marchuckb@aol.com Report post Posted July 24, 2016 Locked in! Probably, you have never been locked in your motor home? You have been locked out but never locked in! Believe me, this is something you do want to have happen to you! This experience happened to me in October on a Saturday with fresh fallen snow in Petoskey MI. When I tried to open the door and take some pictures I could NOT , At first I thought that the door had frozen But soon realized that the handle would not pull the spring bolt back so the door could open. I had no idea who to call. Does your lock look like these pictures? (p 1) If it does, you could be locked in! However, you thinking no problem, just remove the screws on the inside, and push the lock right out -not a problem! That is if you have the screwdriver that will fit the star screws they used to hold the lock in.(p 2) Wrong! The two bolts protruding from the lock slide into a plate so that the door will line up when closed. These bolts have an enlarged end that will not allow this to happen.(p 3 & 4) What happened to my lock? Part of the spring bolt that the handled connects to broke off and could not retract it so the spring held the bolt in place! Door locked! Only way out is through the fire escape windows! To the computer!! Look up locksmith on a Saturday afternoon. First two or three calls were not helpful, finally asking for recommendations found someone who could help me. After several tries and a little scratching of the motor home, he was able to push the spring bolt back into the lock so I could push open the door. He removed the spring-loaded part from the lock and we were able to use the locks deadbolt feature to keep the door closed, not as good as the spring bolt, but it worked until I got home and ordered a new lock. Replacing the lock No problem, take out the old one and put in a new one and done. Wrong again, first of all the screws are special requiring a special screwdriver. Secondly, the protruding bolts that line up the door are of a different size and will not fit in the existing plate. Again, NO problem just replace the plate. Wrong again, you have to disassemble the door jam to get the plate in place. BIG JOB!!! Next possibility is remove the bolts and install the old ones and then adjust according. What I realized is there are locking screws on these bolts. Again a special driver is needed to remover or loosen the locking screws so I could back out the bolts, install old bolts in new lock adjust the proper length, tighten locking screws and you’re done! The new lock is a redesign! I hope that I will not have this problem again. Charles Broedell F283362 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
