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12-05-2022, 08:09 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 28A
State: Arizona
Posts: 259
THOR #25443
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Door on Norcold opens while driving
Has anyone had their Norcold N611 refrigerator door fly open while driving? It happened twice to us on our first one week outing. Design flaw or just bad luck? I was certain the door was closed completely after the first mishap then once again the contents were on the kitchen floor during a rough ride.The DW cleaned up two messes in route to our next campsite and unloaded her thoughts about it as you might imagine.
So has anyone come up with a fix or solution or did we simply stumble upon an odd situation?
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John & Evie
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12-05-2022, 08:41 PM
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#2
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Site Team
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 27.1
State: Florida
Posts: 14,117
THOR #7035
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Ted & Melinda
2016 ACE 27.1
2016 Chevy Sonic Toad - Selling
2020 Chevy Colorado Z71 Trail Runner Toad
2024 Chevrolet Trax 2RS - Soon 2B TOAD
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12-05-2022, 11:52 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Hurricane 31S
State: Texas
Posts: 4,157
THOR #6411
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Redsand
Has anyone had their Norcold N611 refrigerator door fly open while driving? It happened twice to us on our first one week outing. Design flaw or just bad luck? I was certain the door was closed completely after the first mishap then once again the contents were on the kitchen floor during a rough ride.The DW cleaned up two messes in route to our next campsite and unloaded her thoughts about it as you might imagine.
So has anyone come up with a fix or solution or did we simply stumble upon an odd situation?
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Not a problem with our 7 year old Norcold N611 doors. I did proactively install the door hinge kit.
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Jim & Roy Davis
2016 Hurricane 31S
1961 Rampside in tow
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12-06-2022, 12:04 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Hurricane 29M
State: Texas
Posts: 2,672
THOR #11781
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The only problem I have had with my refer is on a cold day it freezes the contents and on a hot day it barely chills the contents.
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Lt Keefer
2018 Hurricane 29M
CHF, Saf-T-Plus, SumoSprings
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12-06-2022, 12:31 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Freedom Traveller A27
State: North Carolina
Posts: 2,407
THOR #17765
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We use friction rods along with plastic bins in the fridge. Never had the door fly open, but if it did, the rods would keep stuff from falling out.
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12-06-2022, 01:01 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 28A
State: Arizona
Posts: 259
THOR #25443
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Beau388
Not a problem with our 7 year old Norcold N611 doors. I did proactively install the door hinge kit.
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What door hinge kit are you referring to if I may ask? Our rig is a 2005 so likely much older and so far all the photos posted look a little different than our legacy model.
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John & Evie
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12-06-2022, 01:43 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Forest River Forester 235
State: Indiana
Posts: 4,883
THOR #6826
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Redsand
What door hinge kit are you referring to if I may ask? Our rig is a 2005 so likely much older and so far all the photos posted look a little different than our legacy model.
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Do a search on Amazon. Norcold hinges are just plastic and are known to break, whereupon the door will fall off. The hinge kit consists of easily installed metal reinforcements. Perhaps older models don’t need this and sport the life of me I don’t understand why Norcold doesn’t install these simple, inexpensive parts at the factory.
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12-06-2022, 02:12 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 28A
State: Arizona
Posts: 259
THOR #25443
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lt Keefer
The only problem I have had with my refer is on a cold day it freezes the contents and on a hot day it barely chills the contents.
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We had the same issues with our older rig years ago. Frozen lettuce and warm beer. Not a pretty picture. Anyway armed with just enough info to be dangerous I cleaned the burner and adjusted the igniter on our Norcold then added this fan setup. Works like a charm. Temps stayed even all week long (except when the door flew open) but recovered quickly. Well worth the price and effort. Let me know if you need more info.
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John & Evie
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12-10-2022, 07:47 PM
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#9
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Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: chateau 23U
State: Florida
Posts: 60
THOR #1241
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Me Too!
Door fell off in the middle of NM nowhere due to broken hinge! Contacted Jeff (amazon) and had a new door and hinge sent delivered to next campground. Kept on truckin'.
I agree that the plastic hinges are a weakness.
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12-10-2022, 08:47 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: Virginia
Posts: 175
THOR #18622
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The magnets inside the door seal are not holding the door shut.
Try cleaning the seal real good.
If that doesn’t work replace the seal
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12-10-2022, 09:33 PM
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#11
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Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Outlaw 38MB
State: Florida
Posts: 41
THOR #18099
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What... no safety latch?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redsand
Has anyone had their Norcold N611 refrigerator door fly open while driving? It happened twice to us on our first one week outing. Design flaw or just bad luck? I was certain the door was closed completely after the first mishap then once again the contents were on the kitchen floor during a rough ride.The DW cleaned up two messes in route to our next campsite and unloaded her thoughts about it as you might imagine.
So has anyone come up with a fix or solution or did we simply stumble upon an odd situation?
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I'm not familiar with your model, but RV friges that I have seen have an external door safety latch that prevents exactly what you describe. Even our "residential" frig came with a plastic safety latch screwed on the outside. I suspect you can buy one and install it yourself. It's also useful to hold the door slightly open when you're not running the frig to insure it airs out.
We also use the expansion rods mentioned earlier to prevent things from shifting and falling out when the door is opened after a rough ride.
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12-10-2022, 09:35 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Windsport 29m
State: North Carolina
Posts: 521
THOR #9553
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Redsand
Has anyone had their Norcold N611 refrigerator door fly open while driving? It happened twice to us on our first one week outing. Design flaw or just bad luck? I was certain the door was closed completely after the first mishap then once again the contents were on the kitchen floor during a rough ride.The DW cleaned up two messes in route to our next campsite and unloaded her thoughts about it as you might imagine.
So has anyone come up with a fix or solution or did we simply stumble upon an odd situation?
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I have a 2018 Windsport 29m with the N611 and never had that occur??? Can you adjust it or see if something is not lined up? Can't give you any suggestions other than that!!! Bob Trice
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12-10-2022, 09:59 PM
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#13
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Junior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: California
Posts: 7
THOR #11419
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that the way it is. go buy a child proof lock and lock the Frig before driving... I dump 2 Gallon of soup on the floor while driving
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12-10-2022, 11:35 PM
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#14
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Site Team
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 27.1
State: Florida
Posts: 14,117
THOR #7035
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cgeace29.3
The magnets inside the door seal are not holding the door shut.
Try cleaning the seal real good.
If that doesn’t work replace the seal
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JONJON
I'm not familiar with your model, but RV friges that I have seen have an external door safety latch that prevents exactly what you describe. Even our "residential" frig came with a plastic safety latch screwed on the outside. I suspect you can buy one and install it yourself. It's also useful to hold the door slightly open when you're not running the frig to insure it airs out.
We also use the expansion rods mentioned earlier to prevent things from shifting and falling out when the door is opened after a rough ride.
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The N611 has latches on both doors. No magnets involved.
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Ted & Melinda
2016 ACE 27.1
2016 Chevy Sonic Toad - Selling
2020 Chevy Colorado Z71 Trail Runner Toad
2024 Chevrolet Trax 2RS - Soon 2B TOAD
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12-11-2022, 01:38 AM
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#15
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Magnitude RB34
State: Montana
Posts: 217
THOR #2531
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Hinges
The factory hinges are too weak to hold the doors. There are replacement hinges out there to fix it. Welcome to made in China. When they replaced my hinges never came open again.
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12-11-2022, 03:11 AM
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#16
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 28A
State: Arizona
Posts: 259
THOR #25443
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Now that I recovered from the covid scourge I'll take some photos and look into the door alignment situation. Seemed very odd the door could just open due to rough ride or a bump in the road. In any case I have orders to fix the *&#$jng thing or else. Seems a priority one project for sure or the DW may go on strike.
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John & Evie
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12-11-2022, 03:14 PM
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#17
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Junior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: California
Posts: 11
THOR #22924
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Fridge door opens while driving
We had that happen on our 2020 Thor Delano on one of our early trips. The dealer had to readjust the door to make sure that the latch was catching correctly.
As a result of having the fridge contents on the floor, I got a piece of thinner clear plexiglass and cut it to the width of the interior. Before we move, we put it in place with 3 small compression rods. We can see everything that's in the fridge and it's super simple to take out and replace. We also got some clear bins to put things in and keep organized.
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12-11-2022, 11:34 PM
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#18
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 28A
State: Arizona
Posts: 259
THOR #25443
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Well it seems we were not alone in the door opening mystery. I took a few photos today and a closer look at the door/latch system. As a few have posted there seems to be an excessive space for the door to move vertically while closed and especially in motion over rough roads. I would think that Norcold may have missed an opportunity to engineer the "storage latches" as a safety lock for travel. As is the storage latches only work to keep the door from closing during storage but seems like I might be able to drill a new hole and use it secure the door in travel. Probably the long way around a simple fix of an exterior cord or something.
I'll likely add a plastic washer to the bottom hinge to eliminate the space and minimize the vertical motion while underway. I need some additional secondary method to make sure the DW never needs to clean up a big mess due to a door malfunction ever again.
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John & Evie
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12-11-2022, 11:43 PM
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#19
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 28A
State: Arizona
Posts: 259
THOR #25443
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The photos I forgot....
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John & Evie
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12-19-2022, 12:28 AM
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#20
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Senior Member
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 28A
State: Arizona
Posts: 259
THOR #25443
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I found this device from RecPro and my daughter says it came stock with her fridge her in the Forest River trailer. Anyone know if this will work on a Norcold? Seems to fit the bill for travel safety.
https://www.recpro.com/rv-refrigerator-door-latch/
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John & Evie
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