Residential refrigerator door shelf failures
We have a 3 year old Whirlpool 10 cu ft fridge that keeps having the tabs which are molded into the door to hold the door shelf fail as we drive down the road. The door is made with a SS outer metal skin and a 1/32 molded inner liner with the door shelf tabs. The door is then blown with a foam insulation. The molded tabs are supposed to be the anchor points for the clear plastic door shelves. After only 9 months, and 9,000 miles the first tab broke and the Newmar dealer arranged to have Whirlpool replace the door (only fix possible) under warranty.
Due to Covid and the fact that they won't make a door until one is ordered, the replacement door took 6 months to get and 30 minutes to install. Last weekend after 15 more months and another 9,000 miles the same tab ripped out again. No warranty help this time from Whirlpool or Newmar. Got a price check today on a replacement door and it confirmed what I suspected and the cost of the door at $575 is more than the cost of the entire refrigerator.
It is a very poor design to put that type of unreinforced tab on a door, but it probably works on a fixed unit in an apartment, but not in a rolling earthquake like an RV.
Anyone else had this type of a problem and if so, what did you do to resolve it?
Due to Covid and the fact that they won't make a door until one is ordered, the replacement door took 6 months to get and 30 minutes to install. Last weekend after 15 more months and another 9,000 miles the same tab ripped out again. No warranty help this time from Whirlpool or Newmar. Got a price check today on a replacement door and it confirmed what I suspected and the cost of the door at $575 is more than the cost of the entire refrigerator.
It is a very poor design to put that type of unreinforced tab on a door, but it probably works on a fixed unit in an apartment, but not in a rolling earthquake like an RV.
Anyone else had this type of a problem and if so, what did you do to resolve it?
