Residential Refrigerator in 2021 310 GKR Falls out

[nedbrandt]

Just upgraded to a 2021 310 GKR about 2 months ago. Second trip out the Residential Refrigerator fell out against the island.. Has anyone else experienced this? My theory is there is no latch on the freezer door. The upper doors do have a latch. The 50 lbs of carne asada made the freezer door open on a turn, which in turned pulled the whole frig out because there is NOTHING holding the whole refrigerator in place accept for a board on top of the refrigerator which was useless. Extremely poor design. Surprising no-one at GD has caught this problem. Beware if you own one.

Question: anyone else with this problem, any good latches for locking the freezer door closed during travel, whole refrigerator latch down or tie down ideas???

 

[Second Chance]

If you use the search function on the forum, you'll find a number of threads on this topic. The best solution I've found for the doors is this (a number of us on the forum have installed one):

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YRZKY55/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Rob

 

[WhittleBurner]

Ned, I see you found your way and made your first post, welcome to the forum!

 

[nedbrandt]

Thank you. This will hold the doors closed but will it hold the unit in the closet? I read the product description and could not tell if it only connects to the refrigerator or the ends bolt to the cabinet walls? I went through the threads and did not see one that specifically discusses a way to hold the whole refrigerator in the cabinet.

 

[Rich T]

Thank you. This will hold the doors closed but will it hold the unit in the closet? I read the product description and could not tell if it only connects to the refrigerator or the ends bolt to the cabinet walls? I went through the threads and did not see one that specifically discusses a way to hold the whole refrigerator in the cabinet.

We have not had any problems with entire frig trying to come out, not sure what kind of fix there is to secure it in place better. What we have been doing to keep the freezer door closed is wedge a small pillow between the freezer door and the island. Good luck and keep us posted. Also welcome to the forum.
Rich

 

[geotex1]

You will need to secure the base and top of fridge (once you pin the base, it's more prone to tipping - simple physics). Top can be done with Simpson angles screwed into wall structure and the fridge cabinet (short screws to penetrate metal only). Bottom will depend on what you have when you take a look. Might be able to use lags, but likely brackets of some sort.

 

[BB&LAB]

We have not had any problems with entire frig trying to come out, not sure what kind of fix there is to secure it in place better. What we have been doing to keep the freezer door closed is wedge a small pillow between the freezer door and the island. Good luck and keep us posted. Also welcome to the forum.
Rich

Same here and we also wedge a pillow between the freezer drawer and the island. Thought of installing hooks on either side of the drawer and connecting a strap when traveling but have not gotten around to that yet. This thread raises a question I have been wondering about and that is how is the refrigerator suppose to be secured in place? I am wondering in case we ever need to replace the refrigerator.

 

[fmartinmn]

Thank you. This will hold the doors closed but will it hold the unit in the closet? I read the product description and could not tell if it only connects to the refrigerator or the ends bolt to the cabinet walls? I went through the threads and did not see one that specifically discusses a way to hold the whole refrigerator in the cabinet.

Ned, not sure what brand refrigerator you have, but many manufacturers have anti tip brackets for their products. See link for an example. We have to install these per code in some of our kitchen remodels. Best Luck, Frank.

https://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-support-search-content?contentId=18512

 

[bertschb]

Question: anyone else with this problem...

It hasn't happened to us but the people who bought our 2019 Solitude 373FB-R had the residential fridge fall out and hit the island.

 

[nedbrandt]

Thanks for the link. Local dealer re-secured it with extra wood. Waiting to see if Solitude is going to replace doors or whole frig.
Thanks again.

Just found out Solitude OK'd the replacement of the doors.

 

[nedbrandt]

Warning to all that have a Residential frig in a Solitude, you need to beef up the top brace or do something different. Especially if the frig and freezer have a lot in them.