Edgestar Hinge Replacements?

[pvangura]

Hi all,

I searched quickly, and wasn't able to find anything specific, so forgive me if this has already been addressed somewhere else...

I've got an FP430 Edgestar that's about 2 years old, and it's finally starting to show it (it does, however, still work flawlessly ). Recently one of the handles broke, so I replaced them with metal handles. While replacing the second one yesterday, I noticed that one of the plastic hinges on the lid was crumbling to pieces. Has anyone replaced them with something more durable? I put a call in to Edgestar about ordering replacements, but if I can use some sort of metal hinge, I would rather do that. I thought about using a regular door or piano hinge, but there's a piece of moulding on the fridge that prevents it from sitting flush (there's a cut-out for this moulding in the original plastic hinges). Any ideas are appreciated!

Thanks,
Paul

[Xterabl]

Just took a look at my fridge to see for myself...I see what you mean about the "bite" in the hing surface to accommodate the fridge moulding. With a generic flush-mount hinge, you could use spacers between the hinge surface and the fridge. So, you would put the screws through the hinge, then put your spacer(s) on the screws, then screw into the fridge. If you don't care how it looks, you could just use washers; otherwise, get some metal plate (it looks like 1/8" would work fine) and make a contoured cut to match the profile of your metal hinge.

Interesting about the "crumbling"...does it look like exposure to elements? Maybe I'll coat mine with with something as a preventative measure.

[CaliMobber]

Yea both of my hinges are busted. One kinda works so I have just been dealing with it since I cant seem to find something that will work. I have thought about using spacers but that seems pretty ghetto, If anyone has replaced them or has any idea's please speak up.

[Xterabl]

Another idea: if you have thin enough metal on your replacement hinges, just bend them appropriately (assuming you have tools & skill to achieve this) to mimic the bite.

[DaJudge]

Call LivingDirect, they have steel ones for $9.00 each. I just replaced mine!

[pvangura]

Thanks for the suggestions. I thought about the spacer option, but couldn't think of a way to do it that would look nice. I had a set of hinges and a piece of 1/8" aluminum in my hand at the hardware store, but decided to wait to hear back from Edgestar support.

As DaJudge noted, they have stainless replacement hinges available through Living Direct. When Edgestar called back today, they gave me the part number (FPSERIES5SS). Gave Living Direct a call & ordered a pair of them for $27 including shipping. A little pricey, but I can be sure they will fit and will have everything fixed up in time for my trip next week.

Paul