Convenience Center Door Modification (Made it Smaller)

[howson]

One of the DW's requests was to change the Convenience Center door as she did not like having to open and close it to turn on the lights, water pump, etc. In addition, at the top there's access to the upper portion of the hutch so when the door was left open (by you-know-who) buggies could fly in. Which makes DW not happy.

I could have made a new door but I first tried cutting down the door. DW is content with the result--it was easy.

The "new" door you'll see below is 13" from top to bottom. To get there the bottom 8 1/2" of the lower portion of the original door and 4 1/2" from the upper portion was retained. That left the original handle, bumpers and hinges attached in their original position. The only changes were where the lower hinge screwed into the hutch and the "catch" had to be reattached to the door. The now smaller door will probably never get opened again.

To join the two pieces a Kreg tool was used with 1" screws. Wood glue was liberally applied, too. The DW sealed up the small front gap and restained the door. The line is visible but it's not awful (IMHO).

Now I have to redo my labels on the panel so they look better. Always something...

BEFORE PIC (OLD ONE FROM MY ARCHIVES)




AFTER PIC



WHAT THE BACK LOOKS LIKE

[trkester]

howson i like it! One question. Did you swap out the main light switch for a dimmer? Looks like I see a knob. Reason I ask is our switch has a very bright blue led to help you find it in the dark I guess. If I made a smaller door, I'd also have to do something about the light so we don't have a bright blue trailer all night.

Terry

[trkester]

howson Disregard my last question. I found a thread under awning lights with the info. Didn't see it looking earlier.

Terry (you'd think I'm new at this search stuff) Kester

[howson]

trkester -- your '20 has CompassConnect, right? If it does then adding the dimmers (like I did) won't work. Long thread on that here: https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...compassconnect

[Jlawles2]

Howard, I don't know if the cross pieces in the door are glued, but one may have been know to knock the cross piece out, cut down the panel and door, then reinstall the cross piece. This results in a much stronger door.

To ensure the rolling earthquake (some will get the reference) does not destroy the door, you can use a 1/4" (might need thinner) backer in the recess of the door with glue and short brads.

[howson]

Jlawles2 -- in retrospect I should have pulled out the middle after the 4 1/2" cut. Then I'd have had a full middle piece to insert with just the sides glued and Kreg'd. Darn it...that's a really good suggestion if someone else attempts this.

I doubt that door will come apart--it's solid with all the glue I used and the two screws. It's so small and light if it breaks due to a violent tow...I've have more serious problems than a door to worry about!

[trkester]

trkester -- your '20 has CompassConnect, right? If it does then adding the dimmers (like I did) won't work. Long thread on that here: https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...compassconnect

Nope. No compass connect. My panel looks. Pretty much like yours sans the 3rd slide and changes you've made.

[Jlawles2]

Howard, you may be surprised to learn that the hinges will probably be your worst enemy. I'd error on the side of caution and stick a panel in there. I can picture the door breaking at the glue joint, then one of the halves ripping the hinge screws out, dropping onto the floor and leaving a nice cut in the flooring. But again Mr Murphy has me on speed dial to give me bad news.

[howson]

Howard, you may be surprised to learn that the hinges will probably be your worst enemy. I'd error on the side of caution and stick a panel in there. I can picture the door breaking at the glue joint, then one of the halves ripping the hinge screws out, dropping onto the floor and leaving a nice cut in the flooring. But again Mr Murphy has me on speed dial to give me bad news.

I've got a super thin piece of luan in the garage. Won't hurt to add that extra backing. Thanks for the input--I'll post a pic when it's done.