door under dinette falls off

[Vaneta]

I have a Whitehawk 21 FBS with the U-shaped dinette. The door under the dinette is actually mounted between two pieces of wood so that the screws are set into the crack between them. Both doors are basically done this way so one has fallen off. I can't move the door left or right to put the screws into a solid piece of wood and still have it latch on the other side. When the weather is cold, you can definitely feel a cold draft coming through any cracks where it does not fit snug. The ideas I have to remedy it all involve the door not fitting snuggly. Has anyone corrected this in their unit? i welcome suggestions!

[Kave&Lucky]

Vaneta, I'f I understand your problem the screws have pulled out and have left a hole with nothing solid to put your screw in to hold the door and you can't reposition the placement of the door.

What I do when posed with this problem is I take a piece of hardwood like oak sized so it will fit into the hole and fill the hole completely coat it in wood glue. I then push the hardwood piece into the hole and finally use a hammer to tap it in securely and in essence fill the screw hole with the hardwood and glue wiping off excess glue from around the repair area. I then let the glue cure at least 24 hours then trim any excess hardwood flush with the cabinet frame and replace the door at the desired location and screw the screw into the hardwood used to fill the hole.

Hope this helps

[Camper_bob]

I had a different issue with my U-Shaped dinette bench storage doors, but my solution may be relevant to your situation.

Every time I would run my slide in, the dinette bench storage doors would pop open. That bench flexes some when the slide is running, and the latch side of the door would get misaligned and pop open. It would also happen if I sat on the edge of the dinette bench. It wasn't a big deal, but it was annoying.

So I dismounted the entire door and realigned it so it sat more flush with the dinette support and instead of reinstalling and realigning the factory latch, I used some steel bracket pieces and strong magnets with screw holes. Now the magnets can slide along the steel and the door stays closed while the dinette flexes.

I took pics of the mod, but I must have deleted them... can't find them.

These are similar to the magnets I used though: http://www.amazon.com/CMS-Magnetics%...PRARN5JPNW85DP

If you decide to use these magnets, they are very powerful, but they are also VERY brittle; I broke one by over tightening the screw just a little bit.

[videoguy]

Vaneta,

This same exact thing happened to me on our brand new trailer! Ideally, if still under warranty, take it back to the dealer. My dealer was a bit of a drive and the hassle, gas, and being without the trailer while they repaired it caused me to just fix myself.

There are two main issues causing the problem as already noted both you and Camper Bob:
1)Screws drilled at the seam of two pieces of wood causing them to separate.
2)Weak door latches.

My doors would constantly open while travelling, and the vibration would put leverage on the hinges, causing the screws to fall out and the doors to fall off. Here’s the fix:

There was no way to move the hinge placement as the doors would not work properly so I had to work with the existing location.

1. I drilled 3 or 4 holes in each piece of wood that had come away from the back of the dinette wood backing. I just used wood screws. This closed the gap and now the screws are nice and tight.
2. Then I replaced the weak latches with some strong magnetic drawer latches I picked up from Menards.

Problem solved! Since the fix we have taken two trips of 600 miles each and had zero issues with the doors coming open.**I will try to post some pics later this evening.

Hope this helps!

Mike

[Vaneta]

I'm not very successful so far in uploading an image. A friend with me couldn't believe the quick responses I got from you guys.

So one of my potential fixes involves using magnets so I was glad to see that. And my doors do the same thing with popping open in route or when I sat on them.

I can't "repair" the holes because the holes were never in wood; between wood. (I actually initially drove anchors into the holes and hoped that would hold but it didn't)

I didn't get this: "I drilled 3 or 4 holes in each piece of wood that had come away from the back of the dinette wood backing. I just used wood screws. This closed the gap and now the screws are nice and tight." Though that side did have an additional piece of wood behind the outside piece (other door didn't have it), it too was situated such that it's seam fit the same one as the outside so still no wood for the screws to go into.

So these are my questions:
1. The original placement was slightly off the floor and I couldn't figure that out since it had to support the wt. of someone sitting on the cushion above it. One of you mentioned it having to flex as the slide moved. So when I replace the door, should it not sit too much on the floor of the slide?
2. If I move the placement of the screws to the right so they are in wood and use magnets on the other side instead of the latch, I think it might work. This might mean that cold air can come through a gap where the magnets set it out but I can just put glue-on insulating strips if that's the case. So might this work?
(I originally moved the screws on the door itself and didn't realize the door wouldn't open fully that way. Retrospect always makes you feel stupid. So thought I'd seek out your opinions before trying again!)

[Vaneta]

Okay, finally got the image uploaded.

[videoguy]

Yep, same exact issue I was having. Fortunately, once the hinge back on it covers up a lot of the scratches.

Attached are the pics of my fix. I hammered the wood a bit with a rubber mallet first to close the gap some. Then I drilled pilot holes every couple inches along the edge and some into the backing board and then ran the screws in.

Also, I am pretty sure I used bigger screws to re-attach the hinge since my holes were chewed up just like yours. The other two pics are the magnet and the plate on the door that goes with it.
http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/me...cture4360.html
http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/me...cture4361.html
http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/me...cture4362.html

[Vaneta]

Thanks to you all! The crack between the supports is there to stay. I had banged it back with a mallet so I tried the wood screws and they didn't pull it together at all. I think because it's attached to another "frame" inside it. Anyway, I moved the screws to the right a bit and I think it may hold. Liked the magnet idea so we'll see how it does on the road.