Pan drawer under refrigerator..

Bob Vaughn

Well-known member
Ok, how do we keep the pan drawer closed? When we are going down the road the pan drawer comes open. There is no latch or catch and I was wondering if it is possible to put one on to keep it closed ?:confused:
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Look on the underside of the drawer. Some are mounted there and it may need adjustment.
If none there I see no reason why you could not add one.

Peace
Dave
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
Mine had a spring catch that didn't hold very well and it opened up if it had any load in it. I bought some magnetic child proof latches but haven't gotten around to installing them yet. For now I just put a small pillow between the drawer front and the edge of the carpet when the slide is in. It catches on the edge of the carpet and works so good I may not do anything else...Don
 

Wharton

Well-known member
Several of our drawers were missing the catches installed by the factory. We call ed up and they mailed them to us.
 

Bob Vaughn

Well-known member
I think I will add another catch and move the one that is in the center to the side..Does any one know how to get the drawer slides to release the drawer so I can get to the underside of the front.
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Bob,

With the drawer open, look on the sides of the left and right drawer glides. There, you should see a small black plastic level. On one side, you will hold the lever up and on the other side you will hold the lever down. At the same time, with your 3rd hand, pull the drawer all the way out and off the glides.

Jim
 

Bob Vaughn

Well-known member
Jim,
Once again you were 100% correct. I went out to the camper, removed the pans and moved the black plastic levers and the drawer slid off the tracks.....Now to go to the hard ware store and get another catch. I will have to repair the facing because that broke when the drawer came out and tore out the screw.....Thanks for your quick response....
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Jim,
Once again you were 100% correct. I went out to the camper, removed the pans and moved the black plastic levers and the drawer slid off the tracks.....Now to go to the hard ware store and get another catch. I will have to repair the facing because that broke when the drawer came out and tore out the screw.....Thanks for your quick response....

Bob, if by facing, you mean the drawer front, what I would do is use 2 short but coarse thread screws and screw them in from the inside of the drawer box and into the back side of the drawer front.

In terms of the catch, yeah, that's a large drawer and mine too often slides open, though I keep only wraps (foil, plastic, bags...) in there. I need to add another catch to mine too :)

Jim
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Bob,

With the drawer open, look on the sides of the left and right drawer glides. There, you should see a small black plastic lever. On one side, you will hold the lever up and on the other side you will hold the lever down. At the same time, with your 3rd hand, pull the drawer all the way out and off the glides.

Jim
Third hand??? You're a funny guy Jim...
 

Bob Vaughn

Well-known member
It is no wonder that the drawer slide ripped out.....the single screw that holds it to the facing is a tiny 3/8-1/2 " inch long.... I think I will replace them with longer ones.....behind that drawer is a huge open space.....I think that would be a good place to put a box with some things for safe keeping.....like mad money, I have found in our travels that finding a no huge transaction fee ATM are an impossibility. We were in a national forest this weekend and the closest Wal Mart for getting money was over 30 miles away plus the closest bank as that same distance.....
 

mrcomer

Past Ohio Chapter Leaders (Founding)
While you have that drawer out you might want to reinforce the bottom. I added (2) 1/2 x 2-1/2 pieces of oak the length of the drawer, fron to back and screwed them on. Now I have a much more stable drawer with a bottom that will not buckle from the weight of the pans.

Mark
 

ChangingPlaces

Well-known member
Hi Bob
What I have done with our drawers, is put magnetic catches on them. They work well. I even put them on our cupboards, some of them have two have magnetic catches which flew open under braking. Now they don't move at all.
Best of luck
 

Bob Vaughn

Well-known member
I was putting 2 more latches of the front of the drawer and I looked inside the drawer opening and realized that they had made a box of 1 x 1 's and it was screwed to the floor in the middle with one screw. The sides are held in place by the drawer slides. Nothing to hold it to the sides or top very very flimsy...So I measured the space between the bottom of the refer floor and the top of the wood frame and found a piece of wood that thickness and glued it into the opening....It is now nice and sturdy.....the latches now hold the drawer closed a whole lot better......
 

caissiel

Senior Member
I also had to reinforce the bottom of the drawer, the bottom fell out with the rough roads this spring in NB.
 

JonV

Well-known member
I'm thinking, from what I'm hearing here, that I'd better keep my eyes open for some baltic birch plywood. :)
 

firemailwv

Active Member
my drawer under the fridge does not want to close all the way when it is loaded? I have to hold constant pressure down on the front of the drawer for it to close. Unfortunately, my wife does not have the "touch" and it stays open two inches until I come in and close it. How do I adjust this? This may be a minor detail, but with as much advertising about holding, what, 70 pounds in the drawers, I was hoping not to have issues such as this.
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
I replaced the front and rear pieces of the drawer with 1/2" plywood and reused the sides. I cut a groove in the front panel for the drawer bottom to fit into. I cut the width of the rear panel narrow enough to enable me to slide the new 1/4" thick drawer bottom into place then I glued it and hit it with my air stapler and some 1" narrow crown staples. Way stronger than the original. Now we can safely fill the drawer with 12 packs of soda or adult beverages without worry of the drawer falling apart like it did before....Don
 
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