Hinge broke on Norcold refer

[Doug Sage]

I have a Norcold refrigerator, model N822RT, in my motorhome. This is a two door model including the freezer. In June 2008 the bottom hinge on the refrigerator door broke. This is molded into the door and is not replaceable as a separate part. I ordered and installed a new door which was luckily covered by warranty. There is a chance that we allowed the door to swing open so that it could bang on the adjacent cabinet. Since that time we have been religious about not allowing the door to swing open at all. We have only two shelves in the door although it came with three shelves. The shelves are always full so there is a fair amount of weight on the door. Today I opened the door and crunch, the hinge broke again. I tried supergluing the parts back together but of course that didn't work. I have also looked to see if there is a way that I could reinforce that area with metal but can't see any way to do so. This sure seems to be a poor design to me! Does anyone know if Norcold has a new design for their door that fixes this problem? I will be calling them Monday morning. Does anyone have any experience with resolving this problem? I would appreciate any help that you can provide.

[HD4Mark]

Doug,
We bought out used Winne from a dealer and discovered the bottom right fridge door hinge broken. Not the same model as yours and the dealer coughed up a new door for us. Is this the same hinge as your problem? Ours had obviously been half fast glued together so we were lucky to discover it before it was to late to call the dealer on it.

[Doug Sage]

Yes, it is the bottom right door hinge. The door hinges on the right. The hinge consists of a piece of plastic that fits over a metal post. This hinge caries the entire weight of the door (and all of the contents on the door shelves). The top hinge just keeps the door aligned.

[Dr4Film]

Hi Doug,

Even though your refer model is completely different than mine, I have a Norcold 1200LRIM, both of my lower door hinges had broken allowing the doors to fall onto the floor when opened. The right side had broken when the previous owner had own it for less than 18 months. I purchased the coach in 2003 and 2 years ago the other side had broken. The right side was reinforced with metal by the previous owner and the left side was put back together with JB Weld Epoxy. It was the only glue that I would depend on as I have used it on an engine to plug up a coolant leak in the engine block. It works great and it will dry super hard to the point that you can actually machine the dang stuff if you needed. Haven't had another problem and I don't anticipate it breaking again.

Good Luck !!

Dr4Film ----- Richard.

[KIX]

I too have had a problem with a broken hinge on a 4 door Norcold.
We're in agreement that it's a poor design.
I repaired my hinge problem with a metal 90* corner bracket and some small screws to hold the bracket on. Then covered the area with JB Weld. That was about 3 years ago and still holding.

[Pusherman]

I have the 2-door Norcold refrigerator and the same problem happened to our refrigerator door a couple months back - the bottom hinge broke which would allow the door to fall to the ground.

I paid to have it replaced. I agree. Not a good design.

[FleetMan]

Ours broke off in the summer of 2008, shortly after the warranty expired. I glued the broken piece back onto the door, JB WEld. It did not hold. I glued it back on again, attached a cut to length piece of 1/8 x 1 inch angle iron to the bottom of the door, flush at the left edge facing the door angled out and tight against the reattached bottom hinge piece. Drill a hinge pin hole through the angle iron using the hole in the original but broken off piece to insure proper alignment. Attach the angle iron to the bottom of the door with a good adhesive and three counter sunk 3/4 inch wood screws. Use a small teflon washer as a bearing over the hinge pin and under the new piece for smooth operation. Black on black, it does not stand out and it is STRONG.

[HD4Mark]

So in one day 6 if I count right of us have posted that their hinges were broken. Sounds like a design problem to me. Should we somehow bring this to the attention of Norcold/Thetford?

[FleetMan]

I'm sure Norcold/Thetford is well aware of the problem. I'd bet everyone of us who have or had the problem and called them only to learn that all they want to do is sell a complete new door as a replacement. A dressed up variation of my fix would be a relatively inexpensive fix and something that could be incorporated as part of the manufacturing process. However, if that were done the market for replacement doors would dry up over night.

[Doug Sage]

I have the followup on my refrigerator door hinge problem. I bought some JB Weld and glued the hinge piece back on and let it cure for about 16 hours. The instructions said that it would be fully cured after 15 hours and it did feel rock hard. I filled in all the gaps to help reinforce it and then I hung it back on. I did not load anything on the door but the first time that I opened it the hinge came apart again. :( Then I called the factory and they agreed that the only thing I could do is buy the entire replacement door for $199.99. Yikes! What a way to keep sales up - build a defective part and then charge the owner nearly $200 to replace it. Anyway, I have the new door. It is installed and I am only putting things such as lettuce and yogurt on the door. No longer will I be able to put things like mayo, salad dressing, soft drinks, etc. on the door. Even though the refrigerator came with 4 shelves on the door and we took one out and were only using 3 shelves it apparently was too much weight. If I ever have to replace my refrigerator, I will surely be looking at a Dometic.

[puttin]

Do any of you have pictures?

[Dr4Film]

I have taken four shots of the two lower door hinge repairs. The first two photos are of the right hand door which had been repaired by the original owner. One is with the door open and the other is with the door closed. After viewing the photo's, I now see that there is a small crack in the metal repair that was done so I better get the JB Weld out and throw some on there. The second two photo's are of the left hand door which I repaired with JB Weld over 2 years ago. Both are with the door open as you cannot see the repair with the door closed.

I have also taken 2 shots of the stuff currently loaded into the right and left doors just so you can get an idea of the type of weight the doors are carrying. We haven't shopped in a while so the refer is getting bare. We keep mostly bottled products with liquids in both doors the right door has four shelves, the left has three due to the tall wine bottles we keep on the bottom shelf.

The four legged character in the one shot is my "shadow" and he is generally pretty close by when he hears the refer door open.

Please, no comments on the "stuff".

Hope this helps!

Dr4Film ----- Richard.

[HD4Mark]

I can say that after seeing DR4Film's photos that our door was broken in the same spot. I think Norcold should at the very least offer replacement doors at cost.

[FleetMan]

Unless they change their design, the problem will not be resolved. Normal, everyday living and use of the door as is will eventually result in that bottom hinge piece breaking off for many users.