Hinge receiver repair by welding?

n. The oven door does not close completely since the hinge parts are kind of loosey-goosey. Problem can be remedied by removing and replacing door, but, after about 3-4 openings the door dislocates again.

er the place. The receiver, which is attached to the oven frame, is not ev en listed in the parts lists and thus seems un-available.

of the slot, and then file it back into a rectangular and slightly smaller shape. While I do have MIG, I am more comfortable with acetylene and woul d prefer that.

g to be so soft that the part will wear out rather quickly. Will I be over heating this part and doing more harm than good?

Better than new! Will not file well,I'd keep it minimal. Then a touch of teflon. ww

I'm sure your welding will be at least as hard and strong as the original. I think MIG will localize the heat better since you can weld for a second at a time with cooldown in between, and thus damage less of the original plating. Acetylene welding or brazing will heat up the entire piece. Wrapping with wet rags would help, too. The plating looks silver in color so I'm thinking it is possibly chrome plated (but not polished, so less likely) or a chromate conversion coating on top of electroplated zinc, which means don't breathe the fumes. If it is gold or yellow colored (I can't be positive from the pics) it is most likely a dichromate conversion coating on top of electroplated zinc, so again, don't breathe the fumes. You probably want to grind/file off the plating in the spots you will be welding on so the zinc doesn't interfere with the welding.

The above are two photos of an 'hinge receiver' for a KitchenAid wall oven. The oven door does not close completely since the hinge parts are kind of loosey-goosey. Problem can be remedied by removing and replacing door, but, after about 3-4 openings the door dislocates again.

The hinge parts (not in pictures), with springs etc. are available all over the place. The receiver, which is attached to the oven frame, is not even listed in the parts lists and thus seems un-available.

I thought I would try to recondition it by adding a weld bead to the ends of the slot, and then file it back into a rectangular and slightly smaller shape. While I do have MIG, I am more comfortable with acetylene and would prefer that.

I need opinions on whether I am wasting my time, i.e. is my weldment going to be so soft that the part will wear out rather quickly. Will I be overheating this part and doing more harm than good?

The receiver attaches to the bottom left and right corners of part 14 (Frame-Frnt) in the diagram link below. In said exploded view it should have shown up directly behind said 'Frame-Front'. This model oven KEBS107DWH7 is made by Whirlpool and seems identical to Maytag and Kenmore.

All comments appreciated. Ivan Vegvary

"Carl Ijames" fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@news4.newsguy.com:

All he said, plus, if the finish isn't the most important part for you (say, you could paint or re-plate, etc), you can spot-harden the weldment area to your taste, making that bearing area more durable.

LLoyd

The part was probably made by punching and forming mild steel stock. Whatever material you add won't hurt it. You could probably make the part from scratch, but obviously that would take more time.

But of course, mild steel can be hardened.. and Lllloyd is the man who can tell you that it can be.

Weak/stretched springs can also contribute to incomplete door closing. If the slots are elongated, the top of the door would probably not close completely.

I'd definitely do it by adding some material at the ends of the slots with MIG, it'll be the quickest to see if the additional supporting metal has the desired effect.