Those pesky glass cabinet door clips..

[SCVJeff]

Less than a year old, I noticed that the little brown clips that hold in the glass on the forward cabinet doors (and probably other places) are cracking. In my case, they were all cracked. After a few trips to Home Depot I found some metal glass clips that rise only 1/8" to hold a thin mirror up. I bought 8, painted them brown, and replaced a the #6 screws with shorter dark plated screws. IMO this looks way better than OEM, and will obviously last way longer then the original. (wish I could remember how to make these smaller)



ORIGINAL


------------------------------------------------------
MORE BETTER

[SCVJeff]

Less than a year old, I noticed that the little brown clips that hold in the glass on the forward cabinet doors (and probably other places) are cracking. In my case, they were all cracked. After a few trips to Home Depot I found some metal glass clips that rise only 1/8" to hold a thin mirror up. I bought 8, painted them brown, and replaced a the #6 screws with shorter dark plated screws. IMO this looks way better than OEM, and will obviously last way longer then the original. (wish I could remember how to make these smaller)



ORIGINAL


------------------------------------------------------
MORE BETTER

[smlranger]

Definitely mo better. I will have to check mine.

[AFChap]

Jeff

Is your door glass frosted??? ...doesn't look clear in the pics.

My glass is/was dark tinted. I didn't notice if the clips are cracked, but about 18 mo ago I replaced the glass with metal mesh because I was concerned about the heat inside the cabinets with the vcr, sat receiver, etc. I found aluminum mest at Camping world labeled "disposable grill topper." I bought four, cut them to a little larger than required size with some old scissors, folded each edge over about 1/4 in, spray painted them black, put the plastic edging from the glass on the metal, and put them in the door. They are pretty neat, and allow good air circulation into the cabinets. The glass panels are wrapped and stored under the couch.

[SCVJeff]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by AFChap:
Is your door glass frosted??? ...doesn't look clear in the pics. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Yeah. It's "sculptured" and frosted I guess is the best description. You're right, it does get warm. Those cabinets are open most of the time for that reason.

[CC38EL]

great minds think alike.......

I had a glass panel fall out when I was moving my VCR/DVD/DirecTV stuff around to help with the heat. Rather than put the glass back in with new clips, I bought some airconditioner filter material, the kind that is like thin sponge foam, dark grey in color and thumbtacked it inside the frame.

Lets the heat out, controls the dust to a certain extent, and also lets me use my remote controls without having the doors open.

[LK23]

Jeff,

I just looked at mine and several are cracked as well. Thanks for the heads up.

Rex

[SCVJeff]

Here's what they look like when I pulled them out:

[Pusherman]

Jeff, I'd send this picture to Winnie. I bet they would really appreciate the feedback on the quality of their supplier.

Hopefully they read this forum.

Good job!

[SCVJeff]

Be glad to, although this thread (and my way better fix)would probably do more good. Next question is who to send it to? (knocking on wood) I have never had to call them for anything so don't know where to start.

[AFChap]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Next question is who to send it to? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Send to Winnebago Owner Relations at email: [email protected]

[CaptChet]

Just checked our two forward doors on either side of the TV, In poor light conditions I see a couple broken. Will check tomorrow in better light conditions and advise.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Duner]

I have checked my clips they look like new -- no cracks on any of them after 4 years.

I think the problem may be caused by the varnish/stain/oil base products used by Winnie at the factory, or more likely, a cleaning solvent. Some solvents will cause a strong reaction that leaves the plastic totaly worthless.

Back in my youth, I was project engineer for telephones test sets with a 2-piece case made of a very tough polycarbonate blend. We would drop these test sets from 20 ft onto concrete (twice!)and they had to be fully functional. You could not break the plastic case even if you ran over them with a truck. But once in a while service would get a customer return unit back with the plastic case in many pieces. The problem is the customer would "clean" his test set with acetone & few days later the polycarb would begin to break down.

The metal clips will last a lifetime .... the plastic clips should last a long time too if they never see any solvents.

Happy Trails,
Duner

[Mikeso]

We wound up replacing the ones in our Journey after a year. Did the same thing, went to Home Depot and found some that were metal. How well the originals will stand up is dependent on how easily you close the door. If it slips out of your hand and it slams shut, they will break.

[SCVJeff]

Not only have they never been slammed or even shut hard, I have placed 3 felt bumpers along the door edge and center of every cabinet in the coach. These are simply cheap and brittle clips that shatter when torqued by pneumatic drills.

[NeilV]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by SCVJeff:
Not only have they never been slammed or even shut hard, I have placed 3 felt bumpers along the door edge and center of every cabinet in the coach. These are simply cheap and brittle clips that shatter when torqued by pneumatic drills. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I was in the millworks business for many years and it is a catch22. Use the metal ones and clients with high humidity and ventilation problems complain about the cheap rusty metal clips and some glass panel suppliers won't warranty the glass. Use the plastic ones required/provided by the glass suppliers and some customers will use cleaners with solvents or someone on the assembly line will use a drill instead of a power screwdriver set to the corect torque setting for the faster/clip and crack them.

Neither one is perfect and both garner their share of complaints.

[tomsm]

Must be an assembly problem. After reading Jeff's post, I got out my CSI flashlight and looked very closely at mine. Even though my unit was built 4 years ago, my plastic clips look brand new.

Glad to know there's an easy fix if they go bad later. Thanks, Jeff...

[SCVJeff]

Not knowing the composition of these clips, I enamel painted them brown (mostly to blend). If I have rust on these clips there are way more serious issues, and I'm lookin' for a raft..