Dometic Problem

[SRW]

The door of the Dometic refridgerator in our 2008 International fell off.

Has anyone had a similar problem?

SRW

[Westfalia]

Not yet, knock on wood. At least it's covered under warranty and ANY Dometic Authorized dealer or service center can perform the work.

[lewster]

Originally Posted by SRW

The door of the Dometic refridgerator in our 2008 International fell off.

Has anyone had a similar problem?

SRW

SRW,

Just for informational purposes.......where exactly did the failure occur? Did the hinge crack? Did the door crack? Did the hinge pin snap?

Inquiring minds need to know (and so will Dometic when they replace it under your warranty!!!!)

Hope you get it fixed to your satisfaction and SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!

[doorgunner]

Were the chimps loose in your trailer?

[bake315]

Originally Posted by doorgunner

Were the chimps loose in your trailer?

Nah, they already recaptured all those and they're back in their pens in Bastrop.

[SRW]

Originally Posted by lewster

SRW,

Just for informational purposes.......where exactly did the failure occur? Did the hinge crack? Did the door crack? Did the hinge pin snap?

Inquiring minds need to know (and so will Dometic when they replace it under your warranty!!!!)

Hope you get it fixed to your satisfaction and SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!

For informational purposes only.....

The door got hung up at the lower door hinge. It became difficult to close and (I am guessing here) the trim at the lower left side of the box caused a piece of the door's trim to break at the lower left corner of the door.

Trying to close the door slowly, very slowly, did not free the problem and only caused further breakage of the door's trim to the point where the entire door fell off.

Fortunately, I caught the door before if hit the floor.

Excepting for the door's locking handles falling off previously there were no indication that any further problem existed.

Since the door is now off of the fridge I can see the tiny (if not puny) pin that the door hinges on.

SRW

[Crusty]

I used to have a barn door that would fall off of its hinges every time a horse would scratch his butt on the corner - any similarities to your situation?

[smccollister]

Hi,

Yes, we've had problems with our Fridge door (2004 Intl). Not with the door hinges, but with the stainless face plate and the trim that holds it in place.

The stainless panel on the front is heavy - and is held in place by a thin plastic lip around the edges. The lip at the bottom holds the weight of the stainless face and failed.

Since under warranty, we had the shop cover the repair/perform the work. The first attempt involved re-gluing the bottom strip in place and that failed after a month or so.

On the 2nd trip into repair, the bottom lip was reinforced with rivets to help hold the trim in place. So far that seems to have done the trick, but it does seem to be a design flaw. Since we have the 16ft Bambi, our fridge is probably different size than yours, so maybe it is unique to the smaller ones - haven't heard about other's experience with this.

Scott

[SRW]

No chimps only two cats.

I have spoken with my AS dealer and so far they have no information as to when the door will be repaired/replaced.

SRW

[Westfalia]

If the dealer can't fix it in a timely manner, seek out ANY other Dometic repair shop.

[Jaxon]

Originally Posted by SRW

No chimps only two cats.
I have spoken with my AS dealer and so far they have no information as to when the door will be repaired/replaced.
SRW

If you're dealing with Camper Clinic II (Buda), be careful and double check everything they do. There's been several threads about them here (and personal experience, to).

I think I know where the chimps ended up...

[happycamper2]

The top hinge was cracked on our 2008 when we bought it. We knew it was hard to open, but just thought the catch needed adjusting. We are going back to the dealer to have the door replaced.

[SRW]

Originally Posted by Jaxon

If you're dealing with Camper Clinic II (Buda), be careful and double check everything they do. There's been several threads about them here (and personal experience, to).

I think I know where the chimps ended up...

I appreciate your comment, but can say that the tech at CCII did a good job on a short punch list.

After seeing a few photos of the door taken by CCII, Dometic is sending a new door and the work will be completed on Tue/Wed next week.

We'll see.

SRW

[SRW]

Originally Posted by doorgunner

Were the chimps loose in your trailer?

OK, so there are two cats and one insists on making sure that the coffee is up to his standard.

SRW

[SRW]

The folks at Dometic promised the folks at Camper Clinic II in Buda, TX that a new refridgerator door would be shipped second day delivery if someone agreed to pay the added shipping fee of $50.00, which I did.

Two working days later (excluding the weekend) the folks at Dometic advised the folks at CCII that refridgerator doors were in fact back ordered and would not be available until the 2nd week of May.

In response to me saying to the good folks at CCII that I wanted to attend a rally this week (a Chili cook-off in Bellvile, TX) the service manager at CCII fashioned and installed a metal plate at the bottom of door that would fit over the hinge pin and be pop riveted to the bottom of the door.

We towed the AS home (about 60 miles) and so far the fix is holding and the door opens and closes very smoothly.

Fortunately, the roads between home and Bellville are relatively smooth.

I appreciate the job the people at CCII have done.

Actually, getting a door before leaving for Bozeman remains to be seen.

SRW

[SRW]

IMO the folks at CCII in Buda, TX were waiting too long for a reply from Dometic as to when and if they would take a door off of an existing refrigerator, so I called customer service at Dometic.

After a couple of conversations with customer service at Dometic over two days they did ship a new door and CCII installed it and problem solved.

End of story.

Hopefully.

SRW

[mudmuffin]

Plastic hinges on Dometic doors are prone to fail. They can be repaired however. Dometic first tried to sell me a whole new door. Lucky your unit is still under warranty. Dometic sells a repair kit for many of the models. I fixed mine (1994 model RM-3807) this past Sat morning. Took about and hour. Good luck!

[Antique Pedaler]

The Dometic door on our '99 fell off when the trailer was about three years old. To add insult to injury, the door broke the handle off the oven when it fell. The trailer was in its storage bay at the time. With the first call to Dometic, they sent me a metal hinge brace to overlay the plastic hinge to reattach the door. That was unsatisfactory as the plastic hinge was too damaged so after a second call They sent me a new door as a goodwill measure. The new door was pretty simple to install, but I did have to disconnect the fridge gas line, some hardware, then slide the fridge forward about six inches to do the job.

Oh yes, the oven factory sent a new oven handle, also free of charge.