New type of Integrated Appliance door hinges,,

[stevek]

Hi, weve just bought a new fridge, its a built in “integrated” one. The old fridge had the regular cabinet door hung on standard Euro Hinges with a couple of plastic sliders that joined the fridge door to a facia door, and this has worked without fault for over 20 yrs.
The new fridge comes with an altogether different arrangment,,,I will try to post a pic,,,agh, its a bit big but you can see the new style hinges,,,basicly the fridge door carries itself along with the facia door all on its own hinges,,no other door hinges,,there is additionally a full width steel plate that has to be screwed to the back of the facia door using adjustable plastic legs to transcribe the height,,and additional brackets fitted to the fridge door and facia on both sides...its a fair bit of work and Im wondering,,,why have they go down this route,,,any ideas?

 

[Sheptonphil]

Unsure why the change, but we have just refitted the complete kitchen and the Hoover integrated washer machine and condenser tumbler both have a weird hinge system that is rigged to the appliance face with various wedges, blocks, magnetic catches and bolts.

It kind of works, but feels nowhere near as solid as the previous setup where the hinges were fitted to the cabinetry and the appliance was free standing inside. slightest movement of either machine and the door alignments are screwed up. Spinning at 1100 rpm, the washer does vibrate slightly if the load settles wrong before spinning.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

We've got a Bosch integrated fridge with exactly the same type of hinge. I've never used any other (other than occasionally in hotels or other peoples houses). I think it's a good design because the fridge door and the decorative door are well integrated and feel like they're a single item - some of the alternative arrangements are a bit 'flappy' for want of a better word.

I've had to change ours once over the last ten years or so - the originals had wrongly-specified springs in them which snapped - the replacements have a different spring which looks like it should go on for years.

They're not unduly fiddly to install!

 

[doctor Bob]

Because they are much better and look tidier.
They have been like this for donkeys years, the cheaper models have sliders the more costly door on door.

 

[stevek]

Yep, I can see that its will all be a lot more solid,,esp as I can now see that the hinge will be screwed to the cabinet as well as the fridge and the trim door hanging out there on top,of it all,,,still seems like a complicated arrangement though,,

 

[MarkAW]

The sliders can be out of alignment too causing them to squeak. Although more faff to fit, I prefer the newer style