veletron Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Hi Anyone else have a dometic 9-series fridge in their van? These are the ones with the curved front panel, and a horizontal handle half way down the door. http://www.dometic.co.uk/product/dometic-rml-9430-9435/ The door has three closing positions: 1) Stationary fridge in use, door closed 2) moving, fridge door locked 3) not in use, door held open on a catch To go from 1) to 2) you gently press the door until it 'clicks'. No problem so far this is all fine, but the door needs one heck of a tug to open it from position (2) so much so that the constant tugging has loosened the upper hinge (which requires fridge removal to re-tighten!). Anyone have a similar issue - I notice that when I operate the door handle the catch in the door does not move. The door handle allows it to move against its own spring only. Can someone perhaps open the door on theirs and tell me if operating the handle makes the catch move at all? I have tried adjusting the receptor, to no avail. I have to open the fridge door when requested by the mrs at the moment, the thing is so difficult to open that she lacks the strength to do it in a controlled manner and is afraid of breaking it off! Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 I’m sure you researched this yourself, but I wasn’t able to find any other on-line references to problems with the door lock of Dometic 9-series appliances. There are criticisms relating to shelf failure in the RML-9330 fridges Bailey have used in their caravans (Dometic apparently were revising the shelf design), but nothing about difficult-to-open door locks. This video-clip relating to an RML-9430 shows the door’s ventilation position and, in so doing, displays the end of the door-lock’s ‘latch’. The shape of the latch suggests that it is designed to retract into the lock as the door is closed and to do the same thing when the door is opened. I would have thought that, when the door is in your Closed Position 1 (Stationary-fridge in use-door closed) the latch would automatically engage with the ‘striker’ on the inner edge of the fridge’s door-opening. You haven’t said anything about opening the door from Closed Position 1 presenting problems, which suggests to me that it’s the locking mechanism/procedure itself that’s causing the trouble. I can’t find an on-line manuals for the Dometic 9-series range, but you say that locking the door involves gently pressing it until there is a ‘click’, As the door-handle has a sort of ‘’automotive’ design, I’d anticipate that the movement of the handle when it is pulled would release the lock’s locking-mechanism and the door should then pull open easily. (If this were the way the lock is supposed to function, there should be no requirement for the handle to move the latch when the handle is pulled.) I might speculate that unlocking the door could involve a reverse procedure (ie. press the door in until it ‘clicks’ again and then pull the handle to open the door) but if that were so the Dometic manual should say this. (Besides which I would expect you to have tried this and every other rational ploy.) Your reference to “constant tugging” suggests to me that (to some degree at least) the difficulty in opening the door from the locked position has been present from Square One. But there can be no doubt that the amount of brute strength needing to be used with your fridge’s door isn’t right and that the door should open much more easily. Dometic 9-series fridges will be pretty rare, so you may get no owner-advice from this forum. You might try inquiring on MotorHomeFacts http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ as the forum population-size there is much larger, but even if you do get hands-on feedback about handle/catch movement I’m doubtful that would solve your problem. I believe you took delivery of your motorhome from Highbridge Caravan Centre in June 2015, so the motorhome and its Dometic fridge will still be well within their warranties’ periods. Major motorhome appliances (fridge, heater, etc.) normally carry their own warranty, and even if you took the long journey back to Highbridge, addressing the door-opening problem under warranty would probably still be delegated to Dometic. I notice from Dometic’s website http://www.dometic.co.uk/service/service-partner-network/ that there are Dometic ‘service partners’ near to Stirling and, although these may not yet be familiar with 9-series fridges, they should be able to recognise an obvious problem when they see it and then progress its resolution with Dometic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veletron Posted January 30, 2016 Author Share Posted January 30, 2016 Hi, thanks for your response. The fridge can be opened easily from my position (1) without even using the handle eg it can just be pulled from the top. I've not yet contacted Highbridge - I am in Scotland while they are in Somerset. I had hoped that there was a simple way to adjust the thing! Its been like it since new. I'll maybe take a drive to perthshire caravans as they have a van with the same fridge now and I can see how the door opens on that! Have emailed the local dometic crowd - thanks. I saw the issues with the fridges in the Bailey vans - not suffered that particular problem. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 Have you tried experimenting with Closing Position 3? With the swivel-out thingie swivelled out it might be possible to see what the door’s latch is doing when you shut and open the door when Closing Position 1 is chosen, and what happens with the latch when Closing Position 2 is chosen. From what you’ve said, in the former case it sounds like the latch retracts easily when the door is opened, but in the latter case (when the door has been locked and the handle is then pulled to open the door) it sounds like the latch does not retract or is very reluctant to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veletron Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 Popped up to perthshire caravans this weekend as they have a 2016 version of my van in stock. The fridge catch has been veen completely redesigned. It is no longer 'automotive style' rather the catch now moves with the door lever. The mating part on the fridge chassis is also new. I asked one of the salesmen, they have had loads of issues with 2015 series 9 fridges. Eventually the catch will break and then dometic will replace it with the new style catch. The stress caused by having to pull hard to open the door also causes the hinges to come loose. The new catch removes my position 1 above eg if the fridge is closed, it is now also latched. Booked my local dometic man to get the new catch fitted as a warranty repair. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veletron Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 Fixed this myself in the end - instructions on my blog: http://www.veletron.com/?p=311 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.