2021 Glass Stove Top Interference fix?

mntrails

The info I received via email suggested DAP Kwikseal - standard stuff for around sinks.  I happened to have some and used it - no problems.

I wish I could provide more details about the hinge difference but I honestly can't.  I looked at both when I did the swap - the old one had enough paint scuffed off that it was a bit hard comparing things. They 'looked' the same but something moved inside the old one that didn't on the new one.... I know, not much help. Both types were positioned the same way w.r.t. the glass and the glass had the same indentation so I'm fairly certain that the difference lies within the hinge itself.  Sorry I can't be more help.

MarkAl

The hinge on the glass has a locking position if yours doesn't do this it's (I think) the likely problem. I'm betting nuCamp can answer better if you describe this to them.

Basil48192

I agree with MarkAl.  After waiting for my dealer for a month, I finally called NuCamp directly.  What a relief.  They were prompt, helpful, polite and efficient!  Anyway, 3 days later, I had all of the parts I had been waiting for, including the new glass stove cover.  On my original, I think the internal mechanism was just oriented incorrectly.  It wanted to 'latch' at about a 45 degree angle.  I received the new cover, installed it an it works perfectly...no cutting, no adjustments.  The worst part was getting the original caulk off.  After that it was a breeze.  Just need to recaulk, but I'm just adding a thin bead on the outside to make it easy to remove in the future.

JPRoland

Well, just for the record. I took delivery of my brand new T@B 320S Boondock yesterday. While I was sitting in it at the dealership and maintenance was setting up the electric brake kit on our car, I noticed the stove lid would not stay up. When the technician came in I said, "Hey, what's the trick to getting the stove lid to remain open while cooking.?" He said, "Yeah, I noticed that, too. That's weird." Well, I didn't think much of it and figured it was probably something I would discover in one of the many manuals they provided. Nope, it is definitely a flaw. I'll try adjusting the hinge placement mentioned earlier in this thread. But, I paid way too much money to be busting seals, scrapping caulk, and re-caulking. I'll let ya know. (By the way, a clothespin or chip-clip attaches it to the window molding just fine for now.) 

JPRoland

I have a theory. Because of COVID19 some parts are hard to come by. There's no way, as good as these T@Bs are built that some inspector at the factory keeps overlooking this. My theory is that they are very aware of it, but can't get the part. So, in order to sell the complete unit they produce it knowing it won't work so they can make sales. It's such a small thing, anyway. Then, they figure they can deal with it later once factories get back to pre-virus production. Just a theory.

MarkAl

Many of us probably work closely w/ manufacturing and know the struggle right now. Every company deals with customer support, complaints and workmanship differently. My company has the luxury of cutting and robbing our slush fund to keep quality and customers happy (no profits this year). Smaller ones don't, they do the best the can to balance the checkbook. My expectation is nuCamp will make good within the bounds of available funds.

jkjenn

JPRoland said:

I have a theory. Because of COVID19 some parts are hard to come by. There's no way, as good as these T@Bs are built that some inspector at the factory keeps overlooking this. My theory is that they are very aware of it, but can't get the part. So, in order to sell the complete unit they produce it knowing it won't work so they can make sales. It's such a small thing, anyway. Then, they figure they can deal with it later once factories get back to pre-virus production. Just a theory.

It isn't that, at all. I had my lid installed at the factory and it worked. Over time it shifted and it isn't quite the same. You just need to adjust the hinges. Things shift, screws work their way loose, and you have to make micro adjustments. 

Basil48192

Mine was definitely not an adjustment issue.  The internal catch on the hinge was oriented incorrectly so the cover would 'lock in' at around 45 degrees open.  I do agree with MarkAl that this is a tough time for manufacturing.  Everyone has issues, but the measure of a company (in my opinion) is how they deal with the issues.  As I mentioned before, my dealer was quite slow in reacting.  However, when I went directly to NuCamp, I had the correct part delivered to my house in 3 days.  I swapped it out and it worked perfectly.  I'm sure the dealer would had done the work, I just didn't want to drive 3 hours for someone to work on it that might not be as careful and picky as I am!

Jbpileri

Took delivery on my Tab Boondock last month also. The lid for the cooktop makes contact with the window frame. Can’t adjust hinge enough to allow it to clear the frame. Will not lock in the up position. Message sent to Nu Camp.

JabGopher

Add one more recent delivery to the list.

mntrails

I was able to closely compare my working stovetop and faulty stovetop today. Below is a picture of a hinge - notice the piece of metal the pen is pointing to. This piece is oriented vertically and wraps around both ends of the hinge and the back. On my working stovetop, this piece is firmly fixed in place w.r.t. the rear hinge that bolts to the stovetop. When working, the top swings up and drops into the slot made by this piece of metal.


 Now if this piece of metal can rotate, then the stove top won't lock into place and stay up. Below is a picture of my faulty stovetop where that same piece has rotated 90 degrees and is now in a horizontal position.


I don''t know how this happens but I can speculate that if anyone tries to put the lid down without lifting up, whatever tiny fixation is used between the hinge and this small piece of metal, is broken. Once broken, one would resort to a chip clip to the window molding to hold the cover up.  Perhaps there are also manufacturing lots that came through without the critical piece being fastened at all. Anyway, at least for my case, this is what failed and prevented the stovetop from locking in the up position.

UVAKRK

We bought our 2021 T@B 320S early July 2020 and started our tour of US a week later. We have the same issue of top not locking since first time we used a stove. Since we are on the road for another 2 mounts we can not address this until we return home. My wife almost got badly burned when the top slammed onto pot with boiling water. I think NuCamp should quickly fix the problem before somebody gets hurt and sues them. I intend to install a latch to insure safe top position while stove in use.

Denny16

It appears part of the issue is the design of the locking hinge bit, that requires lifting to close the lid, once it is open and locked by sliding down a bit.  Mntrails reports if the lid is closed without lifting, the hinge latch breaks, and will not lock back open.  So part of the issue seems to come down to user error when closing the stove lid.

If your stove lid latch is working, remember to lift before closing the lid.  

mntrails

@Denny16 is correct that lifting the lid fully is the right way to close the stove lid.  

Fundamentally though, from my careful look at both my lids, the design looks a bit fragile.  Dometic could also have a manufacturing issue where the rear piece of metal that needs to stay vertical, isn't firmly attached.  I know my stove lid never worked.  My T@B had been on the lot for a couple months and was taken to an indoor RV show (per the dealer) so any number of people could have closed it wrong... or it may never have worked - I just don't know.  I'm sure there's a  number of owners out there that have a stove lid that never ever worked either.  I definitely don't want to imply that owners with faulty stove lids personally closed the lid wrong. I suspect the problem is a lot more complicated than that. 

The other comment I wanted to leave owners with is that I do believe its a good idea to leave the stovetop in place (i.e. don't remove it) and use some type of latch or clip to firmly hold it up.  A lot of heat comes off the burners and if the lid is removed, there's a real risk of melting the window screen  or other pieces of plastic that are positioned over the burners. 

sptucker

@mntrails  I agree with your assessment above.  I have one hinge that appears to have the two pieces fused together.  My other hinge has a piece that moves.  As an experiment, I JB-welded this one so that it is also fused.  Reinstalled, the lid was held up no problem.   Unfortunately, the weld broke so now I’m back where I started. No amount of adjusting can fix it once the two parts are separated.

Meanwhile, I’ve been working with the NüCamp warranty department via email and although they have been extremely slow to respond, they claim they have shipped me a new lid with two correct hinges as of this past Monday.

Fingers crossed...

Tabnero

Today I was able to adjust the glass in the hinge without removing the hinge. 10mm sock on top and middle allen wrench sent in new owners kit. if you loosen the glass nuts enough to move the glass a bit, slide the glass to the left as far as you can and retighten. when lifting glass to set in upright position, I discovered on the right side as you face the stove, that hinge has a stop that is a little deeper than the previous stopping point. with a little pressure the glass will lock in that slot and stay up right 90 degrees, previously it would lock at about 45 degrees. On my unit the left hinge is not as strong in the locking position but over all seems to be staying up right while wiggling trailer.

Sprocket

My glass stove top on my tab 2022 320s will also not stay open.  I have room to pull it up. It feels like it is dropping into place.  But it does not stay up.  It appears to me that there is a floating black metal bar on the top side of the hinge when closed.  In the working pictures above, this bar appears to be on the back side.  Can anyone confirm this location on a working hinge?  Sorry about the terrible picture  

mntrails

@Sprocket, unfortunately my T@B isn't at hand but I took the pictures 7 posts back and can confirm that the narrow metal bar needs to be 90 degrees counter clockwise or vertical and firmly in place (i.e. it can't move). If yours does, then you were either given the wrong stove top or it was put down incorrectly and the metal bar broken loose.  Best to call NuCamp for a Warranty issue and get a correctly working top. Good luck!

Basil48192

Mine was bad when I picked it up at the dealer 2 years ago, so Nucamp sent me a new one.  I installed it and it worked great for a year or so, until a friend tried to close it without first 'lifting upwards'.  Bottom line, the internal hinge catch is not very robust and it's not intuitive that you have to lift before closing...so...a lot of damaged hinges.  I've been using a clip to hold mine open until I replace it again.  It's not difficult to replace....but (in my case) requires cutting the silicon caulk around the cooktop to pull if off.  

Sprocket

Thank you.  It does look like mine is incorrect, or incorrectly installed.  I will contact nucamp, and I will use a clip to hold it up for now. 

Flybone89

I just had this happen to me where the glass top won’t stay up on a brand new Tab 320. It worked for 3 trips and stopped working on the fourth. I guess I will also be making a warranty call as I was perfectly aware of having to lift the lid to close it, so I have no idea how this stopped working after just three uses. We used it only to boil water for morning coffee, so this is some really cruddy engineering :-(.

So how are you folks keeping it up exactly? A chip clip? Anyone care to show a picture of their inventive workaround! I could not get this darn thing to stay up and it’s heavy and dangerous when it comes down!

Thanks,
Kevin

Sprocket

I used a chip clip today that I clipped to the plastic piece on the window.  It worked well.  Given the issues with the hardware on the top, I don’t think I am going to bother trying to replace it. 

Basil48192

@Flybone89 I used one of the Command Strips shown in the link below.  I attached in right about the same place as shown above.  I'm debating about changing mine as well.  It's a bit of work, and who knows how long it will last.  The clip has been find so far.  Good luck!

https://www.amazon.com/Command-Clear-Small-Strips-CL067-10NA/dp/B076ZTFGGC/ref=sr_1_3?crid=22XG9CB75VWLZ&keywords=command%2Bstrip%2Bhooks&qid=1653264402&sprefix=command%2Bstrip%2Bhooks%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-3&th=1

Flybone89

@Sprocket and @Basil48192 thanks so much - this will help for now! I have to have my coffee! Yeah I may just skip doing the replacement myself for now too - sounds like its a bit of an effort to replace. But I will add this to the punch list for a future dealer visit and combine with anything else that comes up.

Kevin

hatfiejr

I got it to work by just closing the glass cooktop and hammering the back of each hinge with a screwdriver 2 or 3 taps. This bends the “axle” towards the back where it can’t slip down to a 45 degree angle. I expect the “axle” to eventually bend back with use. I’ll just tap it again when it does.

GregChris

This is a common problem with the 2021 320s. It is the wrong lid, can't be adjusted to fit correctly. Dometic denies the problem, Nu-Camp acknowledges it, but since this is a preowned unit, won't help with the problem. I fixed it by using a small metal paper clamp where the lid touches the window frame. Sorry I don't have a photo. I thought about marking the lid correctly and having a glass shop cut the corner for me. They can't cut it because it's tempered glass.

SerialCrafter

I really dislike the glass cover and it doesn't stay up.  I'd like to remove it and use a cutting board stove cover with rubber 'legs' in the corners.  Is there a reason having the glass is better?

Basil48192

I actually like the cover when it's down.  It is just frustrating that the hinges are so fragile. 
In my opinion, it should not be removed.  When it is raised, it shields the front window from splatters and, more importantly, heat from the stove.  I've heard of people melting their window screen and/or warping their windows from radiant heat from the stove.  I also always open the window a small amount and turn on the overhead fan whenever I use the stove for the same reason.

SerialCrafter

Thanks for the input.  You make good points.  I was thinking about splatter but not about heat.  I'll try to adjust the hinges and if that doesn't work I'll find a good clip.  Still might put a board over it tho.  Putting items on the glass makes me nervous.

Yoshi_TAB

SerialCrafter said:

Putting items on the glass makes me nervous.

Hi, As a suggestion, we found a soft small bath mat that fits the dimensions and keep that on the glass.  We also have a similar size thin  plastic cutting board on top of the mat.  They keep the glass well protected while not in use for cooking.