GE side by side freezer shelves falling down

In the hope that this helps someone else:

We have an older (about 1997) Sears side by side fridge (with water and crushed/cubed ice in the door) that still works well. But the fridge side door had warped over time (widened) and the shelves (maybe they shrunk - who knows?) tended to fall out. No fun cleaning up after a couple of jars bang against each other and break spilling who knows what over everything.

The door has a row of pins (14 per side) molded in place that support the shelves. The pins measure .395" in diameter and protrude about 7/16". The shelves hook over the pins and rest against the back of the door.

I suppose I could have hunted up a replacement part but given the age not worth bothering with and probably would have cost big bucks even if I were able to locate something. Not to mention the bother of storing everything in the fridge and taking it apart.

So to fix the problem I bought a three foot length of clear 3/8" x 9/16" plastic tubing (the stuff you would use in conjunction with a small pump) and cut 1/2" lengths which fit perfectly over the pins thus making them 1/16" longer per side. The tubing is actually 10mm I.D. (.393") x 13 mm (.512") O.D. not the nominal 3/8 (.375") advertised. The tubing was only a couple of bucks plus tax at the local "Ace hardware". Actually less than two foot was plenty but if needed I have some left over if it cracks, molds or the door grows/shelves shrink a bit more over time.

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together!

Thanks for listening to my gloat

John

This appears to be a known problem with at least a couple of GE models (It has been happening in our freezer too). There is a GE Service bulletin at https://customernet.geappliances.com/OTIS/fs/home_images/REF01-10.pdf that seems to describe the fix as them sending out new shelves (and maybe someone to install them?)