Frig. Door fell Off ?

[Chapitre]

Originally Posted by Devil Dog

Our door came off for the second time . A jug of milk spilled onto the floor . That's when we noted that the cabinet walls are NOT sealed to the floor and anything spilt will go under the walls .Where everything will have to come out to make a proper clean up . This time it was the bottom pin that came loose .
Going to use a stronger Loctite and seal the walls to floor with clear silicone .

We lost our door 3 times on our 17b. We had tried several things but at one point we pulled the fridge out and found that it was not screwed into the frame very well, we improved on that, shimmed up the door with washers on the pins, and used red locktite on one of the pins,
We also bought a really good strap and used it on the outside.

We were really surprised by how unsecure it seemed within the cabinet, I think even one of the screws were missing.

Maybe it has something to do with the design of that current size fridge, not sure- it certainly doesn't seem to be a problem with the large fridge in our 5TA.

[KarenH]

I think it should be noted that there are two different events being discussed here with regard to the refer door. The first is a failure of the door locking mechanism resulting in an open refer with contents dumped on the floor. The second is a failure of the pins holding the door in place and the entire door falling off the refer. The end result of either event is the same--a big mess--but the prevention involves two difference solutions.

[Steve Clark]

Originally Posted by KarenH

I think it should be noted that there are two different events being discussed here with regard to the refer door. The first is a failure of the door locking mechanism resulting in an open refer with contents dumped on the floor. The second is a failure of the pins holding the door in place and the entire door falling off the refer. The end result of either event is the same--a big mess--but the prevention involves two difference solutions.

Very astute distinction Karen. Regarding the big mess on the floor; this might be a good time to make some poutine. Kind of like, 'Lemons into Lemonade '. I understand, as an earplug, poutine blocks 90% of the ambient noise.. Great time for an afternoon nap!

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by KarenH

I think it should be noted that there are two different events being discussed here with regard to the refer door. The first is a failure of the door locking mechanism resulting in an open refer with contents dumped on the floor. The second is a failure of the pins holding the door in place and the entire door falling off the refer. The end result of either event is the same--a big mess--but the prevention involves two difference solutions.

I've had both, however I've been lucky - no floor events. I have a 5 cu ft Dometic RM 2510. The first "event" was the spring in the door latch breaking. It did it as I opened the door so I was able to deal with it without a spill. Domestic wanted far too much money for the replacement door latch (they don't sell just the spring) so I modified a hardware store spring to fit. It has been working for a couple of years.

Last winter the entire door fell off as I opened it. The bracket for the lower hinge pin cracked, allowing the pin to drop low enough that the top pin came out. I was at Quartzsite, and the local dealer must have seen the problem more than once - I started to describe the problem & he immediately wrote up an order for a lower right hand hinge (from memory). Not too bad a project to replace. One note - the pin does not come with the hinge - be sure to keep the old one or order a new one.

I added a strap to make sure the door stays closed on the road:

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by KarenH

Okay, confusion reigns here...or maybe it just rains. Or maybe I should just rein it in. At any rate, how would using more Loctite help in this situation? One wouldn't use it on the pins, right?

Really on a roll with that comment.

By using more Loctite he may have meant using red instead of blue. I usually use blue for things knowing that, if I have to take them apart again, blue is easier. Once you use red you usually need some heat to break it loose.

Ron

[cpaharley2008]

There is a thread over on FGRV where it was disclosed that Loctite and plastic do not mix, so if there is any plastic pieces on the hinge, beware.

[Jim Bennett]

On my 5 cf fridge I had the latch fall apart twice, because the hinge pin feel out. The last time I put a sharp kink meat one end of the pin before reinserting and all was good for years.

Like Jon, when opening the door one time I discovered a hinge pin out. I did catch the door and reinserted the pin. I believe I corked it to ensure it stayed in place.

Never did use a strap, as the only time the door opened when travelling was when the latch failed.