Rear shelf - oooops NOW FIXED!

Photomom

My DH made the mistake of grabbing the edge of the rear shelf (as installed in the newest T@Bs) and using it to scootch himself up in bed. It popped right off. It looks like the plastic hinges are soft enough that they came right off the screws. @Verna and others, what is the best way to fix this? I can easily put the shelf back with the plastic hinges, but I'm not sure it will hold well now that the holes have been stretched, and in any case the plastic hinges look a bit dodgy. Would metal hinges work okay here?


You can see here the screws are still in place. (Those additional holes came that way, someone must have drilled in the wrong place.)

Cyclonic

Surprised they used those.  I would just replace them with brass hinges that can be found at any hardware store.

Photomom

I can only imagine the plastic ones were a better match for the wood color. Can't imagine it would reduce the unit manufacturing cost enough to matter.

Cyclonic

I can't either, maybe at the numbers that they are producing, it is an odd bit of hardware that I am surprised they used.  Brass hinges are cheap, more durable, and look good.

Verna

I have purchased 12" piano hinges for mine. While I may have to put glue and longer screws in the end grain of the cleats I'll be installing, I do believe the piano hinges will last for a long time. 

Photomom

The piano hinges sound like the right fix. I've added that to my to do list when I do something about holding the shelf up. 

For now, I put the screws back with washers and DH has strict instructions not to pull on the shelf. 

ChanW

heh, those darned tall folks. Always pushing or pulling or bumping into something, when trying to fit into small spaces... (been there, done that)

dragonsdofly

Thanks for the post Photomom. Something for us to be especially careful with. 4 of us in the T@b and something is bound to happen. That area was not even on the radar for me but the far back is where the boys sleep and they don't pay attention to what they're doing. Maybe I can replace the hinges before we have an oops. We used the area under the shelf for dry and canned goods this weekend. Necessary with growing boys. It was our inaugural run also.

Photomom

Verna said:

I have purchased 12" piano hinges for mine. While I may have to put glue and longer screws in the end grain of the cleats I'll be installing, I do believe the piano hinges will last for a long time. 

One thing I'd like to do, but I lack the right saw to do a good job, is to cut that shelf into 3 parts to match the 3 sections of the storage area underneath the shelf. It would be nice to only have to raise the shelf for the section you need to access, and each section would be much lighter than the whole thing. Something to think about if you make your own. 

Verna

Photomom said:

Verna said:

I have purchased 12" piano hinges for mine. While I may have to put glue and longer screws in the end grain of the cleats I'll be installing, I do believe the piano hinges will last for a long time. 

One thing I'd like to do, but I lack the right saw to do a good job, is to cut that shelf into 3 parts to match the 3 sections of the storage area underneath the shelf. It would be nice to only have to raise the shelf for the section you need to access, and each section would be much lighter than the whole thing. Something to think about if you make your own. 

Mine is already cut into 4 pieces and the plan is to make the storage areas to match the lengths of the pieces. And for those of us who have the glcol reservoir under the shelf, I found that by holding a mirror next to the rear wall, I can see the level of the glycol very easily.

Photomom, with patience, a guide and some clamps, you can accurately cut the board to the lengths.   Hollar if you need some help with instructions. I have a compound miter saw so it would take me longer to set the saw up than to make the cuts

Photomom

Verna said:

Photomom said:

Verna said:

I have purchased 12" piano hinges for mine. While I may have to put glue and longer screws in the end grain of the cleats I'll be installing, I do believe the piano hinges will last for a long time. 

One thing I'd like to do, but I lack the right saw to do a good job, is to cut that shelf into 3 parts to match the 3 sections of the storage area underneath the shelf. It would be nice to only have to raise the shelf for the section you need to access, and each section would be much lighter than the whole thing. Something to think about if you make your own. 

Mine is already cut into 4 pieces and the plan is to make the storage areas to match the lengths of the pieces. 

Photomom, with patience, a guide and some clamps, you can accurately cut the board to the lengths.   Hollar if you need some help with instructions. I have a compound miter saw so it would take me longer to set the saw up than to make the cuts

I have a small compound miter saw (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-ONE-18-Volt-7-1-4-in-Miter-Saw-Tool-Only-P551/202611233) that I use for moldings, picture frames, etc, but it won't cut material as wide as the shelf. I also have a scroll saw with a fine blade, and also a saber saw, but cutting straight lines is a challenge. Will need to think about this. It would be awfully convenient. Advice would be very welcome. 

ChanW

Photomom, if you're going to cut that nice finished birch plywood, use a very fine-toothed blade, preferably circular I think, maybe with masking tape along the cut to reduce tear-out.

The veneer on that pretty wood is really thin and tears out easily. I speak from experience (or rather 'inexperience' - I didn't fare so well at it).

Verna can tell you better how to cut it... B-)

Verna

@Photomom your miter saw will cut it, if you have patience. Get a new blade, unless yours is relatively new, and as many teeth on the blade as you can get so it will be a smooth cut. Try this on a similar piece of wood first so you can make your cutting mistakes there first.

Cut as far as your blade will allow, then flip the wood over to finish the cut. You will have to be careful to make a straight cut because it will be very easy to be off just a fraction of an inch. If you can clamp the wood down on your saw (ON ONE SIDE OF THE BLADE ONLY!) after you have meadured 3 or 4 times for the second cut, it will stay in place for your cut. If you don't get a straight cut, don't worry. If you're used to cutting picture frames, etc. you can always put a piece of trim board on the end to make up for a goof. 

Hollar if you don't understand or need more help. You can always ship it to me and I'll cut it for you

Photomom

I do have a very fine blade on the miter saw. I'll add this mod to my list. 

I finally figured out what to do with the enclosed space under the shelf - we'll use the two end sections for PJs and use the center section for extra paper towels and TP. Having the shelf lift in sections will be great. 

Verna

@Photomom it would be so nice to store the TP out of sight!  I keep a max of 8 rolls in a zippered Rubbermaid see-through storage bag and I hate I have no other place to store it. I will soon!  Thanks!

Photomom

Here's my fix! The shelf is really heavy, so I decided to cut it into 3 sections to correspond to the braces that essentially divide the storage space into 3 parts. Since I'm limited to items that will fit into only one section because of the braces, why open more of the shelf than necessary? I also installed some regular metal hinges, although DH has been cautioned not to pull on the shelf in a sleepy stupor.

Thanks, @Verna, for the advice about sawing the shelf. I used masking tape and cut with a 60 tooth blade in my miter saw. My cuts look better than the factory ones on the ends!

Now I need to do something to hold them open - I wonder if the sections are now light enough for the famous "spring mod" to work?

Photomom

I am still trying to figure out what to store in that space. It is only accessible with the sofa back down, and I have all our bedding behind the sofa so it's not a convenient spot for things you need during the day.

ChanW

Hey, that looks beautiful! Nice!

Our Tab came with no boxed areas or outlets on the ends of that shelf (those boxes enclosing your outlets). Ours was before LG made that design decision. I like that look, and am envious of the outlets.

It seems the space right beneath the outlets could each contain a small storage 'nook', for a cell phone, or the entertainment remote controls, or...

ChanW

A question Photomom, is it difficult to get to the expansion/refill tank for the Alde glycol?

Photomom

It is not what you'd call easy, but I did add a couple ounces of fluid without spilling anything. You have to remove a screw (they drilled two holes but only put in one screw for some reason) and slide the panel in the picture towards the front of the trailer. That opens the roughly triangular area where the tank is.

Photomom

ChanW said:

Our Tab came with no boxed areas or outlets on the ends of that shelf (those boxes enclosing your outlets). Ours was before LG made that design decision. 

Based on all the extra screw holes (when I took one of the original hinges off there were 4 holes in the shelf and 6 holes in the back board) and the fit of a couple of the wooden pieces, I get the impression that my trailer might have been the prototype...

ChanW

Ha! Lucky you. Ours was a 'prototype' for a number of things too.

So is your tank mounted above the level of that back shelf? Ours is right below the shelf.

Verna

@Photomom, try the springs. They are working well for my kitchen cabinet doors. These cannot weigh much more than those doors. 

Photomom

ChanW said:

Ha! Lucky you. Ours was a 'prototype' for a number of things too.

So is your tank mounted above the level of that back shelf? Ours is right below the shelf.

The part that screws off is slightly above the level of the shelf. 

Verna

Use a mirror to see the level of the glcol. 

Photomom

Verna said:

Use a mirror to see the level of the glcol. 

Actually I didn't even need to in this case, a flashlight was all I needed.

ChanW

Ahh, I see. Thanks.

Photomom said:

ChanW said:

Ha! Lucky you. Ours was a 'prototype' for a number of things too.

So is your tank mounted above the level of that back shelf? Ours is right below the shelf.

The part that screws off is slightly above the level of the shelf. 

Photomom

Used the larger springs that come in the usual pack from Home Depot - they hold fine.

Closing the books on this mod :-)

Verna

Congrats!  6" springs?

Photomom

Yes.

Verna

Thank you.