Is your Refrigerator secured??

[wam16]

Angel and I just returned from a 3 week trip up the east coast to Acadia National Park. The coach performed beautifully with no problems until the last day. After traveling long distances on rough two lane roads an issue came up. Angel was back preparing sandwiches when the refrigerator almost pinned her. On our coach I discovered the refrigerator is held in place with two bronze metal type screws. Apparently through the rough roads we encountered the screws worked loose and the refrigerator was no longer being held in place. One screw was bent and the other broke. The refrigerator stopped when the broken screw dug into the plastic strip that separates the main floor from the slideout flooring. We have the coach in for repair and hopefully they will secure the refrigerator with more than two screws, screwed in. So if you have been over any rough roads lately please check how secure your refrigerator is.

Allen

[Capt. Kirk]

You've got my attention, I own the same model and year coach as yours. Would you mind describing the screw locations so I can inspect mine?

Thanks for the heads-up!

[slabman]

Remove the plastic cover under the freezer and see the two rollers. There will be a wooden deck screw set into the plywood subfloor through a gap in each roller bracket. These screws are commonly bent, broken or otherwise damaged. Grab a couple 2 in. Deck screws and screw 'em into the floor, through a gap in the bracket.

I have a piece of wooden trip installed above the refer, covering the gap between the box and soffit above. There should be a piece of angled aluminum up there, attaching the box to the soffit with a couple more screws. As always, someone at the factory could have messed up and not done their job correctly. Personally, it's difficult for me to imagine that refer pivoting enough to turn over and cause any harm...but it could move enough to impair proper opening/closure.

[wam16]

Originally Posted by Capt. Kirk

You've got my attention, I own the same model and year coach as yours. Would you mind describing the screw locations so I can inspect mine?

Thanks for the heads-up!

Kirk,
I'm going from memory and I may be having a senior moment but I think they are located about 4 to 6 inches from the front of the refrigerator and about 4 inches from the sides of the refrigerator, they are behind and to the outside of the rollers.. It appears to me on my coach the screws were only screwed into the tile. Not sure if the screws were long enough to penetrate the subfloor. I felt under the slide when it was retracted and could not feel a hole underneath the subfloor. I would have thought it would be anchored.

Allen

[Capt. Kirk]

Originally Posted by slabman

Remove the plastic cover under the freezer and see the two rollers. There will be a wooden deck screw set into the plywood subfloor through a gap in each roller bracket. These screws are commonly bent, broken or otherwise damaged. Grab a couple 2 in. Deck screws and screw 'em into the floor, through a gap in the bracket.

I have a piece of wooden trip installed above the refer, covering the gap between the box and soffit above. There should be a piece of angled aluminum up there, attaching the box to the soffit with a couple more screws. As always, someone at the factory could have messed up and not done their job correctly. Personally, it's difficult for me to imagine that refer pivoting enough to turn over and cause any harm...but it could move enough to impair proper opening/closure.

Thanks slabman, here's what I found:

After removing the plastic floor grill, I can see the adjusting bolt threaded into a nut that is in turn tack welded onto a metal strip. The metal strip appears to run the length (depth) of the refer, but I do not see anything screwed through to the floor.

Allen mentions screws located behind and to the side of the rollers, but I don't see anything like that on my installation.

I have taken a picture (attached here too) and sent it to Dutch Star Customer Service for clarification. I'll post their response when I get it.

[bctravelers]

This happen to us too! 2016 Dutch Star

[Capt. Kirk]

Here's the image of the bottom of my refer at the adjusting bolt.

[Capt. Kirk]

I contacted Newmar and they let me know my refrigerator is anchored by a connecting bracket mounted to the upper cabinet and the top of the refer.

With doors open, I was able to see and photograph the bracket. I think my refer is going to stay put.

Just to clarify, my coach was built in May of 2016.

[wam16]

Originally Posted by Capt. Kirk

Here's the image of the bottom of my refer at the adjusting bolt.

Attachment 132703

Received a call from the dealer today. I was advised our refrigerator was not properly secured at the top or the bottom. They have added the brackets/supports etc that were supposed to be included when the refrigerator was installed at the factory. The only way our refrigerator was being held in place was via two bronze sheet metal type screws that were screwed into the tile. Can't answer how this happened.

Allen

[Capt. Kirk]

Glad you have an answer and solution! Thanks for bringing it up, I let the DW know she can be confident standing in front of the refer while we're underway. 😁

[Algoma]

Originally Posted by wam16

Received a call from the dealer today. I was advised our refrigerator was not properly secured at the top or the bottom. They have added the brackets/supports etc that were supposed to be included when the refrigerator was installed at the factory. The only way our refrigerator was being held in place was via two bronze sheet metal type screws that were screwed into the tile. Can't answer how this happened.

Allen

It is obvious what happened. Production did not install the top bracket to the refer and QA did not find this out before it left the factory. So much for Newmar investing more in to the post production inspection process
If you look closely, the 2 screws at the bottom do not go in to the tile but screw in to the substrate below the tile. In my case one of the screws was snapped off at the head so only one screw was holding. Luckily Newmar had installed the top bracket so the refer had not moved. I replaced both bottom screws with much stronger ones so I think I am OK now.