Refrigerator Coming Loose at Top

[dougi]

Our refrigerator is protruding into the cabin at the top by almost an inch. This let's hot or cold air into the cabin. I took the top outside plastic cover off to take a look to see if I could fix it. It doesn't look promising for a quick fix. We have the Norcold fridge, BTW.

 

Has anyone else had this problem? If so, what was your fix?

[ScubaRx]

Hey Doug,

 

We've not had that problem but I'll look at ours and see if I could maybe see a solution for you. Just so I understand, is the fridge leaning out only at the top (and thereby unlevel relative to the coach floor) or has the whole unit slid out of its hole an inch?

 

Steve

[allenpamela]

We had to have the heating coil replaced in our refrig and when we went to pick it up the top was out about an inch. I told them it wasn't right and they wanted to argue with me that it was correct. They finally removed the plastic on the front, pulled it out and then pushed it back in properly and it fit right. The guy had to push pretty hard to get it back in place. Could it be that for some reason your's has simply slipped.....not sure why it would do that though. Hope you find the fix and please let us know what it is. I always worry about what happens when the refrig goes out completely because I'm told the wall of the bathroom has to be removed to take out the refrig to put in a new one.

 

Pam

[dougi]

Steve, only the top of the fridge is loose and protruding into the cabin. The bottom seems secure. I can see where the screws are loose at the top of the fridge when I look into the area above the fridge from outside the trailer. Oliver epoxied two pieces of aluminum angle metal to which they screwed self tapping sheet metal screws into the lip of the fridge and into the aluminum. It appears these screws have fatigued and broken the holes in the lip of the fridge and allowed it it lean into the interior of the trailer. These screws are about 1 1/4 inch long and it appears they may have to be cut out to remove them. There is inadequate space to back them out by unscrewing them. IMO a different method of securing the fridge should be devised and implemented. The way they did mine at the factory was, IMO, inadequate. It is not a serious problem, however. I may just let it be as it may be very expensive to remedy. I may just fill the space above the fridge with insulation material to keep the outside air from coming in around the top of the fridge. The fridge will operate just fine as it is.

 

Take a look at yours and see how it is secured at the top. I wonder if they were all done like mine.

 

Thanks,

 

Doug

[dougi]

Pam, I hate to hear that the fridge can't be removed without removing the bathroom wall. I wonder if Oliver is still willing to work on our trailers if we take them in for repairs or modifications? I suppose I should ask them this question.

 

Thanks,

 

Doug

[bugeyedriver]

... I wonder if Oliver is still willing to work on our trailers if we take them in for repairs or modifications? I suppose I should ask them this question . . .

 

I believe they would, if you called them in advance so they could schedule their manpower. They still have the craftsmen that made our trailers working for them on other lines of products, so they'd need to take them off the line and come over to work on the trailer. Last fall they did just that for the Wonder Egg as I stopped by to have the septic clean-out system installed.

 

A few weeks ago, I called them to get a new bottom, sliding window portion for the bathroom, 'cause mine shattered after a close lightning strike. "No problem, Pete . . ." they said. The part is being sent to my house in Texas and it'll be there when I return from my current adventure.

 

In my experience, while the Oliver trailer is not currently in production, their customer service goes on, and on . . .

[allenpamela]

I can't remember who told me the wall had to be removed if we put in a new refrig but I'm not looking forward to that day if that's the case.

 

We had the screws on the right side of the battery tray fail....they weren't screwed into any thing but the fiberglass. One of the screws also broke which we pushed through and put in plastic wall anchors and screwed into those. They seem to be holding for now. Think it's probably to hard to get to in the refrig area to try that.

 

Hope you find a fix that isn't too costly and please let us know the fix-it.

 

Pam

[DCKiefer]

Just wanted to mention that if heat is leaking into the trailer from behind the frig, this is dangerous when on propane. CO from the burnt gas could be entering the trailer. I would leave a window cracked open until you get it properly sealed.