What to replace glass fridge shelves with

[mousebat]

Hi

I've managed to procure a tall larder type fridge (Hotpoint RLA80) to use as a fermentation chamber. It comes with the typical plastic rimmed glass shelves you find in big fridges and I'm not entirely comfortable with a 25 litre plastic fermenter sitting on one of them at waist height!

The gap between each shelf runner is approximately 10-12 mm, so I need to find a material that is strong/stiff enough to take a full 25 litre bucket but be no more than 10mm thick really. I was thinking about plywood but not sure if it would take the weight of a full bucket without bending and popping out of the runners. The width of the sheet would have to be 500mm and the depth similar (400-450mm).

Any ideas?

Cheers

MB

[Fastline]

I would say put some large holes in the plywood to allow a flow of air and strengthen the underside with some batons of wood to stop it flexing

[mousebat]

I never thought of battening it.

I was looking at a company that can supply polycarbonate sheeting cut to size, but they want 18 quid a sheet for 8mm thick!

Does anyone know if acrylic would be strong enough?

[JamesF]

Blimey. I reckon you could get aluminium sheet 4mm or 5mm thick for that sort of price.

James

[Jimmymck]

I mounted a conical fermenter on a frame, so far so good. I'll try to get a photo on.

[scotia]

2mm st/stl sheet with a fold on the front and rear edge up or down ways is stong enough. I hold three 25lt pins in a tall fridge without any problems.

[UpTheToon]

I used plywood and cut it into slats about 10 cm wide. A word of warning for whatever you go for, remember about the contraction you get if you use the fridge to lager or crash cool!

I didn't think about it and the slats are barely long enough to stay in place when I crash cool...

[jimpy0]

bed slats - if they can take a lard arse like moi they will take a keg and bottles - well mine does LOL

[Rogermort]

I have absolutely no experience in these matters but wouldn't the tempered glass shelf be strong enough?

[mr_so]

Make shelves out of battening, it's probably overkill as far as taking the weight, but at least you can sleep easy knowing it's secure and you won't ever wake up with gallons of beer over the floor.. It's also pretty cheap and easy to get hold of

I made this to fit into an RLA80 originally and then edited it slightly to fit the new fridge when I had to replace it a few months ago..

The shelves are removable and it easily takes 2 x 5 gallon buckets

[Fatbloke-Dim]

I did exactly as suggested further up the post. Plywood ,about 14mm/15mm , with holes cut by various sized holesaws ,to allow air to circulate. The thickness of the ply used should be the thickest you can get in the grooves , it should hold up just fine at 10mm or over . DON'T use MDF ! Don't ask how I know ,but thankfully I found out in a non-disastrous manner . Will get some pix up soon as . Did'nt even need to drill thru' the fridge , either for any wiring , so the fridge can work as a normal appliance for non-beer purposes . But best not get in that situation ,eh?