Securing a standing fridge

[kazetsukai]

Hey all, I'm fairly committed to replacing my laundry area with a good sized, residential standing fridge.

The space is perfect for it, plus the water inputs there can be used for an ice maker. I'm looking hard at an enclosed trailer for the purposes of laundry. The positives are less noise in my cabin, and room for the fridge in exchange for the obvious drawbacks of towing, having to duplicate infrastructure (electrical/water), and winter access.

One of the things I'm uncertain of is, securing the fridge to the floor/wall. The only idea that comes to mind is a big bolt through the floor on both ends for ratcheting tie-down. I would probably use the same solution to secure the laundry machines to the trailer floor as well.

This is one of the last blockers to us moving in. I'm looking around for used fridges in the area that aren't caked in nasty worse than coronavirus.

[Native]

Just tossing out ideas here ...


Angle iron screwed across the top/back extending past the side. Attach the "free" (extension) ends of the angle iron to your wall. Just be careful you do not penetrate any of the coolant lines with the screws.

[Drew Bru]

We bolted D-rings to the ribs and use a ratchet strap across the middle of the fridge. When we're done moving we remove the strap and pull the fridge away from the wall so it's inline with the cabinets. It's no ideal but it works and it's not too much of a hassle. We only move a couple times a month at the most so it's not too bad.

[PNW_Steve]

In my travel trailer I replaced the RV fridge with a residential fridge.

To secure it I made L brackets out of 1/8" x 1" steel and put three on each side attaching the fridge to the wall and two on each side to attach the fridge to the floor.

Securing everything thoroughly I criticality important. In the event of an açcident a poorly secured fridge can kill you. Something as small as a coffee cup can cause injury.

[Whiskey.Wilderness]

There are actually anti tip brackets you can buy - we will be using two kinds - ones that screw to the floor and the feet slide into and then a loop bracket that is metal with a pin or metal zip tie type thing that secures to the wall and the back of the fridge.
https://www.amazon.com/GENERAL-ELECT...9563239&sr=8-9

https://www.amazon.com/Hangman-Anti-...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

[ABBus]

I just put some screws (3 on each side) through the wooden cabinet/wall and into the side of the fridge. Then, some spots of spray foam between the fridge and the walls to glue and solidarise the assembly. Never moved, even on (very) rough dirt roads.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by ABBus

I just put some screws (3 on each side) through the wooden cabinet/wall and into the side of the fridge. Then, some spots of spray foam between the fridge and the walls to glue and solidarise the assembly. Never moved, even on (very) rough dirt roads.

A dude that posts on reddit (and here, rarely) did this and ran a screw into a condenser line (or something important like that) and destroyed his fridge.

[ABBus]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

A dude that posts on reddit (and here, rarely) did this and ran a screw into a condenser line (or something important like that) and destroyed his fridge.

Ouch. I guess I was lucky, then. I thought there was only foam in the sides. Thanks for the info.

[BeNimble]

I will note that some smaller fridges use the outer walls for the dissipation of the condenser heat, like most chest freezers do. When built this way, you must insure adequate ventilation around the fridge walls.

A fridge with the condenser coiled at the bottom is best vented to the outside, like is done with essentially all RVs.

[ABBus]

True. I let some space under, behind and above the fridge to allow proper heat dissipation (following the recommandations from the user's guide).

[musigenesis]

Any more thoughts on how you're going to do this? I just bought the chest freezer for my bus and now I realize I have absolutely no idea how to mount this thing securely. It's free-standing so I really can't attach anything to the outer shell (so no brackets on the back). I'm thinking maybe something like a wooden belt that secures it around the middle, but that would probably look a bit janky. Or maybe cargo straps that would only be on for driving, but I can see where that would get to be a pain pretty quickly.

[Mountain Gnome]

Does it have screw-adjustable feet?


If so, you could unscrew them, and bolt a piece of flooring plywood or thickish steel plate to the bottom. The bottom piece would be just a bit bigger than the fridge/freezer footprint, and you could bolt it to the floor, or add angle brackets and bolt it to the wall, or something....

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Mountain Gnome

Does it have screw-adjustable feet?


If so, you could unscrew them, and bolt a piece of flooring plywood or thickish steel plate to the bottom. The bottom piece would be just a bit bigger than the fridge/freezer footprint, and you could bolt it to the floor, or add angle brackets and bolt it to the wall, or something....

It has two screw-adjustable feet and two wheels in the back, but what they're attached to appears to be just pretty thin sheet metal. I'd be worried about a fully-loaded freezer having enough leverage in a really sudden stop to tear loose, or even just for regular driving to eventually weaken that metal.

I pulled the covers off the hinges and I think maybe I can actually bolt a piece of angle steel to both hinge brackets and then fix that angle steel to the wall. The question is whether these hinge brackets are attached to the freezer body strongly enough for this.

[Mountain Gnome]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

It has two screw-adjustable feet and two wheels in the back, but what they're attached to appears to be just pretty thin sheet metal. I'd be worried about a fully-loaded freezer having enough leverage in a really sudden stop to tear loose, or even just for regular driving to eventually weaken that metal.

I pulled the covers off the hinges and I think maybe I can actually bolt a piece of angle steel to both hinge brackets and then fix that angle steel to the wall. The question is whether these hinge brackets are attached to the freezer body strongly enough for this.

I have the same problem with stuff in my bus. It's secure, until the front-end collision at 70mph, or if I roll sideways.


I just put stuff that WAS secure in front of the stuff that I could not securely bolt to the floor or walls, so if a collision breaks them loose, they just hit the secure stuff and stop.


But then again, in a flatnose, I don't know that I would survive a 70mph head-on collision anyway. Not much more than some sheet-metal up front there.....


And if it rolls, well, all bets are off.....


Some day I'll find a new home and all that unsecured stuff will come out, and I'll install a shower. Hopefully this decade.

[BeNimble]

Epoxy is the solution to every problem, or it used to be before 3d printers.

Glue L to the walls along the base. Like all adhesive solution, lots of surface area is how to make it strong.

[musigenesis]

I ended up bolting a rail with dowel pins to the hinge brackets of my freezer:



Then bolting a rail with matching holes for the dowel pins to the wall:



Then I lifted the freezer up and set it into place.



Worked pretty well and has the freezer solidly locked in place without surrounding it with anything. I'm going to see if I can mount my washer and dryer in sort of the same way, although I don't think either one has anything as convenient for mounting the rails to as these hinges were.

[ABBus]

Nice and clean.