Fridge Glass Top / Aluminium Hinge Unstuck.

[John]

The fridge glass top is now loose in the channel where it should be glued to the aluminium hinge at the rear of the fridge lid.

Is there a good glue that can be used on glass and aluminium that is not too thick so that the front of the lid will still fit.

John

 

[barry]

I don't think you can beat good old fashioned 2-part Araldite.
I know it works with glass and I know it works with plastic.

(I fixed the tap in the Cali with it about 12 months ago)
Don't know where aluminium fits into this though.
It's an odd metal.
My guess is it will be fine ...

I'd be keen to know what happens for when it goes on my fridge

 

[Martin]

John, why do you keep breaking your Cali on this trip to Cornwall?

 

[John]

Hi Martin

Hows France,

Yes our Cali Berty's revolting a long drive two dogs, two adults and a 11 year old who's going on 18.

John

 

[John]

I have removed the fridge lid and hinge today and cleaned off the old adhesive. This took some time as the grey adhesive used by VW it is quite hard and needed to be hacked away, in the aluminium hinge channel, with a miniature chisel.

Have also spent a lot of time trying to source a adhesive that will glue glass to metal. :?

First option I found was Loctite Glass Bond Adhesive 3g Glass - This looked a possibility as it specifically glues glass to metal and is water resistant.
However, on reading the reviews it needs a large amount of UV light to cure so would be a problem as light will not easily get to the bottom of the aluminium hinge channel to cure the glue.

Next up came Gorilla glue, which is popular in the States, and can stick virtually anything including glass and metal. Gorilla Glue is a polyurethane glue. When exposed to moisture, the adhesive reacts and creates a foaming action that fills whilst it sticks. Gorilla Glue has an open working time of 20 minutes. The glue is brown in colour, but dries a tan colour, and is totally waterproof. Due to its foaming action the glue gives greater coverage - up to 3 times the coverage of other glues. This glue is unaffected by extreme hot and cold and will not break down when exposed to rain and snow so should be OK on a fridge lid.

However, the expanding part may be the problem as the fridge lid might not fit afterwards and I would never get the joint apart. :crazy

So I am back to using epoxy adhesive (araldite) as Barry suggested but I am just not sure it is up to the job. :crazy

John

 

[Stu]

How about this stuff John?

I've used it quite a bit in the past to glue some pretty serious stuff.

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

I know that when we have replaced a fridge lid we got hold of some clear adhesive that did the job. Unfortunately we haven't had to glue the lid back onto the hinge (yet!?!) so can't help with what to use. The clear adhesive we used last time was to stick the fridge lid to the glass lid and didn't have to be as strong as what is probably needed here.

cheers

 

[John]

I know that when we have replaced a fridge lid we got hold of some clear adhesive that did the job. Unfortunately we haven't had to glue the lid back onto the hinge (yet!?!) so can't help with what to use. The clear adhesive we used last time was to stick the fridge lid to the glass lid and didn't have to be as strong as what is probably needed here.

cheers

Thanks Alex,

I called some local glaziers for some advice and they all said use ordinary silicon sealant the type used by builders. One of them has even been using it for years on fish tanks.

So I have giving it a go and put a small bead of silicon in the bottom of the hinge channel. Protecting the aluminium with masking tape and cardboard I rested the whole assembly on some bubble wrap in some sash clamps. Baby wipes were used to clean of any excess silicon that got pushed out of the ends when clamping.

Will know if it has worked tomorrow morning. At least silicon can be scraped out of the hinge channel if it does not work.

John

 

[MichaelB]

John

The care in your repair is a thing of beauty. I really hope it works for you. Out of interest when in my friendly local dealer I asked about the cost of new fridge lid as ours has a scratch. £174 Ouch

My fingers are crossed for you!

 

[John]

John

The care in your repair is a thing of beauty. I really hope it works for you. Out of interest when in my friendly local dealer I asked about the cost of new fridge lid as ours has a scratch. £174 Ouch

My fingers are crossed for you!

Thanks Michael,

that's very kind, it looks like the silicon worked.

Time will tell but at this stage the hinge is solidly attached to the glass top. :barmy

John

 

[calikev]

Nice repair John good stuff

 

[MichaelB]

Excellent News John...definately need a "how to fix things" topic here somewhere. I will be saving your fix for future reference

 

[John]

Thanks guys.

John

 

[Joss Apps]

Hello John
I have a similar problem although for me it's the hob/sink aluminium edge that's separated. Has the silicon fix stood the test of time?

 

[John]

Hello John
I have a similar problem although for me it's the hob/sink aluminium edge that's separated. Has the silicon fix stood the test of time?

Hi Joss,

its still going fine

John

 

[Cavilln]

Hi all - hope you can help me on a sticky (or should I say unsticky) fridge top.

I don't have a problem with the hinge, but the glass lid has come away from the plastic insulated section beneath, which is attached to the piston-type lid closing device.

I'm going to have a go at fixing it before I have to give in and pay a visit to the lovely folk at my nearby van centre. So, a few questions:

Like the last post, is Araldite probably the best job?
Should I leave the top glass lid in place while glueing or is it easy to remove?
Should I take off the piston thing? Would certainly make the glueing easier as at the moment it twists the plastic fridge lid all over the place when open

All advice appreciated thanks

Nick

 

[andys495]

Nick,
See second post. I tried Araldite first time round and it didn't work. It might have been because the insulation is compressed foam and absorbed the gel or more likely that the bead was too small to be effective. Personally I left the arm intact as the base seemed to locate itself ok back onto the glass lid when I closed it. However after applying the Evostick I packed out the top of the fridge, closed the lid and placed a heavy 5 L bottle of water on it so that there was pressure between the surfaces.

Andy

 

[Cavilln]

Thanks for the advice - much appreciated. I saw on another post that bathroom sealant was recommended so I have tried that and so far it has held fast. I was able to cover the surface with lines/beads of it so hopefully there is quite a lot to stick.

I found it easier to remove the gas strut as for me it was twisting the fridge cover around and stopping me getting it in the right position.

And finally advice for anyone else having to do this: be careful when scraping the old glue fro the bottom of the glass surface. it is possible to scrape off the silver coating which is then visible from the top of the glass. I only removed a tiny tiny bit but it still shows

 

[Cavilln]

An update for fridge lid sticking fans out there. My silicon sealant fix did not work: after a few weeks, the sealant came unstuck from the insulation material. I used loads of lines of it in thick beads and it is all very firmly stuck to the glass, it just must be unsuitable for bonding to the insulation. So I'm going to try Evostick next, unless anyone can recommend anything else?

 

[John]

An update for fridge lid sticking fans out there. My silicon sealant fix did not work: after a few weeks, the sealant came unstuck from the insulation material. I used loads of lines of it in thick beads and it is all very firmly stuck to the glass, it just must be unsuitable for bonding to the insulation. So I'm going to try Evostick next, unless anyone can recommend anything else?

Your repair is a little different from the repair I had.

To clarify I was repairing the joint between the glass edge and aluminium hinge channel, silicon does work and the repair is still going strong. Also had the repair not worked silicon is a lot easier to remove from the glass and channel than using a adhesive like epoxy (Araldite).

Coming back to your repair, the plastic insulation to the glass lid, what you have in your favour is a large bonding area. The disadvantage is that you are trying to bond glass to plastic. Forget any epoxy (Araldite) glues as you would have to rough up the surfaces being glued to help the glue key. Even then I don't believe that epoxy would work with glass. There is a chance that Evostick would work but it tends to be better on more porous surfaces like wood.

A quick search on Google came up with this, Locktite 3494

http://www.loctite.co.uk/fullproduct-li ... 000000ID5Q

Other options may be Gorilla Glue or even Gripfill.

Good luck and let us know how it worked out.

John