Modifying a fridge

[kerklein2]

I have Kenmore 16.7cu ft. upright freezerless fridge that I keep at 55C for beer cellaring (all commercial brews). Unfortunately the included shelving causes a lot of wasted space since it's not really adjustable. The wasted space is enough for another full shelf tall enough for bombers. Which brings me to...custom DIY shelving.

I want to minimize the effort to do this, the volume of the fridge the shelving takes up, and the destructiveness to the fridge. The idea I've come up with is very simple.

Ikea shelving posts...http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10117127/

3M VHB tape...http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediaw...yEVtQEVs6EVs6EVs6E666666--&fn=70070940609.pdf

I would adhere two posts to the back wall of the fridge using the tape and then use the matching shelf supports to add shelves. This design meets all my goals and is very cheap as well. But I have a concern.

Is the back wall of the fridge going to be able to support the weight? I have no doubt the VHB will hold the posts to the wall, but since I don't know how the fridge is constructed, I'm unsure how it will react.

I'm hoping for a lot of responses telling me it will work fine, but we'll see.

Cheers!

 

[kerklein2]

Anybody?

 

[tre9er]

Is it possible to just construct the shelving so the brackets/legs start at the bottom and go up to the top? I'd be leary of relying on super-tape and the walls of the fridge...

 

[kerklein2]

Not easily. There'd have to be some support structure at the bottom which complicates things and what I was trying to avoid. The tape is fine, no problem. It's the wall of the fridge where I have concerns.

 

[tre9er]

Can you post pics of the fridge as it is? Try to show where the shelves are mounted now, etc.

 

[kerklein2]

I'm not at home right now, but it's this fridge:

http://www.sears.com/kenmore-16.7-cu-ft-freezerless-refrigerator/p-04660722000P

And the 2nd and 4th shelves are removed to make enough height for bombers/750mL.

 

[day_trippr]

If I was doing this, I'd stick a pair of risers to the back wall, resting on the bottom of the fridge, and attach a cross member to the tops that would set the height of the rear edge of the desired shelf.

That would pretty much take the integrity of the rear wall out of the equation, as all it would be doing at that point is keeping the risers and cross member from pitching forward. The load would be transferred to the fridge floor...

Cheers!

 

[kerklein2]

I've thought about this, but don't really see how the load would actually be transferred to the floor without some kind of foot that stuck out from the risers. And the bottom of the fridge isn't flat so I can't do that.

 

[tre9er]

Find a way to hang shelves from the existing holes. Mount brackets to them somehow. Maybe a bolt+nut and the shelf keeps the sides pressed into those existing holes

 

[kerklein2]

Hmm, that could be a possibility. Maybe a metal dowel screwed into a right angle bracket?

 

[tracyk]

I would go with tre9er's suggestion then also add some risers in the back to disperse the load, but attached them to the shelves.