP was over 10 years ago! PLONK!

[Brian Gaff]

You would have thought those runnin this portal might have fixed this annoying regurgitating of old threads problem by now, would you not, at least if they cared at all about their users and the wider Usenet system. Brian

[Graham.]

They don't care a flying f*ck Brian. As long as someone clicks on the adverts while they're there.

[tim...]

I fixed mine with bog-standard clear (wide) tape from the pound shop

a year later and it's still good

tim

[jkn]

Ten Years?

A New Freezer??

Are you mad??? I haven't fixed the drawers on the old one yet?! ;-o

Still, plonk indeed

Cheers Jon N (jkn)

[Fredxxx]

This might assist you with posting to a newsgroup, albeit through a website:

- If you are sending a reply to a message or a posting be sure you summarize the original at the top of the message, or include just enough text of the original to give a context.

[Liz]

replying to jkn, Liz wrote: Hi, I've just repaired my freezer drawers with clear helicopter tape, I bought it from eBay, it honestly works great.

[Brian Gaff]

The mind boggles as to what its got to do with helicopters though. Brian