Search the Community

I'm a newbie RV owner. I live in Ohio and we've had a bitter cold winter as you may know. Our coach is stored outside, a 2007 Beaver Contessa 400HP CAT. It has 2 12V chassis batteries (group 31 Interstate, dated 4/14) and 4 6V house batteries (Lifeline AGM's dated 6/12). The last time I tried to start it, the chassis batteries cranked but the coach did not want to start so they ran low. The house batteries were also low due to not having the residential refrigerator unplugged, thats another story. Anyway, I brought all them home to charge and they seemed to take the charge ok. I then re-installed the chassis and house batteries. I turned on the battery disconnect switch for both chassis and house. Normally when the house switch is turned I'll hear a little beep indicating there is power. This time I did not. The coach has a door handle keyless entry and with no house power, it does not work, hence I cannot get into the coach to even try to start it. Its one of the fancy door remotes that is a part of a handle that is screwed into the side of the coach to the left of the entry door. Is it possible there is a non battery issue going on? I have all 6 batteries out and being tested at a battery store just to rule out it being a battery issue. I'm not confident that it is a battery issue as the house batteries were all reading around 6.25V when I put them back in the coach. Any ideas is much appreciated as I am at a loss.

I have heard that many RV locks have siblings that use the same key. I have a 2008 Winnebago Journey, and for that reason and others am interested in replacing my existing TriMark lock that has a key & fob with one that is keyed & keyless. It looks like this may be a do-it-yourself project. Does anyone have suggestions on manufacturers & models, or good/bad experiences? Has anyone replaced the handle/lock or done this upgrade? Thanks! Jengle @ RVBuiltForTwo.com Trippin' With The Engles