Cabinet Door Modification

JanAndBill · Apr 26, 2013

If Heartland's cabinet supplier is going to continue using plastic inserts in the door frames for the screws that hold the hinges, then I think Heartland should supply a special screwdriver and a bottle of super glue that owners can use to take the doors down remove the hinges, glue the inserts back in the frame and put them back up. This is a POOR design idea that I've commented on before. I'm starting to get a little peeved at having to do this, door by door.

TandT · Apr 26, 2013

I'm wondering if you have a different setup than we do.
We have been fulltiming for 2 1/2 years and never had one single hinge come loose. Trace

mikeandconnie · Apr 26, 2013

I'm running into the same problem. One day I will have all the inserts glued in but I'm using Gorilla Glue and it seems to be doing the trick, none have not pulled out again. I don't think our 2009 LM had the plastic inserts.

donr827 · Apr 26, 2013

JanAndBill said:
If Heartland's cabinet supplier is going to continue using plastic inserts in the door frames for the screws that hold the hinges, then I think Heartland should supply a special screwdriver and a bottle of super glue that owners can use to take the doors down remove the hinges, glue the inserts back in the frame and put them back up. This is a POOR design idea that I've commented on before. I'm starting to get a little peeved at having to do this, door by door.

Same with my 2013 Bighorn. So far only had to do 5 doors.
Don

JanAndBill · Apr 26, 2013

TandT said:
I'm wondering if you have a different setup than we do.
We have been fulltiming for 2 1/2 years and never had one single hinge come loose. Trace

We never had any on previous RVs either. Instead of drilling a pilot hole and sinking the screw into the wood, they drill a blind hole and then insert what looks like a plastic drywall anchor. Really dumb.

jbeletti · Apr 26, 2013

While it's of no help for those who've experienced this issue, I was told by Heartland today that change was implemented in production about two months ago. So current production should not be shipping with hinge screw inserts prone to pulling out.

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MTPockets · Apr 26, 2013

We're going on 18 months and our hinges are all holding strong. Never had a problem with our doors. Wondering why some have problems and others are holding strong... Exactly what did Heartland change?

jbeletti · Apr 26, 2013

MTPockets said:
We're going on 18 months and our hinges are all holding strong. Never had a problem with our doors. Wondering why some have problems and others are holding strong... Exactly what did Heartland change?

I'm not exactly certain. I think it was some tooling and the plugs themselves.

JanAndBill · Apr 26, 2013

jbeletti said:
While it's of no help for those who've experienced this issue, I was told by Heartland today that change was implemented in production about two months ago. So current production should not be shipping with hinge screw inserts prone to pulling out.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

So does this mean I can expect a screwdriver and bottle of glue in the mail??? LOL So far the ones I've glued are holding. If they fail again, I'll plug the hole with a dowel and start over. I am glad that they have realized this was a problem and changed the mounting.

jbeletti · Apr 26, 2013

JanAndBill said:
So does this mean I can expect a screwdriver and bottle of glue in the mail??? LOL So far the ones I've glued are holding. If they fail again, I'll plug the hole with a dowel and start over. I am glad that they have realized this was a problem and changed the mounting.

I've repaired 1 in my current coach and it's held up for 6 months so far.

JohnDar · Apr 26, 2013

Are these "problem" hinges the Euro-style ones? Just curious since my rig has the standard overlay style hinges and none of them have pulled out (or have plastic inserts). The only door I've had a problem with was the mirrored one on the bedroom cabinet I smucked with the slide. Fixed it, though, so's you couldn't even tell. Lucky it was a fairly clean break and the mirror didn't crack.

rick_debbie_gallant · Apr 26, 2013

Perhaps the holes were drilled too large.

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Thats_Ok · Apr 27, 2013

Haven't gone anywhere in our new trailer yet and I've already beefed up a hinge on one overhead cabinet door on our GS 32RE.
Hoping it doesn't give us any trouble...I was afraid the hinge was going to rip out of the wood.

TandT · Apr 27, 2013

JanAndBill said:
If they fail again, I'll plug the hole with a dowel and start over.

Bill,
If I were in your shoes, I would probably just buy a handful of dowel pins and proactively replace the whole bunch.
You could glue them all in one afternoon. Drill and put the doors back on a few days later. Trace

JanAndBill · Apr 27, 2013

TandT said:
Bill,
If I were in your shoes, I would probably just buy a handful of dowel pins and proactively replace the whole bunch.
You could glue them all in one afternoon. Drill and put the doors back on a few days later. Trace

So far I've used Gorilla glue and reset the inserts. On the overhead doors that open up, I also relocated the spring loaded support that holds the door up so that it puts less pressure on the door.

retucker · Apr 27, 2013

I've had to repair three doors in our 2011 Greystone 29MK. The problem with our doors is not the hinge installation, rather it is caused by the cheap spring loaded device which holds the door open. When the doors are closed this device puts excessive strain on the hinges and pulls them plastic inserts out of the predrilled holes. As some others have done, I used Gorilla glue to repair the doors. To date they have not separated but I'm certain that with continued use they will come apart again.

ncc1701e · Apr 27, 2013

This is our second Sundance and both have suffered from this issuse. I've been using a product from Lowe's. I usally put plenty in both the holes for the plastic inserts and the milled hole for the hinge base. So far so good, never had to do one a second time. I just carry the glue with me and have repaired several while traveling. Take a door down, fill a hole, let set for maybe 24 hours and put door back up.

The other thing, most the hinges are set way to tight or misaligned. A couple of the doors pulled out because the installer did not do a good job of adjusting the doors so they did not drag when opened. I found 3 doors that needed this adjustment on our new coach. Those doors to date have not pulled out.

porthole · Apr 27, 2013

If the problem is the European style hinge with 2 small and one large hole, it is a design issue and not really Heartland's fault.
Some of the hinges made used incorrectly sized inserts.
Some hinges do not use inserts.

Either way, if you are having issues you may be able to either a) replace the screws with 5mm european hinge screws b) get e hinge repair kit c) glue your inserts back in or as a last resort d) glue wood dowels in, cut and re-drill.

Take a look at hinge stuff at Rockler.com

http://woodworking.rockler.com/hardware/Euro-Hinge-Screws

http://www.mcfeelys.com/product/MP-...-5125&ef_id=X31P6zAldCMAAFWl:20130427133605:s

JanAndBill · Apr 27, 2013

retucker said:
I've had to repair three doors in our 2011 Greystone 29MK. The problem with our doors is not the hinge installation, rather it is caused by the cheap spring loaded device which holds the door open. When the doors are closed this device puts excessive strain on the hinges and pulls them plastic inserts out of the predrilled holes. As some others have done, I used Gorilla glue to repair the doors. To date they have not separated but I'm certain that with continued use they will come apart again.

There you go, what I said earlier. The hinge is not the problem. It is the fact that rather than sinking the screws into a predrilled hole in the frame as it should be, they are drilling a blind hole and inserting a plastic drywall type anchor for the screws. Just doesn't have the holding power of a screw straight into the frame. As you said it is also compounded by the supports for the overhead doors, mine were not properly located which caused them to put excessive pressure on the hinge. After I glued in the inserts, and relocated the supports I haven't had any more problems with the overhead doors I've fixed. One more and I'm done.

JohnDar · Apr 27, 2013

Now that I've looked at some of the floorplans on HL site, I see what you're talking about. We only have one overhead cabinet door that lifts, rather than swings. It's the one behind the dining table light and it hasn't given any problems. Seems in the newer models, many of the overhead doors are lift types.

Cabinet Door Modification

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