securing residential fridge doors when traveling and securing new fridge to rig

[bags]

Cabinate work is done, fridge is installed and running. I secured it to the floor in back by using two 2-inch L shaped brackets and it vibrates some when closing the freezer door. I am now second guessing my mounting method. My only option is to secure from the rear.

 

I have a design for securing the doors but I am not real proud of it.

 

Could residential fridge users share ideas for both of my issues?

 

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

Best regards,

JB

ps I am really glad to be out of the Norcold business/racket. What a way to destroy customer loyalty. Did I tell you my 3.5 year old Norcold ($4000.00 including tax, delivery & installation) died and needed a new cooling unit for 2500.00?

[AFchap]

When I made the switch from the again failing Norcold to a residential fridge in 2014 I secured it to the floor with L brackets at each front corner and the back center. I also used industrial strength Velcro on the wood trim across the top and down the sides. So far, does not move at all.

[Dutch_12078]

When I installed our 2-door residential fridge, I used a pair of ordinary window latches from Home Depot to secure the doors for travel. The only mod I made to them was to file down a small tap on the door pieces, since I was installing them backwards from their intended configuration. I don't know if something like it would work for your setup though.

 

 

 

 

 

[JCTex]

I did my Samsung last summer. A friend who needed to secure stuff in his job taught me this. "It's the first inch that matters." He showed me if I could stop the box from ever beginning to tilt, I might could stop the momentum trying to make it do that. We discussed several risk scenarios including rolling; but most of the risks were from collisions, turns, falling off road bed, and sudden stops. ,In each of those, the bad energy has a fairly short life. Plus, there are other places during that time the energy could dissipate than picking on the refer. I figured it was like lightning; if I could make the force take a path of less resistance, I could keep the refer in its hole.

 

So, how to stop the first inch,

 

The refer is bottom heavy by design. Its top is much more mobile than the bottom half. Because of that the bottom can very easily become a lever point. I could secure the bottom half to the floor of the compartment using L braces and some DIY stuff, and I did so, It's on wheels. One of my "first inch" tasks was to stop it from rolling out.

 

That done (like our OP here), I turned to the top. I have 8" above my refer because when I removed the Norcold, I carpentered a lower shelf to set it on. This gave me plenty of access to do the following. If you don't have access w the refer in place, you may be SOL. I installed 3 pair of 2-hole-per-leg L-braces to the sides of my cabinet. I took great patience to get the rear pair installed as solidly as I could given the thin wood. It is back there that I was,the most vulnerable. If I could stop the back of the top from ever lifting off, I win. The other 2 pair going forward are for additional help while the rear pair is struggling to hold the initial force.

 

I put some rubber padding bt the braces up top and the refer to stop road squeaks, but not too much. In things like this you want as much hard-to-hard contact as possible.

 

As an additional effort to stop the first inch, I installed a black, 2" footman's loop on both sides of the cabinet face. I then made a strap from 2" webbing, added a 2" Fastex buckle, and moved on. The strap runs bt the refer doors and the handles. I try to tighten it before setting off. I warn you this looks tacky. The black webbing matches my black refer; but be prepared to make Momma choose between style and security.

[JCTex]

To clarify: I did not screw the top L braces into the refer box. They are just installed as tightly as I could do so.

[AFchap]

To keep the doors shut while rolling, I got two plastic cabinet child locks at Walmart. Installed them with double sided tape. They work great.

[chindog]

To secure the doors while underway, I just use a velcro strap wrapped around the handles.

[bigboomer]

Here is a link to how I installed and secured our frig.

http://s962.photobucket.com/user/mybigboomer/library/Residential%20Frig%20Install

 

As for securing the doors during travel I made a 12" x 24" plywood horseshoe or U and wrapped it in microfiber. The U faces down and slips between the upper doors and drops into the lower drawer handle to lock everything in.

[dons118]

My Samsung is bolted to the floor plus a few brackets at the top. The doors are secured with a simple horseshoe made from plywood and covered with felt that slides between the two vertical doors and is long enough to go over the bottom freezer drawer

[lenp]

I secured the bottom (rear) of the unit to the floor with some heavy brackets.

 

I then removed the upper door hinges and secured a piece of 18" flat bar UNDER the hinge - NO drilling. I then gave the flat bar a 90 degree twist and secured the opposite end of the bar to the wall of the enclosure with several lag screws. Holds it VERY secure.

 

As for securing the doors I used four (two for the frig and two for the freezer) of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Cabinet-Closet-Stainless-Steel-Latch/dp/B00ARADQR2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

 

Secured with VHB 3M double sticky tape:

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Scotch-4950-VHB-Tape/dp/B00CC146DM?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

 

Still holding strong after more than 15,000 miles.

 

Lenp

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

We used a book wrapped in a microfiber cloth wedged into the handles of the double door. Velcro alone would not keep the doors closed.

[Bill Joyce]

We have a side-by-side fridge and use two 18" Gear Ties to secure the doors. One would probably do the job, but we feel better using two.

[jerryneal]

We put one each of these on each door. Wasn't sure if they were needed til I forget to latch once and dumped everything in the frig into the floor. http://www.amazon.com/Chest-Spring-Loaded-Toggle-Length/dp/B00HR69P92/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1460686928&sr=8-4&keywords=chest+box+latch

[lenp]

Another word of caution....

I had a can of soda fall off a shelf hitting the hinge for the left side door flapper (probably not the correct name) breaking the tab holding the spring in place. I purchased some cheap curtain rods at Wally World to keep thing from falling off of the shelf - seems to be working well.

 

Lenp

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

We found the spring rods not very effective. We use smaller plastic crates (like 6"x6") to put items in and create a barrier allow the front of the shelves.

[AFchap]

We found the spring rods not very effective. We use smaller plastic crates (like 6"x6") to put items in and create a barrier allow the front of the shelves.

We use both plastic crates (kept the bins out of the old Norcold and a couple of old ice maker bins), AND spring rods. Together we can control pretty much anything, and the bins make loading/unloading much easier.

[horizon36]

We use Velcro wrapped around the twin door handles. We used adhesive Velcro on the side of the fridge and freezer door with a Velcro strap to connect the two. We have not had the fridge doors open on any windy roads, however, I came into a 45 MPH corner at about 40-43 or so (obviously a little too fast) and the velcro did not hold on the freezer drawer and it slammed open. The fridge didn't move or shift from that jolt so I figure the way it was mounted worked out well. When we modified/built the new floor for the fridge we used 3/4" plywood and 2X4's so it's pretty solid. Screwed the fridge to the floor and used the old top mounting straps, from the Norcold, to hold the top of the fridge in place. It's been two years and we have not had problems other than the one I mentioned above. We use spring bars in the fridge to keep stuff from moving too much and that has worked well so far.

[bags]

Problem Solved. I took out the L brackets and installed a 20" piece of 2 inch 1/4" angle on the base of fridge secured with 4 self tappers and one 1/4"SS bolt and nut. I secured it to the floor with lag screws. As for securing the doors I used a 48' flat bunge strap from top to bottom of the wood frame. Fridge is rock solid and doors are secure. Thanks for everyones help.

 

JB

[GlennWest]

Our doors fold out from center. We just use two spring loaded clamps, one at bottom and other at top.

[rdickinson]

The first inch or fraction is the most important. In my case I used pipe strapping from the top rear of the fridge to the wood frame around the top vent accessible from outside.