Chest freezer door split

[Jawjastout]

So the plastic holding the insulation of my freezer door exploded. Any suggestions on repair options/where to go for parts?

 

[Konadog]

Could you use that spray foam in a can to replace/glue the plastic liner back in place?

 

[IslandLizard]

Looks like the mounting flange has broken off, it's left under the rubber gasket.
It's probably made from ABS, you could try to glue it back on with a reinforcing strip of some kind.

Guessing at the age, it's 30+ years old?

 

[Jawjastout]

Confirmed. Gibson freezer. Company was bought by Frigidaire. Adopted from my grandparents.

 

[Jawjastout]

Looks like the mounting flange has broken off, it's left under the rubber gasket.
It's probably made from ABS, you could try to glue it back on with a reinforcing strip of some kind.

Guessing at the age, it's 30+ years old?

Confirmed. Gibson freezer. Company was bought by Frigidaire. Adopted from my grandparents

 

[NitrogenWidget]

sprayfoam or carriage bolt it back into place.
trying to glue around that fiberglass insulation will probably be a pain.

 

[odie]

perhaps a "sign" to buy a newer one? But those old ones were built to last. I bet it has a "corner hump", which means it will hold one extra keg on the floor.

Since you want to repair it...I suggest removing the lid and flipping it. remove the entire gasket, there are probably screws hidden under the gasket "fold". Go to Lowes or HD to the section that has all the wall paneling, luan, hardboard, etc. You will find some "plastic" 4x8 sheets of various materials. There is some stuff that is about 1/16-1/8 ish thick. Kinda soft and flexible yet stiff. Not plastic or ABS or brittle. Once you start browsing the options it should be pretty obvious which panel you want.

Use the old lid panel as a template. You did save all the pieces, didn't you? Cut out your new liner. Don't cut out the screw holes. You should be able to poke an awl thru the panel for each screw. This will give a better surface for the screw head to hold the panel.

Get a new gasket. Yours has holes and is probably super hard by now. Might be possible to find an OEM type. A lot of those back then might have been somewhat "standard". Several generic seals are also available, you will need to gut 45' corners and use 3M weatherstrip glue to join the corners. Great stuff, it will practically "melt" the rubber together.

Did my old 1947 Westinghouse fridge-to-kegerator the same way. Removed the hard plastic/ABS? liner and made a new one to run the shanks thru.

 

[odie]

some old pics from the repair

 

[IslandLizard]

trying to glue around that fiberglass insulation will probably be a pain.

Yes, the lid needs to be disassembled, inner "liner" fixed or replaced and reassembled.

 

[Jawjastout]

Yes, the lid needs to be disassembled, inner "liner" fixed or replaced and reassembled.

So if I remove the old liner/insulation, dump a couple cans of spray foam on it and call it a day, that won’t work? Gasket looks good.