Fix for fridge shelves falling.

[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
www.lds.org
.

"John" <Jo...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:%BpYs.683302$W71....@fed07.iad...

[hrho...@sbcglobal.net]

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]

:)

[hrho...@sbcglobal.net]

> :)- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

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

[hrho...@sbcglobal.net]

On Mar 2, 5:31 pm, John <J...@nowhere.com> wrote:

> John- Hide quoted text -

>
> - Show quoted text -

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

[Bill]

In article <%BpYs.683302$W71....@fed07.iad>, Jo...@nowhere.com says...
>
> ...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.
>

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]

On Mar 3, 2:09 pm, Bill <NoEmailNos...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> In article <%BpYs.683302$W71.48...@fed07.iad>, J...@nowhere.com says...

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]

"John" wrote in message news:%BpYs.683302$W71....@fed07.iad...

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]

On 3/3/2013 18:00, bob haller wrote:

> 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......

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
www.lds.org
.

"WW" <cc...@nospambresnan.net> wrote in message
news:of6dnRqh_OCplKnM...@bresnan.com...

[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.

[pure...@gmail.com]

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

[rshell...@gmail.com]

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.

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