DavyS Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 The fold-up glass cover over my sink is loose in the hinged clamps. But the screw in the clamps will not tighten any more. Can someone who has experienced this offer any solution? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 My inclination would be to loosen the screws and remove the glass then you can see why the screws will not tighten. One explanation may be that the pads between hinge or screw and glass may be missing or too tightly compressed? I probably don't need to add this, but beware of overtightening as the glass is probably toughened can shatter - especially if the protective pads are missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyS Posted November 3, 2021 Author Share Posted November 3, 2021 Tracker - 2021-11-03 12:50 PM My inclination would be to loosen the screws and remove the glass then you can see why the screws will not tighten. One explanation may be that the pads between hinge or screw and glass may be missing or too tightly compressed? Tracker, sounds like a good plan. I will wait in case someone with actual experience replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 DavyS - 2021-11-03 12:58 PM Tracker - 2021-11-03 12:50 PM My inclination would be to loosen the screws and remove the glass then you can see why the screws will not tighten. One explanation may be that the pads between hinge or screw and glass may be missing or too tightly compressed? Tracker, sounds like a good plan. I will wait in case someone with actual experience replies. Fair enough - that did come from my own experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 Had the same problem mine was that the one half of the screw screwed into the other half just filing off some of that allowed me to tighten it more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 A GOOGLE-search on "caravan glass hob cover tightening screws" retrieves a fair amount of discussion about this, but how best to address a loose glass cover is going to depend on the make/model of the hob/sink and how the cover is attached to its hinge. For example, my Rapido's hob and sink are SMEV products. The glass covers do not have the pads Tracker mentions and there's a special tool for undoing or tightening up the plastic bolt and 'nut' that holds the cover to the hinge. https://www.caravanningequipment.co.uk/onlinestore/prod_5933138-109-Dometic-SMEV-Spare-8000-Series-Glass-Lid-Fixing-Bolts-2pcs-w-Fixing-Tool-407-14-4923.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyS Posted November 3, 2021 Author Share Posted November 3, 2021 Tracker - 2021-11-03 1:13 PM Fair enough - that did come from my own experience! Whoops, sorry Tracker. I misinterpreted your phrase "My inclination would be to ...." to mean a theoretical solution. I will go for it now. Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 Derek Uzzell - 2021-11-03 2:04 PM.......................... For example, my Rapido's hob and sink are SMEV products. The glass covers do not have the pads Tracker mentions and there's a special tool for undoing or tightening up the plastic bolt and 'nut' that holds the cover to the hinge..................... If you have a socket set you may find that, with care to keep the appropriate sized socket head square to the screw head, it is possible to loosen the screw. A hexagonal socket won't work, but the "standard" type with 12 indents did for me. Can't quote the size, though! :-) There isn't much torque needed, as the screws are only plastic, so gently does it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 DavyS - 2021-11-03 4:10 PM Tracker - 2021-11-03 1:13 PM Fair enough - that did come from my own experience! Whoops, sorry Tracker. I misinterpreted your phrase "My inclination would be to ...." to mean a theoretical solution. I will go for it now. Many thanks No problem, always difficult to say what one would do without seeing it for real! Your resolotion may depend on what type you have - surface clamped or through bolted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 The plastic bolts on my SMEV hob/sink glass lids haven’t loosened, but there should be no difficulty rapidly DIY-ing a tool that would fit on to the bolt’s head.(Photo 1 below). My Rapido’s hob’s glass lid had a quite complex double-hinged aluminium heat shield (Photo 2) that moved up and down and swung leftwards to protect the wall on that side when the left-hand burner was liit. The shield had a couple of small ‘feet’ that were glued to the underside of the glass lid and, when the lid was lowered and the motorhome was driven, the shield rattled enthusiastically. It may be noticed that I’ve used the past tense as, when I lifted the glass lid one day, the heat shield fell off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 All ccokers rattle - it is what they are designed to do to mask poor build quality - it's a converter led conspiracy! Easily cured but the more rattles you cure the more less noisy ones you hear!! I would use 'water pump pliers' to hold the nut - not much grip needed I suspect as it is plastic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 Be sure that the glass cover(s) are fixed in the full open position. Most hinges loose their tightness in time. And if you not horizontal they can fall down over your gas pit and will explode in fragments sound like a cannon ball. Screw hinges in the wall above them to keep them safe open. And turn 90 degrees to let them down and have your workplate again. Try to upload the picture how i did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 Use Two hinges for the sink and gas hob because the plate of of sink is nearby the gas fires.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 Tracker - 2021-11-03 6:30 PM ...I would use 'water pump pliers' to hold the nut - not much grip needed I suspect as it is plastic? I believe you don’t appreciate how shallow the head of the small plastic bolt is and how its cross-section profile means that use of any ordinary ‘gripping’ tool (eg. pliers) would inevitably damage it. The 1st and 2nd photos attached below (bolt-head and nut respectively) should explain why a special tool is marketed to match the shape of the bolt’s head. Brian’s ploy is the simplest approach if one has an appropriately-sized socket. Or a bit of wood with some short pins driven into it to marry up with (say) 4 of the nut-head’s indents shoould do the trick. (I made a much sturdier tool using that idea for undoing/tightening the large circular inspection hatches of my Rapido’s fresh-water tank.) The adjacent sink uses a completely different type of glass-lid to hinge connection, as shown in the 3rd and 4th photos below. Although Hans’ s suggestion to ‘tether’ a glass hob cover when it is in the upright postion makes good sense, it would be tricky to do this with my Rapido as directly behind the hob is a large vertical glass window (5th photo below). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted November 4, 2021 Share Posted November 4, 2021 My dealer used the black hinges used on closing the windows. To secure the glasplates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 5, 2021 Share Posted November 5, 2021 One of these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyS Posted November 5, 2021 Author Share Posted November 5, 2021 From the OP: I took Tracker's advice and removed the glass so that I could see why I could not fasten one of the grub screws. It turned out that the thread had not been cut all the way through the hinge so the grub screw jammed part way in the hinge and did not actually go far enough in to give a firm touch on the glass. So I recut the thread using a 10mm metric tap and then the grub screw went in all the way, and established a good grip on the glass. The hinge and the grub screws are metal and so there is a U-shaped piece of plastic in the jaws of the hinge to protect the glass. A couple of tips: - The grub screws are very short and they fall out easily when unscrewing and can drop down into the drain or the hob; so put a cloth under them to catch them. - you dont need to remove the hinges - When the thread is recut, the grub screws go in very easily; but could just as easily vibrate out. So treat the threads with Loctite or silicone sealant. - If you dont have a 10mm tap to recut the threads then I am sure that a small local garage would do it for the price of a beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted November 5, 2021 Share Posted November 5, 2021 Great - well done - and best of all it cost nowt !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted November 5, 2021 Share Posted November 5, 2021 ExactLy Derek.That is what i used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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