Cabinet doors splitting.

depwojo

Member
I have a 2010 Eagle Ridge 29RSKA. I went into the trailer today and saw that 7-8 of my cabinet doors have split at the seams. Has anyone else had problems with this. It looks like the cabinet's doors are defective and not properly made at the manufacture. How do i get this looked into to or who do I contact a Heartland about this? RV is not under manufactur warranty but is under a extended warranty. This is not normal wear and tear.
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
Contact your local Heartland dealer or Heartland Customer Service to get started. If they aren't any help, then contact your "extended warranty" company. I would be surprised if they cover it..Don
 

depwojo

Member
Either one of them would help. Heartland said trailer is out of warranty and my extended warranty will not cover it. Looks like i am stuck with the cost of repairing a trailer full of cracked cabinets thats only 2 years old.
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
If they're splitting on the seams why not reglue them and clamp them. Gorilla Glue would work well and some bar clamps. Sounds to me like the glue just let go. Or you could take a door or two off and run them by a cabinet shop and see how they would fix them. I bet it's not as bad as it looks..Don
 

depwojo

Member
I will end up gluing some of them. But the fact that a 2 year old trailer has this many cabinets splitting does not sit right with me. Poor quality and Heartland will not give me the number to the manufacture so I can call them about my concerns. It's all a little frustrating. I will post some pics later.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
I will end up gluing some of them. But the fact that a 2 year old trailer has this many cabinets splitting does not sit right with me. Poor quality and Heartland will not give me the number to the manufacture so I can call them about my concerns. It's all a little frustrating. I will post some pics later.

I had to repair the mirror door on my bedroom cabinet after I broke it (door open, slide moving out, SNAP!). Anyways, the wood broke before the glue joint did, meaning it was "properly" glued. I repaired it using Titebond III wood glue. In most cases, a proper glue joint is stronger than the wood itself. Proper meaning the entire mating surface was wetted with glue, not just a little dab.
 

TeJay

Well-known member
Here's my 2 cents worth.

I've built cabinets before. I don't know exactly where your doors have split but if they are a frame and panel door, which most are, the panel is not meant to be glued into the frame. The panel is loose so as the wood changes with humidity the panel won't bind. The woods are different and therefore they will react differently with humidity changes. If the panels split maybe they were glued in and therefore split with changes in humidity. If it's the panel and they are glued into the frame gluing them again probably won't help because you still have the same situation which caused the wood to split.
Have a cabinet shop look at a door as was suggested. They should be able to determine if the panels were glued into the frame. If they were then it's a factory screw up. Maybe HL glues their panels in because they've determined that their woods react the same with humidity changes. If that's the case they got different wood and that's the cause of all doors splitting. When I build a frame and panel door I put 1/4- inch rubber sized BB's into the frame groove. There are two on each side or 8 to a door. Think of it as a picture frame with your picture being the panel. The rubber BB's allow the wood to change sizes with humidity changes and the panel won't rattle especially during the Winter months when the humidity is the lowest.
Hope this helps some.

TeJay
 

nathalie

Member
i just find out that i have the same problem i have an eagleridge 2010 and i have 6 doors that splitted .i called heartland and got the same answerd 1 year warranty i told them that was really not normal ...i bought 2 others fithwheel in the past and never had any problem !!! kind of frustrating with that kind of service !!!
 

flannelhd

Member
I have 2009 Cyclone 3912. My cabinet doors split the frist year(two of them).The second season the new replacement cabinet doors split. Company would not go for them, Loacl dearler eat the cost and was very upset with company. End of second season another cabinet door split, this time I called company and spoke to rep. He was very understanding and at this time we are trying to work it out. Side note, Your local dealer has had many complaints abouts cabinet door splitting
 

jimtoo

Moderator
Hi flannelhd,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and Family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed. Looks like you have been a member for a while...so jump in and enjoy the forum.

Jim M
 

garydb

Member
my cabinet doors continue to pop out of the hinges - had 4-5 fixed onece and now have about eight doing the same thing - it makes for a very unpleasant experience when you are afraid to open a cabinet. My wife doesn't want to store things inside that require multiple opening when out camping.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Just a question, what temps has your rig been exposed to that might contribute to the cracking wood? I found a crack starting down the middle of one of mine this summer, and I know this poor rig has been in -26* F to 112* F in a year. I am surprised more aren't doing it! I've decided some Old English furniture polish is probably needed, and as I was applying, I noticed the stain was not evenly applied on all of the cabinet surfaces and edges. Some areas absorbed more than others. So that tells me, they could easily absorb moisture and dry out unevenly. I've also been diligent about using damp-rid inside the trailer when it is not in use, to lessen potential moisture issues.

I hope you get your issue resolved to your satisfaction.

E
 

goodtruck

Well-known member
I just checked all of ours and did not find any cracks at all.We full time and our AC is on all the time so the interior stays at a even temp and humidity.So it sounds like a design problem.
 

Sandie

Well-known member
Geez...we are supposed to pick our "new" 2011 Elkridge up tomorrow. Reading all this scares the crap out of me. This is making me 2nd guess our choice here. I have never had and still don't have problems like that with our current fiver which is a Starcraft, a true Starcraft, not made by Jayco. Now I am really feeling anxious!
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Geez...we are supposed to pick our "new" 2011 Elkridge up tomorrow. Reading all this scares the crap out of me. This is making me 2nd guess our choice here. I have never had and still don't have problems like that with our current fiver which is a Starcraft, a true Starcraft, not made by Jayco. Now I am really feeling anxious!

Don't be. Although you may read about things that have gone wrong here, it's still not the mainstream experience. But, yes, stuff happens. That's why you go over the new rig at the dealership with a fine tooth comb and identify ANYTHING that gives you pause or doesn't look right. And document it with the dealer before you haul the rig away, if it's something that can be fixed at a later date.

We've had our rig for three years and the only broken door I've had was one that I did myself because I was in a hurry and didn't check it before opening a slide. Luckily, I was able to repair it myself.
 

garydb

Member
Had my rig to the service center twice to "fix" my cabinet doors and last trip had three pop out again. Very annoying stressfull
 

depwojo

Member
I again have the same problem with the splitting. I have spent at least a thousand dollars repairing and buying new doors. Can someone point me in the right direction as to who I need to talk to to resolve this matter once and for all.

Thanks,

Mark
 

danemayer

Well-known member
I again have the same problem with the splitting. I have spent at least a thousand dollars repairing and buying new doors. Can someone point me in the right direction as to who I need to talk to to resolve this matter once and for all.

Thanks,

Mark

Mark, sorry you're having this problem. Have you been protecting the wood with anything? My wife regularly applies Murphy Oil Orange and says the wood soaks up a ton of it.

Btw, duplicate posts are not permitted, so I've deleted the other post.
 

depwojo

Member
Mark, sorry you're having this problem. Have you been protecting the wood with anything? My wife regularly applies Murphy Oil Orange and says the wood soaks up a ton of it.

Btw, duplicate posts are not permitted, so I've deleted the other post.

Yes, I have had a wood worker repair and spray stuff on them to stop the splitting but it still happening. Looking at other post this is a problem at the manufacture or shoddy craftsmanship or material. I need to get it fixed once and for all. I cannot afford to do this every spring. Thanks for deleting the duplicate post.
 
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