We will often be asked if you can change integrated doors from one type to another, commonly with sliding or fixed refrigeration products
The short take away answer is, you cannot change, modify or adapt from one type to another.
Designed That Way
Most integrated fridges and freezers, as well as fridge freezers, have been designed to fit into a housing in a particular way, the actual cabinet shaped to allow that and accommodate the hinge type that is to be used.
That means that at its very core, the design is such that it is completely intended to have a particular hinge arrangement and type on it.
From that follows that the door must either be fixed or have sliders fitted, this being determined by the hinge system employed and the clearances that are set by the cabinet design.
In short, this means that it is impossible to alter any unit from being one type to being another.
Bought the Wrong Type?
Sadly it’s all too frequently that we get asked about this after someone has purchased a brand new appliance only to them learn that they need a different type to the one they just bought.
There is no other solution than to exchange the machine if possible or, to buy another.
Sorry but, that’s all the options that you have unless you want to alter your kitchen and the units to suit the new appliance which will probably prove massively more expensive.
The Importance Of Research!
The key point here is to research in advance what you need and buy accordingly as, if you don’t, you face a huge amount of hassle and grief if not a big expense to put it right.
If you buy stuff second hand and hope to convert it then we’re afraid you’re out of luck, it’s not possible.
But You Can Do It
Yeah, we’ve heard this from a few people but honestly, to do it there are a few things you need to bear in mind:
- You’re altering the cabinet design to be used in a manner it was not intended for.
- That invalidates any warranty and extended warranty you have.
- It’s a bodge job.
- It probably won’t work as well as it should.
- It’ll probably fail sooner than it should as you’ve adversely affected the durability.
In other words, yes if you want to bodge up some sort of cobbled solution you might, just might not for sure, be able to bodge something up but it really isn’t a very good idea at all. Aside which you’ll need to be a kitchen fitting and appliance guy all wrapped into one and be good with tools and measuring down to the millimetre or, it’ll all go horribly wrong.
Our advice is, just don’t do it!
Buy the correct one first time around and save yourself a pile or grief, hassle and cash.
I have a Diplomat integrated dishwasher model ADP8242 which I need to replace. How do I know if it has a fixed or sliding hinge?
I have just read your comment on not switching between fixed and sliding integrated fridge hinges.
My existing integrated fridge is a 23 year old Bosch which has the old-style hinge system ie not the current fixed or sliding. The hinges are positioned between the cabinet carcas and cabinet door – there is no hinge on the fridge unit itself ie nothing directly connecting the fridge unit and fridge door. But there is also no sliding element on the outer side of the cabinet door. The fridge door is just firmly fixed to the cabinet door. Should I buy a fixed or sliding hinge new fridge to replace this ?
Did you get an answer to your question as I have exactly the same issue!
This blog is just plain wrong.
If you currently have a sliding door arrangement, then a fixed hinge fridge freezer can easily be accommodated. Simply remove the existing cabinet hinges, and attach the doors to the new fridge freezer.
If you currently have a fixed hinge system and wish to change to sliding then you will need to purchase appropriate hinges to attach the cabinet doors to the cabinet, so this is more complicated, but doable.
Most of the times the carcass/cabinet is designed for both sliding or fixed, you either use the cabinet hinges or you don’t, its as simple as that!
In neither of the above cases are you altering the cabinet.