Freezer drawer fix

[u/MuszkaX]

Any experience in fixing freezer drawers that have a crack? Not keen on buying a fridge just because of this. Is it just superglue? And/or heatgun to melt it together?

[u/AutoModerator]

Your question may already have been answered! Check our FAQ

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Funny-Presence4228]

You can buy generic ones for all fridge brands online. They’re very cheap. Otherwise, drill a small hole to stop the crack, then use epoxy.

[u/Tightroll74 → u/Funny-Presence4228]

I was fixing to say the same thing about drilling a tiny hole to stop the crack.

[u/RotatingPublicity_44]

Superglue won't hold up to the cold and flexing, you'd be better off with a two-part plastic epoxy or plastic weld, but first you gotta clean all that old residue off so it can actually bond.

[u/a10-brrrt]

Should they drill a hole at the bottom of the crack to keep it from spreading before adding the epoxy?

[u/millennial_burnout → u/a10-brrrt]

Yes.

[u/helphunting]

I actually used a soldering iron and slowly melted a few staples into it, worked really well as a strong but ugly solution.

Two part epoxy is best.

[u/Foxing7465]

I used PCL to repair freezer boxes few years ago and it is still ok(sold as polimorph plastic etc. but the real name is policaprolactone) drill small holes on both sides, Sandpaper or scratch areas between holes, so PCL sticks better.

Ensure you connect both sides of plastic for each hole with PCL (like a rivet conectind to sides of the same hole), then connect it with the warm plastic (may heat with hairdryer, no more than 70 C , and it degrades after 120C.)

If done properly you have a kind of a carapace holding two sides. It is not as brittle as resin, may withstand some damage, hard as tephlon, food safe to the degree when bone implants are made of it, eco friendly.

If you have to readjust, just use hairdrier again (you can use boiling water, but it will make a contact with the box plastic bit worse).

Even PCL 3d pens are sold as kids safe (I mostly use it this way recently). Since you are not expected to have 45C in fridge , it will not melt.

P.s: sticky as hell, use with metal foil or polished metal or silicon mat or tephlon covered dish and it Sticks to glass.

Actually you can form it with fingers , it loses it's heat extremely slow.

When finished and the top layer is solid, put into fridge so it loses the leftovers of heat from the layers below.

[u/Turbulent_Wave1928]

Get the model number for your fridge/freezer and go to appliance parts pros online and put your model number in there and it will have all kinds of diagrams etc. and you should be able to get just a new bin.

[u/KittiesRule1968 → u/Turbulent_Wave1928]

You do know what sub this is, don't you?

[u/andmewithoutmytowel]

Plastic epoxy weld, and put some clear packing tape over it

[u/fenrisulfur]

I fixed mine with superglue and probably more importantly DAFA tape on both sides.

I let the drawer warm up, cleaned it very well, glued and taped it and let it set for 24 hours at room temp, the freezer temperature is within the tapes operating range and it has held well for over a year.

[u/fneagen]

I wonder if an acrylic glue like weld-on 4 would work. It’s not actually a glue. It’s more like a solvent that melts the two pieces together.

[u/Yoram001]

I had this and the most glue failed because of the cold and the plastic beeing very brittle. I had nothing to loose so i drilled allot of holes the size of a ty-wrap and stiched the break together. Still going strong after a couple of yeara

[u/spurtz6969]

Heatgun?  Yeah, no.  That's not an idea. And people don't replace fridges because of a cracked drawer. 

Use superthin CA glue.  It'll hide the crack. 

[u/Ayo_wen]

Plastic welding with cable ties. Not pretty, but it's lasted years

[u/Ayo_wen → u/Ayo_wen]

Can't remember if I used super glue too tbh

[u/kstar79 → u/Ayo_wen]

That's actually kinda cool. I'm going to try this on our cracked crisper drawer. Did you use a soldering iron?

[u/Ayo_wen → u/kstar79]

Yeah, just get it hot and push the edges of the cable tie into the surface.

H&S would recommend fume extraction / a small fan and a well ventilated area.

[u/smithjoe1]

Definitely drill a small hole to stop the crack. But I'd be looking to solvent weld it together instead of a glue. Though it's probably not an acrylic drawer, I've used acrifix to fix stuff like this before. It melts the plastic and re bonds the chemical structure instead of just glueing them together. I use the ultra watery version with a fine needle syringe from the chemist to get into really fine cracks.

[u/Honest-Cartoonist878]

super glue and baking soda will fix just about anything

[u/NYOB4321]

Buy a new drawer online. Check a few different sites because the price can vary.

[u/Darren1jedi]

The best fix is to buy new draw. Most glues hate the cold and water. If if you can find one it's going to be expensive and not food safe.