Replacement integrated fridge door hinges

[Archim]

Hi,

I would greatly appreciate advice on hinges for a replacement integrated fridge. The situation is summarised below. Please give whatever comments or advice you can. Many thanks.

The situation

I inherited (with the house) an integrated Prima LPR472 fridge-freezer. It has failed, and having read your (very useful and sensible) comments on thermostats and fridge-freezers, I will replace it with a tall larder fridge, and later buy a separate freezer.

The larder fridge I have selected is Bosch KIL82VS30G, albeit it also has a small ice-box.

The Bosch KIL82VS30G is 1772 mm H x 541 mm W x 545 mm D.
The Bosch requires niche dimensions 1775 mm H x 560 mm W x 550 mm D.
The aperture which the Prima was in is 1776 mm H x 560 mm W x 550 mm D.

So, nominally the Bosch should fit. However there are two problems:

1. The doors of the cabinet are secured by hinges which project about 18mm into the 560mm width. The Prima had sliding hinges. It was nominally 1773 x 540 x 544, and had been forced into place, with the cabinet door hinges causing bad scratches on the Prima door edges (invisible until I removed it).
The Bosch comes with sliding hinges.
It seems to me that there are three solutions: please comment and advise:
1a Stay with sliding hinges:
The cabinet at the side where the doors are hinged (right-hand side) has three thicknesses of plastic-veneered chipboard, each about 18mm thick. I could remove small sections of the chipboard wall of the cabinet to which the hinges are screwed, where the cabinet door hinges are, and fasten the cabinet door hinges to the next piece of chipboard, i.e. in effect sink the cabinet door hinges into the cabinet wall. The doors would shift 18mm to one side, but cosmetically that is acceptable.
1b Switch to all-in-one hinges:
I could simply detach the cabinet doors, remove the hinges, and switch to all-in-one hinges instead of sliding hinges. If you think this is the best option, please tell me which hinges you recommend I should use. I’m aware of all the cautions about weight, and I would rather buy good hinges now than have a problem arise in several years though using poorer quality hinges.
1c Keep fridge-freezer and cabinet doors separate:
This seems to me to be the easiest solution and I cannot see anything wrong with it. Am I missing something?
I could simply
? replace the cabinet door hinges with normal door hinges which do not project into the cabinet space.
? not connect the cabinet and fridge-freezer doors at all.
? glue and/or screw a normal handle onto the door of the fridge-freezer.
The cabinet doors would then simply be cosmetic doors hiding the fridge-freezer.

2. The Prima had two doors: the top 1246mm (approx 2/3) for the fridge and a space for a mains switch above the fridge, and the bottom 718mm (approx 1/3) for the freezer. They are hinged separately. I presume there is no reason why I should not link them by screwing a thin steel or plastic strip across the join, thereby in effect making a single door. Are such strips standard (do they exist), or will I have to improvise?

I will add that the fitted kitchen has an adequate “chimney” space behind the fridge-freezer to vent out warm air, but does not have provision in the kickboard to let cooling air in (I don’t know who installed it!). However, this can easily be remedied.

[trotter]

Re: Replacement integrated fridge door hinges

Stick with the sliding hinges!

[electrofix]

Re: Replacement integrated fridge door hinges

don’t try to alter what comes with the new unit you will only bring more grief

lock the doors together with metal straps

Dave

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