Community Forums

teacherdude · 01-28-2011, 07:58 AM

I have a Norcold 4 door Refrigerator in my coach and last fall the hinges on the left had doors (facing refrigerator) broke. I took it to my service center and they replaced the hinges. The problem I have now is, this door is now 3/16" lower than the right hand door. Last fall when investigating the broken hinge, I had noticed that there were 2 small shims under the lower hinge and now that it has been replaced, there are no shims at all. With the door being 3/16" low, it doesn't latch correctly as well as it looks bad. Can someone or has someone been thru this same thing and what did you do to fix it? Does someone know the proper procedure for doing this correctly? Can the doors be removed by 1 person and how would you go about removing them safely and then align them and replace them in the correct way? Any help is appreciated!

IC2 · 01-28-2011, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teacherdude

I have a Norcold 4 door Refrigerator in my coach and last fall the hinges on the left had doors (facing refrigerator) broke. I took it to my service center and they replaced the hinges. The problem I have now is, this door is now 3/16" lower than the right hand door. Last fall when investigating the broken hinge, I had noticed that there were 2 small shims under the lower hinge and now that it has been replaced, there are no shims at all. With the door being 3/16" low, it doesn't latch correctly as well as it looks bad. Can someone or has someone been thru this same thing and what did you do to fix it? Does someone know the proper procedure for doing this correctly? Can the doors be removed by 1 person and how would you go about removing them safely and then align them and replace them in the correct way? Any help is appreciated!

Those shims - they need to be added back. Additionally, there should be a nylon bearing as well on that bottom hinge plate. This is based on my 2 Norcold reefers in past RV's so could possibly be different for yours

Here is what I would do:
- See if there is up and down movement of that door in the hinge play by lifting up on the door in an open position.
- If there is movement possible and it exceeds the 3/16", then remove the top hinge plate(2-3 screws)
- Lift the door off - it weighs only a very few pounds
- Use 2-3 common carbon or, preferred, stainless steel washers on the bottom pin adding shims to achieve the height adjustment needed(available at any big box store).
- Adjust the door laterally to match the opening when reinstalling.

Of course, you could take it to an RV service center and pay their $100+ bucks an hour, waste, errr use the best part of a day and let them do this 15 minute job

Tincup · 01-28-2011, 08:56 AM

The obvious answer is take it back to your service center and tell them to make it right. If you want to repair it yourself I would just get a few nylon washers at your local hardware store and with a friend, remove the door and insert the washers until all is level with the right hand door.

Wayne M · 01-28-2011, 09:16 AM

I vote on the nylon washer fix.

Sometimes this also affects the striker plate and the light inside will not go off. When this happens the door alarm system will think that the door is open and blink (sound a ding) "dO". A temporary fix until you can shim up the door is to take some paper towel (or tissue paper) and cut, fold, manipulate into a square or rectangle, take a piece of scotch tape and tape the piece on the door where it will strike the light button. (Put DW in refrigerator and ask her if the light goes out! - leave her in there until.....never mind.)

LuvRving · 03-01-2011, 06:22 PM

I had the same problem with my refrigerator door (right bottom) and tried replacing the washers at the bottom twice, to no avail. The door would not close securely and the alarm would sound so finally taped over the lever for the light and alarm to not sound then put a stick between the counter and the door to keep it closed. Very long story short, the problem was on the bottom of the door...the plastic bracket had broken and would not hold the pin in place and keep the door up, thus the entire door had to be replaced and believe me, these are NOT cheap....about $500. So, my rv shop ordered the door and while my door was stainless steel, they received black replacement doors TWICE! Finally, a stainless steel door was sent and installed. Today when I picked up the motorhome, the doors were not the same...different colored stainless steel AND the "mill" (brush) on the new door is vertical while the other 3 doors are horizontal. My shop insists that in the rv industry, things change quickly and that Norcold doesn't make the same doors any longer....I called Norcold myself and they verified that. I can replace all the doors for an approx. cost of $1200!!! I still have the old door with a broken bracket on the bottom and a new door that fits but doesn't match.....ARRRRGGGGGG!

LuvRving · 03-02-2011, 11:05 PM

Follow up on "non-matching" Norcold refrigerator door....
Am keeping all the doors and having them "wrapped" in a vinyl by professionals for $200. They will remove the doors and put their material on (I got to choose the material pattern and chose one that looked the same and felt the same as the stainless steel doors...will let you know how they turned out!