6 gallon bucket on refrigerator shelf?

If it's held for an hour then I think you're going to be okay. I've never tried to use a shelf, but I have brewed lagers and have removed the vegetable bin so that I could put the bucket on the floor of the fridge. I had no problem with that arrangement at all.

 

Each refrigerator model has differing shelf designs. Five gallons of liquid (beer) will weigh over 40 lbs. I personally would be concerned about placing 40 lbs. of weight on a shelf of my home refrigerator. Maybe the refrigerator that @Brew_Betty owns is of more durable construction?

Cheers!

 

You know, rather than take a chance on having a mess, I'd find a way to give additional support to that shelf just to be sure.

 

jury - rig: verb, transitive 1. To make an improvised rigging or assembly from whatever is available.

2. To create a make-shift, ad hoc solution from resources at hand​

synomom: jerry-rig, MacGyver
​

So you're toying with putting the "crash" in cold-crash? I'm clueless to the outcome . . . but would be proud to drink a beer that cc'ed on the brink of disaster. If fortunes reversed, would offer unlimited sympathy to the poor swabbie assigned clean up duty.

 

I would be concerned about the stress on the four hanger points (two on each side). If a failure would occur it would be either the shelf hanger points or their corresponding mating points on the back of the refrigerator.

There is no way that some BA can accurately assess the ability of that shelf and and its mate to support 40+ lbs. of load.

Cheers!

 

Even a mechanical engineer would have difficulty making an assessment based upon pictures. I work a lot with mechanical engineers and their preferred approach is to use automated tools (CAD software) and then run some stress analysis using those tools. They require detailed information from vendors to model the parts (materials of the shelf, materials of the rack in the back of the refrigerator, precise dimensions, etc.).

It is indeed a solvable problem via analysis using the proper software tools and proper modeling of the parts.

Cheers!

 

I doubt it will hold. I am less concerned with the glass or the shelf than I am the brackets that the shelf hook into. They can stand some weight for sure, but the screws are tiny, maybe 1/4" long. Enough stress and they could bust loose of the plastic they are attached to (which is thin and not that difficult to break/crack - I've done it), or if the heads pop. I would think your garage would be nice and cold right now, just let it set there instead.

 

I don't feel comfortable making a prediction on whether it will hold or not but I think that @jbakajust1 has input that is worthwhile of: "...the brackets that the shelf hook into. They can stand some weight for sure, but the screws are tiny, maybe 1/4" long. Enough stress and they could bust loose of the plastic they are attached to (which is thin and not that difficult to break/crack - I've done it),..."

Cheers!

 

i don't think your 40 pounds of beer is any concern at all. not even a little.
i would try to place the bucket at the back to decrease the leverage. the steel tabs are not going to fail with 40 pounds of stress. if some enginerd wants to figure the weight of 40 pounds three feet from the fulcrum then go for it.

all that said, be sure you are dealing with steel and not plastic. modern appliances seem to have more and more plastic all the time. saving a nickel but breaks in two years instead 20 like the old stuff.

that's my opinion anyway.
Cheers.

 

Test with water first.

 

I've had 2 full cornies + 5# CO2 bottle and regulator on 1 glass shelf for years (with 2x4 support underneath)...personally though, I'd just put it outside in the garage, etc...which is sometimes colder than the kegerator this time of year (here).