Cracked Compartment Door

[TC Wndsr]

We purchased our 02 Sea Breeze end of season last year and covered her up for the winter here in New England. Pulled the cover off yesterday and found a pretty good crack in the drivers front compartment door. Nothing was hitting or banging against it so I have no clue as to how it cracked.

Any suggestions for a temporary fix to keep it from getting any worse?
Also, any suggestions for a permanent fix- I can't imagine those doors are cheap if available at all.

Thanks,
Tom

[Rook]

Ugh....sorry to hear about your misfortune. Find a good fiberglass man (fiberglass boat repair will do) and he can repair it. It will never be "perfect", but serviceable will suffice. Sxxt happens. But, it could be much worse.......like engine or transmission troubles. Rook

[TC Wndsr]

Ugh is right. Not how I wanted to start the year. Something like this was one of my fears of buying a discontinued brand. We can deal with it though. I know a Corvette guy who must know a good glass guy.

[Scooter]

On this site you should find one or two salvage yards who have National parts, including doors. Maybe for your 2002 ????

[Karlos]

Hey Tom,

I bought a 2000 SeaView a few years ago. One of the Centrex plastic basement doors had a crack in it, just like your photo.

Last year a cold front hit us while camped in Sante Fe ...... the temperatures drop to the mid-20s. I went out in the morning to hook up the water and found FOUR MORE basement doors with the same spider cracks.

I wanted to replace them, but the Ortega replacements doors are very expensive. I was going to repair them, but the Centrex polymer is a pain to work with it seems.

I've gotten to the point I can just live with the cracks. They are just aesthetic. Like wrinkles by your eyes .... they aren't going away.

[TC Wndsr]

Bad news from the body shop. They won't take on the project because they are unfamiliar with the plastic product and can't access the back of the panel. He said any fix would just be temporary, the crack will definitely reappear. The aesthetics don't bother me much but these cracks go completely through the material and will allow water to infiltrate and cause worse problems down the road. He suggested grinding out the crack a bit and refilling with an epoxy.

[TC Wndsr]

It turn out we had 2 compartment doors with similar cracks. I took them off and took them to 3 different body shops. The first wouldn't take the job because they didn't know what type of plastic it was. The second gave me an estimate of $1400! The third was from a local guy who works out of his garage. He did the job for $400. He V'd out the crack then used a plastic welder to melt back the plastic to give more surface to fill and at the same time embed a stainless steel screen across the crack. Next he filled and fused the crack with SEM Dual Mix Multi Plastic Repair. (semproducts.com/repair-plastic-repair/dual-mixtm-multi-plastic-repair-material). He did a great job matching the color and clear coating. I just wish all the doors had such a nice gloss on them! We are really happy with the results, the doors look as good as new and with the embedded screen the repair should hold up over time.

[chboone]

Good to know you got your doors repaired for a good price.

[TC Wndsr]

Cracked doors part 2.
This past weekend we had temperatures ranging from -20 to 57 and then back down to the low teens- all within 72 hours or so. I went out yesterday to find this door cracked down the middle. There are also two more on the drivers side with smaller cracks. Hopefully my body guy can do as good a job on this as he did last year. I don't know what I can do to avoid this other than moving south which we are planning to do this April.



2002 National Sea Breeze LX 8341

[two slides]

Originally Posted by TC Wndsr

Cracked doors part 2.
This past weekend we had temperatures ranging from -20 to 57 and then back down to the low teens- all within 72 hours or so. I went out yesterday to find this door cracked down the middle. There are also two more on the drivers side with smaller cracks. Hopefully my body guy can do as good a job on this as he did last year. I don't know what I can do to avoid this other than moving south which we are planning to do this April.Attachment 119375



2002 National Sea Breeze LX 8341

I see yours doors look like mine & there is no repair that will fix them. they will crack & break when the temperature gets down in the single digits. i've had this problem since i bought mine new in 2000. had 4 doors look like that in first year---National sent new doors since it was under warranty. following year 3 more doors cracked & they did offer doors free if i paid for dealer to install plus painting which i did. 3rd year more had cracked again & no factory assistance. i now have 11 doors with cracks in them and i'll have to live with it. if you try to make repairs like your eariler post---these doors need to Expand & Contract with the weather. on hot summer days, these cracks become invisible. if you try to repair them they will Buckle & get Wavy from the heat & may cause more damage. only remedy is to store rv inside garage (which I cannot do) OOOOOOOOR move to a warmer climate. wish i had better news for you.

BTW-- i don't use mine in winter so i use Scotch Tape to cover cracks in late fall----has worked for me and not gotten any worse.

Price from Ortega for 11 new fiberglass doors was over $10,000 NO THANKS


2000 Sea View 8341 with 2 slides

[TC Wndsr]

11 cracked doors, sounds like a nightmare!
I'll probably try to repair again and hope for the best after moving south this year.
I've read some about the Ortega doors on other threads but am a little confused about the quality of their products. Are those doors any more durable than the originals? If they are fiberglass I would guess that they are.
Thanks.


2002 National Sea Breeze LX 8341

[Danielsand]

Can I make a suggestion?

For people that have cracks,.......IF you want to repair, and when it's done,......for people that MIGHT get cracks in the future (or are concerned about getting them)........unlatch ALL compartments, and let them hang free. Buy a good, waterproof cover for your coaches, and cover them. Before you tighten cover straps down, insert a thin piece of Styrofoam between the compartment door and the frame (under the edge where the door latches). Let the cover snug the door against the Styrofoam, but don't latch!

No more cracks!

[TC Wndsr]

I thought of that after the fact. Not having the doors pinched down with the two latches may give the plastic room to expand and contract with the weather. I have since left one side of each door unlatched and haven't had any further problems.


2002 National Sea Breeze LX 8341

[Mtnbiz]

I have come to the same reality, I live in Colorado and in the winter the low temps. are hard on the plastic doors. I try not to open them until it warms up . Cracks are there but no leaks!