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01-26-2013, 10:58 AM
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#1
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Placerville
Posts: 357
M.O.C. #8962
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Norcold Refer problem & fix
When we left Quartzsite for a short drive to Parker I found that the lower door hinge on the Refer was broken. Ours is a N811 model, 2 door, the hinges are a molded part of the door frame, a bump with a hole in it to receive a metal pin mounted to a steel hinge bracket, the only way to repair it I was told from Norcold was buy a new "expensive" complete door, they said this was a common problem, my reply was why do you use plastic for a door frame on a refer?, they had nothing to say. So what I did was remove the door, take the broken part of the frame and JB Weld it back in the correct place, then add a piece of 1/8" thick,X 2" wide aluminum piece to the under side of the door the full width of the door. I drilled a 1/4" hole to the piece for the pin, attached to the bottom of the door with 5 small counter sunk screws, then ran the drill bacn into the 1/4" pin hol to make sure it was completely in line with the plastic piece, once done I masked it off, and spray painted it semi gloss black. when I re installed the door I added a 1/4" washer to the lower pin to space the door a little higher to make room for the added piece on the bottom, the door looks like new, and works perfect, total cost twenty bucks, and better than it was when new. Now why did this happen?, I suspect a couple of things, first the door had a gap of about 3/16" on the hinge pins, if you open your refer door and lift it up and you will see, I would reccomend get a 1/4" washer in there to keep it from bouncing up and down when moving, also the pins have no lube on them, so I used some silicone grease on them.
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01-26-2013, 03:06 PM
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#2
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Montana Master
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Pahrump
Posts: 2,523
M.O.C. #1081
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Good tip and thanks for the advice.
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01-26-2013, 03:54 PM
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#3
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Site Team
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Wilsey
Posts: 18,799
M.O.C. #11455
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All great ideas. Thanks!
__________________
Dick, Joyce, Diego, Picatso and Gustav
2017 3720 RL, and 2013 HC 343RL
Pullrite Hitch, IS, Disk Brakes, 3rd AC, Winegard Traveler, Bathroom door mod, Dometic 320, couch for desk swap, replaced chairs, sun screens, added awnings, etc.
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01-27-2013, 01:12 AM
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#4
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Montana Master
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Tonawanda
Posts: 551
M.O.C. #3662
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I wish I would of known that I had to replace a door for that reason and wasn't happy about the lousy design.I wonder how much money they made on the fix?
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01-27-2013, 02:46 AM
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#5
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: K.C.
Posts: 11,731
M.O.C. #5980
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Good job Ron!
I had to repair a lot of cooler and freezer doors like that in bars and restaurants.
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01-27-2013, 02:47 AM
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#6
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Montana Master
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Lake Gaston
Posts: 8,773
M.O.C. #12156
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great post!
__________________
Mike and Lorraine
2002 3655 FL, 2005 3650RK
2010 3665RE, 2015 3910FB
F350 crew cab dually 6.7
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