As the title stated, I rebuild the plastic shelves in my fridge with metal framed ones (and reused the glass panel from the original shelving). I made a quick (~8min) video explaining everything and showing how I approached fixing it. I also have a short (three pics) photo gallery of of the old and new shelf.
While this is primarily a video post, here's a quick synopsis of how I did it, with some additional details not covered in the video:
- First I took apart the original shelf, which was easy because it was practically disintegrating. I removed the glass and measured it's dimensions, as I planned on re-using it. I also spent a lot of time cleaning it.
- I then modeled up (using Fusion360) some sheet metal and flat plastic parts to replace the broken pieces. Every load bearing part is now made from metal. The plastic parts are only used as spacers or "bumpers" to keep the glass off the metal. I wanted to use stainless steel everywhere, but it was very expensive, so I opted for aluminum on some of the lighter loaded parts.
- I cut out the parts using a popular laser cutting service, and assembled at home.
- All said and done I fixed both shelves for about $120. Not exactly cost effective considering entire refrigerators can be had for as little as $400, but it keeps another large appliance out of the landfill, so I consider that a win.
This isn't a big or fancy project, but hopefully useful when it comes to fixing the parts on appliances that weren't designed to be serviceable!
Edit: Refrigerator is a Whirlpool ED2GVEXVD01 and there's a link to this kit as a digital download file in the description of the YouTube video.