Norcold Door Fell Off

[RetiredAndFree]

Getting ready to move this morning from Gaylord, Michigan to Petoskey, Michigan. Wife tells me the fridge door feels funny. Found the cheap plastic hinge on the bottom had broke like many others have had happen. Warranty expires in 2 days so I called Jayco and they said they will cover it. Gave me a claim # and I sent them pictures of the broken part and they will contact Norcold. Only moving about 50 miles today so instead of having the wife sit back there and hold it in place we put 2 bungee cords, duct tape, and a shower curtain tension bar from the fridge to the cupboard drawer. Sure do force you to think outside the box with these things and only the RV industry could keep building stupid year after year and thrive.

[TCNashville]

Hard to believe this is still happening. I was proactive and installed the fix before mine broke and that was 10 years ago.

[RetiredAndFree]

I'll be doing that as soon as it's fixed. Seriously lucky it didn't fall on her feet. Had that happened, it might have been more than just a new door as they sure can't say they're not aware of the problem.

[LuckyDuck]

You might want to make sure they do more than just put another plastic hinge on there. At the least, they should put the metal reinforcement bracket on, too, like the rest of us have had to do proactively.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by RetiredAndFree

Sure do force you to think outside the box with these things and only the RV industry could keep building stupid year after year and thrive.

Why do you say that? Just because we had the same problem on many 1st gen SENECA's. Mine was in 10....

EDIT.. and it was not only JAYCO having the problem.

It was actually one of the early SENECA owners who found out about the metal reinforcement since he had a friend who was somehow involved and many of us got them free.

From 2010:

Well keep your fingers crossed. I got an email this morning saying a box
of brackets had been shipped to me. Both of the guys who made this
happen have been assigned to other aspects of the operation so it was a
last ditch effort to get this done for us.

There was even a discussion that NORCOLD did change the door.. Well so much for that..

[RetiredAndFree]

I'll tell you why I say that. I believe anyone that owns an RV had better be thinking at all times how you are going to keep it functional. And there's no doubt the RV industry is thriving right now. I never said it was just Jayco or any other specific manufacturer. It's manufacturer's, suppliers, and dealers.

[Onyrlef]

Originally Posted by RetiredAndFree

Getting ready to move this morning from Gaylord, Michigan to Petoskey, Michigan. Wife tells me the fridge door feels funny. Found the cheap plastic hinge on the bottom had broke like many others have had happen. Warranty expires in 2 days so I called Jayco and they said they will cover it. Gave me a claim # and I sent them pictures of the broken part and they will contact Norcold. Only moving about 50 miles today so instead of having the wife sit back there and hold it in place we put 2 bungee cords, duct tape, and a shower curtain tension bar from the fridge to the cupboard drawer. Sure do force you to think outside the box with these things and only the RV industry could keep building stupid year after year and thrive.

You'd think Norcold would furnish the metal brackets after realizing the abs hinges are prone to breaking off, but I guess as long as we're ponying up $40.00 for a set, why would they? The replacement doors are close to $300.00 as well and no point in replacing the door without the metal brackets.

[THE MEEKER]

I cringed when you said you used duct tape. It will remove the fake wood grain finish off your fridge when you remove it. I hope you are successful in removing it without damage.

[RetiredAndFree]

Only left it on for about an hour while moving and came right off no problem.

[Freeman]

Our door fell off at the dealer repair facility while the service manager was pulling it in for recall service. They overnighted the new door and installed it the next day while we stayed at their “campground.” Lesson learned — NEVER travel with anything stored in the door and ALWAYS put the bars across to hold what’s in refrigerator in place. Plastic door hinges will not sustain any additional weight.

[RetiredAndFree]

Just received an email from customer service and had to send another picture of the broken hinge from further back and one of the information sticker inside the fridge.

[jyh818]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

You might want to make sure they do more than just put another plastic hinge on there. At the least, they should put the metal reinforcement bracket on, too, like the rest of us have had to do proactively.

Do you have a picture of this metal bracket? I would like to proactively install one. Thanks in advance.

[THE MEEKER]

Originally Posted by RetiredAndFree

Only left it on for about an hour while moving and came right off no problem.

Nice!

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by jyh818

Do you have a picture of this metal bracket? I would like to proactively install one. Thanks in advance.

Bought mine off Amazon… Grit your teeth and pay for something that should have been on there in the first place.
https://www.amazon.com/Norcold-63416...et_feature_div

[New jayco user woody]

You can order metal reinforce hinge mounts for top n bottom on Amazon 30.00, I installed on my door BEFORE any thing broke on my New Grayhawk 30z... Proactive....

[jyh818]

Originally Posted by New jayco user woody

You can order metal reinforce hinge mounts for top n bottom on Amazon, I installed on my door BEFORE any thing broke on my New Grayhawk 30z... Proactive....

Are the top and bottom hinge the same part or are they different?

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by jyh818

Are the top and bottom hinge the same part or are they different?

You get just the bottom reinforcement bracket — left and right — in the kit. The top hinge really doesn’t have any weight on it. It’s the bottom one, under weight, that is prone to breaking.

[New jayco user woody]

Same..... I tried to add a picture to this but not sure how..

[jyh818]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

You get just the bottom reinforcement bracket — left and right — in the kit. The top hinge really doesn’t have any weight on it. It’s the bottom one, under weight, that is prone to breaking.

Ok. How about the freezer door bottom hinge? Is that affected as well?

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by jyh818

Ok. How about the freezer door bottom hinge? Is that affected as well?

I’ve not heard of any issues with that. It’s a small door and no real weight on it that could cause breakage. We didn’t have any problems with the fridge door but didn’t want to take the chance. Not worth saving $30.