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Old 12-14-2019, 09:20 AM   #1
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Refer door

Refer door came open while making a turn and bottom plastic broke off. How can I repair this? Door is completely off. Can I repair it using hinges? HELP!!
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Old 12-14-2019, 09:39 AM   #2
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You may be able to repair it but the chance of that is 50/50. There is a metal bracket that you can buy that will reinforce the hinge. When ours broke I had to buy a new door and did install the bracket.
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Old 12-15-2019, 02:34 PM   #3
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Hi Drummer-

You didn't say what brand of fridge (or give any other clues about your rig) but I can at least give you an approach to take ........ IF you have a Norcold. I too broke the bottom (cheap) plastic hinge on my Norcold when I rounded a corner.

I fixed it for less than $2 using an approach I found on youtube. There may be more than one video, but here's the one I viewed:

My home-made replacement was a LOT shorter (about 3" long along the bottom edge of the door) than the one in the video but it is now a LOT stronger than the OEM hinge plate. I used a blank electrical junction box cover from Home Depot for metal and cut the replacement hinge bottom plate to shape with my saber saw and smoothed it up with a couple of files. Then drilled it and painted it flat black and you really can hardly see it. Can't seem to find the pic I took right now, but the video is all you really need.

Good luck with the fix...........mine was really, really easy.

Oh, and Happy Holidays
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Old 12-22-2019, 05:11 PM   #4
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Refer door

I had a similar problem on my Norcold, but mine just broke one day, for no apparent reason. It seems that it's a known problem on Norcolds, and there is a hinge reinforcement kit that Norcold makes to prevent the problem, but is not to repair it after it has broken. I only found out about it while doing online searches after mine broke. I used the same repair as youracman posted in the video. It's been a month and a half and it has been working well. About $12 for a piece of aluminum flat bar is way cheaper than $150 or so for a new door, which is what Norcold says has to be done.
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Old 12-23-2019, 12:03 AM   #5
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Hinge repair

Same issue here last summer with our door lower plastic hinge breaking. Very poor design but fixed ultimately to be better than new
I used a small piece of steel although thick alloy would be OK to fashion a 3 inch lower bracket to fit under the bottom edge of the door. Shaping the steel in a vice with an angle grinder and drilling fixation holes/countersunk then creating a suspension hole for the lower door frame hinge in it

When screwed on to the lower surface of the door its practically invisible and so much stronger than the original. Holds rock solid
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Old 12-23-2019, 05:53 AM   #6
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Reter door

Thanks for all the great advice!
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Old 12-23-2019, 10:50 AM   #7
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Refer Door

Just had this happen last summer, I ordered a set of upper and lower hinges from https://pdxrvwholesale.com/.

They came in about 10 days...I think they were $12
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Old 12-31-2019, 07:56 PM   #8
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Just thought I would take some time to post pics of my door hinge repair so that others might see how easy it is.

I didn't take the time to countersink the mounting screw holes as others did, but the other details are probably very similar. As others have noted, if you do this mod, it will be MUCH stronger than the OEM hardware but I must admit, the flimsy OEM plastic part lasted 12 years on my rig (and luckily, it broke while the rig was being moved in the storage lot.....not whilst out on the road.)

I was a bit apprehensive about locating/marking the hole to be drilled for the hinge pin, but I marked it (in place) and drilled it. The final installation passed the "dollar bill test" for the door seal compression just fine; the bulb seal is pretty forgiving, I believe.....so, not to worry.

To be honest, if I were needing to do this repair today, I would save myself the trouble and just order the part mentioned in "Saltty's" post. Back when I did it, the sage comment that "Google is your friend" didn't come to mind; but when you Google it up, there it is .......... the replacement part ..... all ready to install.

Safe travels to ya ............ and Happy New Year.
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Old 01-01-2020, 04:24 AM   #9
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Fridge door

Has anyone seen a problem with the hinge on the 4 door norcold units
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Old 01-01-2020, 08:20 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by billyb View Post
Has anyone seen a problem with the hinge on the 4 door norcold units
The mentioned kit from Norcold has a left and a right hinge in it. If you’ve not had a problem yet, I’d still spend the $25 to get the kit and install it before find out you have a problem.
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Old 01-21-2020, 12:55 PM   #11
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I was able to buy the plastic molded hinge pieces from a local r.v. store in Pensacola Fl. Went ahead and replaced both sides while i was at it.
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