The Continuing Saga of My Refrigerator Door

[JudyJB]

I got some further directions on how to remove and replace the refrigerator door, but it was incredibly basic, and Dometic says it does not offer technical advice, so they will not answer questions! The instructions said to access the hinges to remove the door, but nothing about removing the door panel, so I tried to follow videos online. Basically, you have to remove a panel at the top of the door and the panel should slide right out from the top. However, they said to unscrew the three little silver screws at the top of my door, except the top trim on mine was held on by clips, not screws.

OK, I figured I would practice by sticking a small flat-head screw driver and pushing down on the clips. Only problem is that in their infinite wisdom, whoever at Fleetwood put the wood panel in the door, decided that gravity and the clips were not good enough to hold the top trim piece in place. So, they ran a bead of glue under the trim piece, and I could see where it squeezed out. Trying to unclip it was impossible because it was thoroughly glued in place.

So, I got out several flat-head screwdrivers, an old paring knife, and a razor blade cutter and started by running a sharp knife and then a razor blade along the places where the glue had squeezed out. Then I used several flat-head screw drivers to pry the trim piece off in small pieces, which was not easy. The photo below shows the result. There is still a small piece of plastic I need to get off, and I probably should scrape more of the extra glue off.



One of the instructional videos I watched, by the way, was done by someone who said he had discovered that someone had used a lot of glue to the back of the entire panel, so he had to run a thin piece of metal up and down between the panel and the door to free it up. I guess I was lucky that mine was only glued at the trim piece!

I was able to pull the panel out and slide it into the new door, except it would not go the last two inches, but I am tired and will tackle that tomorrow. I did try some soap in the grooves, but might have to use my rubber mallet. Will have to be careful to not damage the panel. Removing the top panel from the new door was easy because you just had to stick in a small screwdriver and the clips unclipped like they are supposed to.

I am taking this slow because I do not want to damage anything, but tomorrow my goal will be to get the panel slid in all the way and then to work on removing the top pin on the refrigerator frame. I may call Fleetwood customer service on Monday and give them a piece of my mind, as they say!

 

[Onyrlef]

I got some further directions on how to remove and replace the refrigerator door, but it was incredibly basic, and Dometic says it does not offer technical advice, so they will not answer questions! The instructions said to access the hinges to remove the door, but nothing about removing the door panel, so I tried to follow videos online. Basically, you have to remove a panel at the top of the door and the panel should slide right out from the top. However, they said to unscrew the three little silver screws at the top of my door, except the top trim on mine was held on by clips, not screws.

OK, I figured I would practice by sticking a small flat-head screw driver and pushing down on the clips. Only problem is that in their infinite wisdom, whoever at Fleetwood put the wood panel in the door, decided that gravity and the clips were not good enough to hold the top trim piece in place. So, they ran a bead of glue under the trim piece, and I could see where it squeezed out. Trying to unclip it was impossible because it was thoroughly glued in place.

So, I got out several flat-head screwdrivers, an old paring knife, and a razor blade cutter and started by running a sharp knife and then a razor blade along the places where the glue had squeezed out. Then I used several flat-head screw drivers to pry the trim piece off in small pieces, which was not easy. The photo below shows the result. There is still a small piece of plastic I need to get off, and I probably should scrape more of the extra glue off.

View attachment 169165

One of the instructional videos I watched, by the way, was done by someone who said he had discovered that someone had used a lot of glue to the back of the entire panel, so he had to run a thin piece of metal up and down between the panel and the door to free it up. I guess I was lucky that mine was only glued at the trim piece!

I was able to pull the panel out and slide it into the new door, except it would not go the last two inches, but I am tired and will tackle that tomorrow. I did try some soap in the grooves, but might have to use my rubber mallet. Will have to be careful to not damage the panel. Removing the top panel from the new door was easy because you just had to stick in a small screwdriver and the clips unclipped like they are supposed to.

I am taking this slow because I do not want to damage anything, but tomorrow my goal will be to get the panel slid in all the way and then to work on removing the top pin on the refrigerator frame. I may call Fleetwood customer service on Monday and give them a piece of my mind, as they say!

I doubt Fleetwood did anything but install the unit as is.

 

[JudyJB]

But the refrigerator doors come without panels. Fleetwood added a panel that matches the wood in the cabinets in my motorhome. As an option, Dometic sells a black panel or a wood-grained panel, but the latter is not the same as the wood in my cabinets, so Fleetwood added a panel that matched.

 

[Bearcatrp]

Sucks you’re still dealing with this but understand you don’t want to damage anything. Is yours a full size refrigerator? Had to remove my refrigerator door this past summer. 2 screws on top for the freezer door by the hing, then lift both doors off. Didn’t have to remove bottom hinge. Good luck finishing it.

 

[Ray-IN]

I removed my Norcold 1200 doors by removing the bottom hinges. When I re-installed them I used a small bottle jack to lift them to the right height and hold the door while I replaced the hinges. Re-installation did require 2 people though, DW held the door steady while i positioned it and reattached the hinges.

 

[JudyJB]

Sucks you’re still dealing with this but understand you don’t want to damage anything. Is yours a full size refrigerator? Had to remove my refrigerator door this past summer. 2 screws on top for the freezer door by the hing, then lift both doors off. Didn’t have to remove bottom hinge. Good luck finishing it.

Yes, at least relatively full-sized for an RV--a 2652, which is very common. It has a top freezer door and a lower refrigerator door. I will be able to leave the bottom hinge pin on, but will have to remove upper pin. That at least gives me something to rest the door on while I work on the upper pin.

I am taking it slow, but think I know how to do the hinge pins. Using screwdrivers to remove the improperly glued-on trim panel would have taken me two minutes if it had not been glued. Took over an hour and still some plastic and glue remain.

Dometic could have easily designed this door to make it easier to remove. Might have cost them an extra dollar or two, however.

 

[Ex-Calif]

You're doing great Judy! Perseverance plus! And it sounds like you are pretty detail oriented. You got this!

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Dometic could have easily designed this door to make it easier to remove. Might have cost them an extra dollar or two, however.

The goal of most designs is production efficiency, not repair. In their world, it lasts long enough to make it past the warranty period and after that, likely labor efficiency. So a supporting dealer wouldn't fix the door, they'd replace it. Makes for a higher parts cost but less labor which might not save the customer any money but that's not their goal. Basically you're investing your (free) labor in exchange for part cost which is just part of the game of fixing pretty much anything.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

But the refrigerator doors come without panels. Fleetwood added a panel that matches the wood in the cabinets in my motorhome. As an option, Dometic sells a black panel or a wood-grained panel, but the latter is not the same as the wood in my cabinets, so Fleetwood added a panel that matched.

Right, but I'm struggling to believe they added special clips or glue. That's an extra step or two on the assembly line that adds no value to the results. Just not the sort of thing that an RV manufacturer does, even on high end models. But obviously somebody did it to yours...

 

[JudyJB]

The clips were not special. They are part of the molded plastic trim piece, but they certainly did add the glue. No reason for glue since the clips were already there. The replacement door had just the clips, so very easy to remove trim to insert door panel.

And, yes, the purpose of design is production, but at least in some more progressive industries, Design for Serviceability is a goal as well. (I edited one of the GM training manuals on this in the late 90s, so I know it exists.)

The old automotive process was that designers designed the car and figuratively tossed the design over the wall to the manufacturing engineers. Since the design could not be manufactured, or at least manufactured at a reasonable cost, they tossed the design back to the engineers, and the designers made some changes and tossed it back, ad infinitum, until someone figured it was good enough or the game was over. Today, it is much more likely that the designers now actually talk to the manufacturing engineers, and work with them to get a design that works. (This saves design and manufacturing time.) The next step, of course, is that they are supposed to make sure the design is also serviceable, although that tends to be more of a goal than a requirement. (The Fleetwood customer service manager once admitted to me that they built a bunch of As where the water pump was not accessible, so they had to recall some vehicles and add an extra door to the outside of the rigs.)

As far as a manufacturer adding glue, I suspect was something that was done when someone had problems with the clips maybe breaking. Since my door panel is an exact match for my cabinets, I am certain Fleetwood put the panel on at the factory.

 

[Ex-Calif]

We always joked that engines were designed by seniority. That's why the easiest things to design are the hardest to service - LOL...

3D design has really improved things, believe it or not.

 

[JudyJB]

I have almost given up on my door, but I made several calls to local dealers and a few in Sarasota where I will be next week. Most I just left messages with, but would you believe one dealer in Nokimis, FL, said they only work on RVs less than 10 years old?? And mine is 12 years old!!! Guess I would not recommend that place to anyone!!

Anyway, I went up to the camp host and asked him if he knew of any mobile mechanics, and he mentioned that he used to work for La Mesa RV. He was on his way to another dealer to complain about his warranty service on his new rig, but he said he had worked on refrigerator doors and would stop by when he got back. I told him I would be happy to pay him.

I also have a cousin near Sarasota who has a 5th wheel and is very handy because of his past work experience. He let me park alongside his driveway three years ago when I was without a place to stay when an uncle was dying nearby. He has his 5th wheel set up in his very large backyard and also hosts his wife's brother and his trailer often in another hookup spot in his backyard! When I am there, hopefully he can help me if the camp host cannot, and I still cannot get an appointment at a dealer.

 

[JudyJB]

The glue discussion reminded me of the auto industry when superglue was first available. One of the problems assembly factories had back then was that a few factory workers decided it would make their jobs go faster. (They liked to find ways to speed their tasks up so they could work ahead and then take a longer break.) So, they smuggled tubes of the stuff into the plants and used it illegally. A few of them got caught when they glued themselves to something, and the rumor was that one person used his teeth to unscrew a cap of superglue and glued his tongue to his teeth.

Anyway, for a while, they had to search lunches and bags coming into plants to catch superglue smugglers!

 

[CharlesinGA]

Its not that the door and the hinge pins are a hard job, its just that it requires more hands than the average human has. If you were properly equipped for the job...........................

Charles

 

[John From Detroit]

Rachael Nordstrom is a mobile RV service Tech.
Last I knew she wintered in Florida
This is her Flint information

RV Repair Flint, MI - Nordstrom RV Service

Nordstrom RV Service is a RV Repair Service Center in Flint, MI - specializing in RV Service & RV Maintenance. Call 810-789-3477 Now!

rvrepairdirect.com

One of the big lakes.
She is, in my not very humble opinion, a very good RV service tech.

 

[JudyJB]

THE DOOR IS FIXED AND ATTACHED!!!! Yea!

Yesterday, when I went to ask one of the camp hosts if he knew any mobile RV technicians, he mentioned that he used to work at an RV dealer. So, today he came over and managed to fix it. He tried to find a YouTube video because the door did not look like ones he had worked on, but eventually, he laid down on the floor and found that the bottom pin unscrewed with a small screwdriver.

So, I held the door, and he guided it onto the top pin and then pushed the bottom pin into place and screwed it back in. It now works, believe it or not. I just finished putting my food back into it, but I cannot find one of the door shelves I put away. It will show up, however.

None of the videos I looked at last week or that he looked at had that information, and Dometic refuses to give you technical help. (I guess they figure once it leaves their door, they could care less. I cannot think of another company that does that so blatantly.) They did send me a manual, but its instructions were vague as in "Remove the door from the pins" without telling you how to do this.

At least now, I know how to replace a refrigerator door, so if anyone needs help, I will consult for a tiny fee.

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

Great news Judy, persistence paid off. My Japanese son in law aleays says how did you learn to fix that, to which I respond I grew up poor, so had to figure out how to fix things if I was to have them.
Hope to meet you in Florida this winter

Ed

 

[Ex-Calif]

At least now, I know how to replace a refrigerator door, so if anyone needs help, I will consult for a tiny fee.

Installing door $10.
Knowing how to install door $90.

I knew you'd get it - you rock!

 

[RRR]

"but I cannot find one of the door shelves I put away."

Those among us who have not done this raise their hand.

 

[Onyrlef]

Great news Judy, persistence paid off. My Japanese son in law aleays says how did you learn to fix that, to which I respond I grew up poor, so had to figure out how to fix things if I was to have them.
Hope to meet you in Florida this winter

Ed

The comedian Steven Wright said " Experience is what you get right after you needed it".