Another day, another fix; this time part of the 'fridge has fallen apart. One of the door shelves to be precise, and when I say "fallen apart" I mean a previous fix has failed.
IIRC, at some point in the past I dropped the shelf whilst cleaning it and one of the locating lugs snapped off. But, as I had the materials to hand from the last time I had to repair a SAN (styrene-acrylonitrile resin) fitting from the 'fridge, it wasn't a difficult repair to complete. As you can see the previous repair wasn't a craftsman's job but it had held out for at least a couple of years.
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| Failed 'fridge door shelf repair |
Unfortunately, when I went to make the MEK:DCM 3:1 mix I had used to solvent weld it previously, I found that the dichloromethane had completely evaporated and all I had left was an empty bottle. On inspection it seems that the bottle that it was supplied in wasn't fit for purpose (thanks redoka-chems), next time I'll have to use a better bottle. However, as I learnt previously, "MEK is the required active component and that DCM can be used if a fast drying solvent is required." So I just didn't bother with the dichlor and scrounged up some cloudy MEK that I had been using to solvent weld PVA waste piping (hence the white colour).
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| Shelf repair in progress |
I liberally applied MEK and taped the joint up to secure it in position while it set overnight. The next day everything looked OK, even if the repair was even more bodged than last time. Giving it a bit of a flex to test it under stress seemed fine, but when I tried to refit it there was a sharp crack. Back out with the MEK to reseal the opened joint.
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| Completed 'fridge door shelf repair |
As the part is push to fit I wondered whether the act of gluing the break had caused a bit of shrinkage. So I took out a flat needle file and spent ten minutes opening up the notch in the lug so that it wasn't putting as much stress on the welded joint.
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| Refitted 'fridge door shelf |
This seemed to do the trick and shelf slotted back into place without any more issues. Luckily you can't see the god-awful repair when you open the door so all is good.
JOB DONE
Time: 20 mins in aggregate
Cost: £0.00
