WHATS THE SECRET?..Shower Door Roller Adjustment

[Chickadee]

Does anyone know??

Our shower enclosure consists of two, curved glass sections. One is fixed (1/2 of opening) and the other, with four ea., corner, wheel type rollers, slides to close or open the other 1/2 of the opening.

This slide portion has recently started to occasionally come out the lower wheel track when the door is closed or opened and I've been trying to figure out the intended way that these four wheel type rollers were meant to be correctly adjusted for proper operation.

These white nylon looking wheels roll in a aluminum track (also curved to match curved glass) and by loosening a nut on one side of the frame, the wheel, mounted on the other side and mounted on an off set cam, may be swiveled so as to move that off set wheel upward or downward for either more of a bite or less of a bite in the track.

Question is, are the lower roller wheels meant to pretty much carry the weight of the glass door and the upper wheels mainly to guide the upper door edge, or.....do upper and lower wheels share the weight, or....is the door meant to primarily "hang" from the upper rollers????? The trouble with too much weight on those upper track rollers is that over time this seems to torque and separate the aluminum frame from the glass at the top of the door, such that I've had to remove it, thoroughly clean out old silicone and gasket, and have now remounted this frame piece prior to trying to re-install the whole door into the tracks.

Just not sure how to adjust the rollers properly. We DID have Nappanee techs fuss with it on one visit, but since that top frame piece seems to torque off the upper edge of the glass, I don't think Nappanee applied the correct, or intended technique.

What's your guess for mounting correctly, or does anyone have experience with these roller adjustments????? THANKS

Steve

[dogpatch]

I would try a residential glass company that installs glass shower doors. They pretty much have a handle on anything like that.

[Chickadee]

dogpatch:

Thanks for the idea, but, since my wife wanted her shower back....(go figure)....I did reinstall the sliding door putting the weight on the track wheels at the lower (bottom) edge and adjusted those upper wheels to serve more as a track guide. Although the door is now working fine, guess we'll just have to wait and see if it continues to operate o.k. over time. Thanks again.

Steve

["007"]

I think you have door suspension right Steve, if it was the other way around the upper rollers would be pulling frame off the top of glass door.
Plus while on road vibration would be jarring top of frame to slip of glass door.
The vibration must keep loosing the screws or nuts loose do the nuts or screws have small star washers under them. May get a better grip on metal surfaces so they will not become loose over time.
Those doors are heavy and the vibration will just add to problem over time doors would not have the problem in a stick house.

[Chickadee]

G'morning Double 'O':

Yup, each of the four nuts holding the rollers DO have the "star washers" you asked about and I'm hoping they hold. Will just have to keep an eye on em. I kind of think that having the weight of the sliding door primarily on those lower rollers will assist in keeping that aluminum frame on top of the door from working loose.

Thanks for your help.

Steve

[ottffss]

Bottom rollers take most weight, top mostly guides. Make absolutely sure top rollers are fully seated completely down in track along entire length of travel or door can vibrate out. This bears repeating, ensure the top rollers are firmly seated and not floating anywhere off the trough of the upper track. Another trick is to close door completely with you inside to ensure you get proper "plumb" as you adjust.

Also note that there have been some defective rollers that tended to flat spot - actually multiple flat spots all around the roller. You can ID this as small dark'ish spotting (the flat spots) on the roller. The roller should be absolutely perfectly smooth, chamfered hard silicone, and perfectly round - all around. That is the door should roll effortlessly/smoothly.

The rollers are available separately from Newmar parts.

[Chickadee]

ottffss:

Thanks for info on shower door roller adjustment. Can't see any "flat spot" marks on the rollers so I think I've got em set the way you suggested. We'll see after a few days on the road.

Thanks.

Steve

[sjcaldal11]

Steve,
I think the shower door in your Essex is the same as my MADP. If so the problem I've been having is the the door hangs from the upper rollers and the bottom rollers are the guide. The vibration from the road causes the glass to slip out of the upper frame and allowing the door to swing lose on the bottom. The door has to com apart and the glass refit into the frame. The adjustment is done by the centers of the axles on rollers are offset like a cam shaft. Turn the rollers system until the cam forces the rollers to get closer top to bottom.
Hope this helps, Daryl

[Chickadee]

sjcaldal11:

Yup, your shower door rollers sound like the ones we have. Gotta tell ya though, that I'm pretty sure that the weight of the door should rest primarily on the lower rollers instead of hanging from the top rollers. When those top track rollers carried most of the weight, the top frame in ours also separated away from the glass over time. By adjusting those off center cam type roller brackets so the weight of the door rests on the lower rollers (using upper rollers as non weight bearing guides) I think (hope) that separation of the frame from the glass at the top edge of the door will no longer be a problem. We'll see over time.

Steve

[ottffss]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chickadee ...I'm pretty sure that the weight of the door should rest primarily on the lower rollers instead of hanging from the top rollers. ...

Without question. And for the reasons already stated multiple times.

It is critical that the upper rollers maintain solid/snug contact within the track throughout it's travel but that does NOT mean the upper rollers should be set to be primary load bearing, only to ensure the door does not vibrate out.