Norcold Refrigerator Doors

**fez111** · 04-19-2021, 06:51 PM

We have a 2016 Solitude with a Norcold double-door refrigerator. This is to document the steps we took to make the four doors work as designed. We have actually had few issues with it other than the freezer ices up very quickly and from the beginning a problem with the flap between the doors. We learned very early that the left door had to be closed first, then close the flap manually, and finally close the right door and then make sure that the doors actually latched. To ensure that the doors are latched requires moving the the levers back into position manually with your fingers.

Today I finally found out the root problem with the flap. We saw that the flap was rubbing hard against and leaving marks on the bottom of the fridge. I removed the two screws and took the flap off the door by raising it out of the mounting clips (there is an electric connector to remove as well). I cannot explain why or how, but the flap was too tall for the opening by more than 1/16th of an inch!!! I had to force it into position where it was supposed to go! I wondered if the bottom of the fridge was bent upwards? I could not find anything physically wrong except the flap was too long!

To make this work I had to sand down the bottom of the flap and a little off the "cam" on the top with a belt sander. That allowed the flap to fit initially, but then the top surface just below the "cam" end was still hitting the bottom of the upper guide assembly. I had to sand that surface next to the "cam" about 1/16 inch as well. Finally I had to put a thin washer under the door on the lower hinge to raise the door over all. After that the door flap started working perfectly every time. Whew!

None of the four doors had ever been aligned with each other. I loosened and adjusted the other three doors. One of the freezer doors got a thin washer on the bottom hinge to raise it a tad. The lower hinge for the other freezer door had to be bent in a vise just a bit to make the door lower.

With all four doors even and aligned and with the left refrigerator door holding three gallons of liquid and the flap still performing flawlessly it was time to address the sticking latches.

The latches get to a point over time where the levers won't slide back into position when closing the doors. The levers come apart with two small Phillips screws. DO NOT LOSE THE SPRINGS! The latches are identical (lefts and rights) and have exactly four parts: The lever, the lever holder, the pin, and the spring. I cleaned all of the plastic parts with a moist towel and then sprayed silicone (from an auto parts store) on all of the plastic parts where they contact each other. Now, all four latches release easily, the levers move back into position, and the doors snap shut positively every time.

Postscript: This is the first NorCold we have ever owned. It does a really good job of keeping food cold and making ice quickly (although ice cream is perpetually soft). I even installed a bypass switch for the condenser fans so they can run any time the unit is calling for "cool". But my wife keeps complaining about everything being plastic. I don't like it either, but I get it. I just don't understand how something this expensive can be manufactured and installed without someone realizing that the doors were not opening and closing correctly...

**xrated** · 04-19-2021, 07:35 PM

Originally Posted by fez111

We have a 2016 Solitude with a Norcold double-door refrigerator. This is to document the steps we took to make the four doors work as designed. We have actually had few issues with it other than the freezer ices up very quickly and from the beginning a problem with the flap between the doors. We learned very early that the left door had to be closed first, then close the flap manually, and finally close the right door and then make sure that the doors actually latched. To ensure that the doors are latched requires moving the the levers back into position manually with your fingers.

Today I finally found out the root problem with the flap. We saw that the flap was rubbing hard against and leaving marks on the bottom of the fridge. I removed the two screws and took the flap off the door by raising it out of the mounting clips (there is an electric connector to remove as well). I cannot explain why or how, but the flap was too tall for the opening by more than 1/16th of an inch!!! I had to force it into position where it was supposed to go! I wondered if the bottom of the fridge was bent upwards? I could not find anything physically wrong except the flap was too long!

To make this work I had to sand down the bottom of the flap and a little off the "cam" on the top with a belt sander. That allowed the flap to fit initially, but then the top surface just below the "cam" end was still hitting the bottom of the upper guide assembly. I had to sand that surface next to the "cam" about 1/16 inch as well. Finally I had to put a thin washer under the door on the lower hinge to raise the door over all. After that the door flap started working perfectly every time. Whew!

None of the four doors had ever been aligned with each other. I loosened and adjusted the other three doors. One of the freezer doors got a thin washer on the bottom hinge to raise it a tad. The lower hinge for the other freezer door had to be bent in a vise just a bit to make the door lower.

With all four doors even and aligned and with the left refrigerator door holding three gallons of liquid and the flap still performing flawlessly it was time to address the sticking latches.

The latches get to a point over time where the levers won't slide back into position when closing the doors. The levers come apart with two small Phillips screws. DO NOT LOSE THE SPRINGS! The latches are identical (lefts and rights) and have exactly four parts: The lever, the lever holder, the pin, and the spring. I cleaned all of the plastic parts with a moist towel and then sprayed silicone (from an auto parts store) on all of the plastic parts where they contact each other. Now, all four latches release easily, the levers move back into position, and the doors snap shut positively every time.

Postscript: This is the first NorCold we have ever owned. It does a really good job of keeping food cold and making ice quickly (although ice cream is perpetually soft). I even installed a bypass switch for the condenser fans so they can run any time the unit is calling for "cool". But my wife keeps complaining about everything being plastic. I don't like it either, but I get it. I just don't understand how something this expensive can be manufactured and installed without someone realizing that the doors were not opening and closing correctly...

I documented my door flap mod about two years ago and did the same thing....sanding off/removing material on the bottom of the flap. Mine has worked perfectly ever since. Glad you got it working for you.

**DennisK** · 04-19-2021, 08:22 PM

They still haven't fixed the problem. Our 2021 Solitude w/Norcold 2118 refer had the door flap problem.

**pengle** · 04-19-2021, 10:40 PM

Our 2021 310GK with Norcold 2118 had the same problem. A washer under the lower left door solved the problem. As for the ice cream...we keep ours on the bottom shelf in the freezer and it isn't really soft any more.

I did a temperature test in the refrigerator section and these are the Settings and Temps I got.
Display Temperature
1 41.7
2 40.2
3 39.0
4 37.5
5 36.3
6 36.3
7 36.1
8 34.7
9 34.6

**Scott'n'Wendy** · 04-20-2021, 05:54 AM

Fridge door mod is on my 'to do' or at least 'check' list. Is the door alignment something that changes with travel? Like after 5-10,000km you need to re-align?