Cruisers Forum
Main Forum => General Discussion => Topic started by: Davnjulz on September 09, 2021, 01:21:57 pm
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Wondering if any other 2400 owners with hickory cabinets have experienced joint separation specifically on the cabinet door that conceals the water tank in the rear galley. We had this issue on three of these particular doors in our unit (custom factory build for 2 of the doors). Took it to the factory and had the doors replaced at our expense last January. 5 months later with little to no use, the same thing happened. I have emailed 2 people at PC about this issue with no response. We're baffled by this whole thing and curious if we are the only 2400 owners with this issue.
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A photo of the problem may help to encourage a reply.
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Our Frig door started doing it at about two years and now the freezer door is also showing the same separation.
When the first occurred i flipped the panel so it wasn’t as obvious, now all four corners are involved.
Living with it at the moment.
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If the center panel is solid wood as it appears the problem is wood expansion. The blunt answer is poor construction practice ie. faulty workmanship. The center panel should basically float with sufficient space for the panel to expand in the rail and stile grooves. If a panel is constructed in a dry low humidity environment and after glue up is exposed to higher humidity without sufficient room for expansion a wood or glue joint failure is eventually guaranteed.
I have built furniture and cabinets out of solid wood for many years and there is a fundamental principle that must be accounted for or a piece will ultimately fail. That principle is wood expands and contracts across the grain as ambient humidity changes. Wood moves very little along the grain. Thus the crux of the problem.
Who ever you purchased these from should replace them free of charge due to poor amateurish workmanship.
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My sentiments exactly. Nothing you said surprises me but I would think the PC factory would be more concerned as they installed the doors but my follow up emails remain unanswered. I get the feeling they think it's negligence on our part. This should not happen on original equipment let alone a second time 5 months after replacement. I'm trying to see if this is a common issue as the factory doesn't seem concerned.
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My sentiments exactly. Nothing you said surprises me but I would think the PC factory would be more concerned as they installed the doors but my follow up emails remain unanswered. I get the feeling they think it's negligence on our part. This should not happen on original equipment let alone a second time 5 months after replacement. I'm trying to see if this is a common issue as the factory doesn't seem concerned.
You need to call the main number for PC and speak with the parts guy, Dave Ponsler.
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This explains some of the factors influencing wood movement. https://www.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/WoodMovement.pdf (https://www.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/WoodMovement.pdf)
Your door panel appears to be Flatsawn (F/S). You will see that Hickory has almost twice the wood movement as Cherry (the other Phoenix wood option).
This may be helpful in your discussion with the supplier.
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I had the panel on the front of the refrigerator o the same thing. I clamped and glued it back together than ordered a new one from PC. It was the large door panel, couldn't have been the less expensive small one. It seems that is my luck...
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Dave Ponsler is who we dealt with on the replacement in January. Since those also failed he has not returned my email.
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I would call, not email.
On my 2015 (built Dec of 2014) model 2551,the panels (Hickory) have zero issues like yours. I wonder if PC changed whoever makes them?
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Hi Everyone!
Julie emailed me to make me aware of this discussion and you are correct, this is concerning. I will be speaking to our service department to determine if this complaint has been recurring or not as this is the first that I have heard of this happening. As I am not aware of every service performed, if an issue is not recurring it may not be communicated further.
Thanks Julie for your diligence in reaching out as it appears that one of the two emails you forwarded to me was directed to an invalid email address and was never received.
If anyone else has had this experience, please email me directly with photos as I do not monitor the forum on a daily basis. Please include the model year of your coach.
safe travels everyone!!
tina
tina@phoenixusarv.com
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An update on our cabinet situation... We are very impressed with Tina's attention to this issue. She has been told by the warranty specialist that there have been only a handful of cases reported of this happening. I suggest that, if you are "living" with a cabinet failure, you contact her. If there's a bigger problem they need to know about it. We are being shipped new doors and holding our breath to see if they fail for a third time.