Door slamming each other - FIX

[Suite Sweets]

Almost all of the double cabinet doors in my DRV hit each other when closed. The horizontal adjustment on the hinges, does not have enough adjustment, to correct the issue. The hinges are manufactured by Blum (that's what the 'b' stands for on the hinge) and they are made for a door that overlays the cabinet by 1-1/4" (that's stamped into the hinge). To correct the problem, I ordered 2 (each) of 1-5/16" overlay Salice hinges for each door of a set of double doors.

The Salice hinge has the same hole pattern as the Blum hinge, so all I needed to do was unscrew the Blum hinge and screw on the Salice hinge. I only changed one door in each set of 2 doors - moving that door away from the other door of it's pair, by 1/16". Moving the door over, may require re-adjusting the catch strike. Any time I had a bank of several double doors in a row, I made sure to move over every other door - didn't want to move two adjacent doors, of a different pair, closer together.

What caused the problem was that either the doors were made slightly too wide, or, the hinges installed were wrong to begin with. At the same time as I swapped the hinges, I changed some of the hinge elevations on the face frame. Prior, a door hit an A/C vent, another door hit the exhaust fan frame, yet a 3rd door hit the drawer below it, if the drawer was open while opening the door. It takes time, which DRV didn't want to invest in a manufacturing "get it out the door" environment. But for an owner, it's a great way to spend an afternoon.

Incidentally, those screws that adjust the hinge are not Phillips head screws. You can use a Phillips driver, but the right tool is a 'Pozi' driver. You can exert much more torque in a Pozi screw. Order the driver with your hinges.

[Cummins12V98]

#2 square drive "Roberts" works well. I advise confirming the screws are even long enough to support the doors. Replaced many on our 16 DRV.

Doors hitting would have been VERY unlikely at the factory. Have you stored your RV without heat ?

[Suite Sweets]

Cummins - the 2014 is new-to-us. I think until last spring, it was lived in full time. That said, I think you're alluding to humidity making the doors swell. It was in Florida, a state know for it's humidity. Whichever, the fix is there for those that need it.

The Roberts driver works for the screws that secure the hinges to the frame. But the adjust screws are, as stated, pozi-screws

[Cummins12V98]

"The Pozidriv screw is an advanced version of the Phillips screw but the key difference is that: Phillips drivers have an intentional angle on the flanks and rounded corners so they will cam out of the slot before a power tool will twist off the screw head. The Pozidriv screws and drivers have straight sided flanks."

Thanks I learned something new! I have adjusted literally thousands of cabinet hinges over my 35+ year career and I always used a #2 "Phillips" screwdriver. I am sure in other applications it DOES matter but so people know they don't have to go out and buy a Pozi to adjust their cabinet doors.

YES moisture can cause such damage especially if the wood is Maple as our 07.5 was and it suffered from the doors swelling then shrinking resulting in loose door panels and outer frame joint shrinkage.

Good idea on the hinge offset.

Yes I had the attachment screws in my head!

[Suite Sweets]

In addition to the straight sided flanks of the Pozi screw, there are 8, not 4, of the flanks. While those additional 4 flanks can be seen in the screw head, it is more readily seen on the driver. The primary point of contact for torquing the screw is the big 4 (hence, a phillips working), the other 4 contribute to the ability to torque without the driver lifting out of the screw head

[wingnut60]

Never have I learned so much about screwdrivers and screw heads...not being sarcastic, very interesting.

[porthole]

I have every double door going out of alignment constantly. Seems like every other week I am adjusting them.

They do not hold the setting. Mine are not Blum, which are about the best made. All others are copies.

Adjustments are the minor problem though. I would guess 90% of the doors in our trailer are splitting at the corners.

I don’t know when DRV went to picture framing the doors over traditional rail & stile construction, but it doesn’t work.

[Suite Sweets]

Porthole - Agreed about Blum, and also Salice. Others compete on the basis of price - discounted from the brand leaders.
Consider to order two hinges. See if the drilling pattern is the same. If so, you can swap out the hinges easily for a name brand hinge.
Re the splitting of the corners. As Wingnut60 alluded to re winter storage, significant changes in humidity is not good for cabinetry. Heated, unoccupied trailers in the winter make for low humidity. Summer humidity, in un-A/C'd trailers make for moist conditions in the trailer. May be too late for your cabinetry, but you can probably make the splits less noticeable with a very soft touch-up stick - much like a crayon. Fill in that split with an appropriate color. Lowe's/HD have them in the paint section.

[Cummins12V98]

Originally Posted by porthole

I have every double door going out of alignment constantly. Seems like every other week I am adjusting them.

They do not hold the setting. Mine are not Blum, which are about the best made. All others are copies.

Adjustments are the minor problem though. I would guess 90% of the doors in our trailer are splitting at the corners.

I don’t know when DRV went to picture framing the doors over traditional rail & stile construction, but it doesn’t work.

Check the length of the screws holding the hinge to the face frame. Many of mine were fine thread 1/2".

[porthole]

My doors started opening at the corners within a month of being new, May 30, 2018
For the first 5-6 months the trailer was used, so temp was fairly consistent.

Raised panel doors properly made do not have the panel ‘fixed’ in the frame, they have to float. Mine appeared to be glued in.

My gaps or splits vary from just visible to being able to insert a dime.
Touch up sticks are not going to work.

Poor construction technique.

[porthole]

Originally Posted by Cummins12V98

Check the length of the screws holding the hinge to the face frame. Many of mine were fine thread 1/2".

Those are fine on ours, and they actually appear to be the correct fastener for the application for a change.

I’ve only removed one to see, the door hinge that blocks removing the breaker panel cover.
But the screw is about 1.25-1.5 inch long.

[Suite Sweets]

Cummins - fine thread is preferred when driving into hardwood, as are our cabinets.

Porthole - yes, they should have used space balls (Widget Co.) around the edges. Would have allowed the panel to expand and contract - squashing the resilient balls when expanding. My doors also are glued rigidly, but I have no cracks at joints.

[porthole]

Originally Posted by Suite Sweets

Cummins - fine thread is preferred when driving into hardwood, as are our cabinets.

Porthole - yes, they should have used space balls (Widget Co.) around the edges. Would have allowed the panel to expand and contract - squashing the resilient balls when expanding. My doors also are glued rigidly, but I have no cracks at joints.

Fine for hardwood, coarse for soft wood.

How are your fames made?
Rail & stile or picture frame?

This is one of dozens.

[Traveling Home]

Our early model 2017 has rail and stile cabinetry. Wonder when they changed. I do know somebody that has a 2014.5 Elite that there is an unstained panel showing on the raised floating [panel section. About a 1/8th line around most of the doors. Looks classy having dark cabinetry with a raw wood "Trim" line...

[OCB]

Originally Posted by porthole

I have every double door going out of alignment constantly. Seems like every other week I am adjusting them.

I had a similar problem. It turned out the door was to big (heavy) for the hinges so I added a couple extra hinges to the doors. No problem since.


Clay 2016 MS 3PS3

[Cummins12V98]

"Cummins - fine thread is preferred when driving into hardwood, as are our cabinets."

I understand that BUT 1/2" is NOT long enough to hold the doors on for long.

FYI Cherry is a SOFT hardwood, no where near as hard as Maple or Oak as an example.

[Cummins12V98]

The pictured doors are not possible with a lapped joint as mine are.

porthole that sucks! I would file a warranty claim with DRV.

[porthole]

Originally Posted by Cummins12V98

The pictured doors are not possible with a lapped joint as mine are.

porthole that sucks! I would file a warranty claim with DRV.

These are your doors?

This is the proper way to make cabinet doors.
Routed rail and stile with a floating raised panel.

My panels are fixed to the frame.

I dropped the trailer off in Howe this morning with my 100+ item list.

[Cummins12V98]

Originally Posted by porthole

These are your doors?

This is the proper way to make cabinet doors.
Routed rail and stile with a floating raised panel.

My panels are fixed to the frame.

I dropped the trailer off in Howe this morning with my 100+ item list.

YES they are my doors.

WOW I guess I am not the only one with a 100 item list.

Pretty funny I was told I was nit pick from some of the RV Forum members. I simply made a list backed with pictures.

I HIGHLY advise you PERSONALLY walk thru the rig with EdFry AKA "Mr NO".

I HIGHLY advise you get him to personally say YES or NO to whether he is going to deal with EACH item.

It all seems good until the last day and the Tech has to tell you they are not allowed to fix "THAT".

Good luck!!!

[wingnut60]

Duane,
Wish you great luck with the DRV factory--will be very interesting to see how it comes out, and if they are 'great to work with.'
Joe