Door locks, yes, again, insider info, long post

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Well, the other night, Al and I were in Hope Arkansas, on our slow treck home.

The door lock to the entry door broke while I was trying to go out to walk the kids, errrr yorks.

Now, if you want the really LONG version of this story, with a bit of humor, email me, small warning, there is a tad bit of purple language in the report, so, if you are a TMI kinda person, you might just read this and leave the rest alone!

Now, we were locked IN Tana, same as when we were in New Orleans.

We had the campground phone number in Al's cell, he called, the owner's son came down, and was able to spring us from our Tana cell (as in jail cell) by opening the door gently from the outside.

Took the mechanism apart, there was a broken part.

Now, we could not shut the outside door, or we would be locked in again, so we slept with the storm door shut, outside door latched to Tana's side and thank goodness for the storm door inserts, as it was cold out there folks.

Next day on the run to Jonesboro Arkansas, we attempted to find a new lock. Not as easy as it should have been,????? successful, but took a number of phone calls.

Anyway, if you open up the lock, you will find their phone number and a code, like CH310 or something.

Now, the company will sell you a lock, it is a FIC lock, the company charges about $35.00 and ships 3 day type delivery.

The CH310 or your code, is the key code. It is NOT a model number, which is what we thought, and so did several RV dealer parts people (shows how much they know?? NOT!!)

If you tell them you have a FIC lock, and if you have 1 or 2 keys (aka, dead bolt) and if you want black or shiny chrome, the little code don't mean squat!

Lesson here: codes on inside of locks are NOT always model numbers, and you don't have to match them up to purchase a replacement lock. Only one repair/service person knew that, and I talked to about 8 or 10 of em the other morning.

My new one is shiny chrome, old one was black, I don't really care, the door opens from the inside again!

[bsmeaton]

Carol,

So sorry for your trouble. I went direct through FCI and they are pretty nice folks to work with, and they FEDEX! We broke the key, not the lock.

It was interesting to learn the lock is called a "slam lock". Seems appropriate for the way ours gets abused.

[ols1932]

Ours broke a couple years ago and I picked one up at RV Salvage in Elkhart, IN. Ours was broken by someone who snapped the handle when they broke into our rig while it was in storage before we went full time. The storage place was also secure!!

A second time, we were locked in our rig but there was nothing wrong with the lock. For some reason, the four screws had begun working their way out and this caused the lock mechanism to move and not line up properly. Once I tightened the screws everything has been fine.

Orv

[Montana Sky]

Carol,

I am sorry to hear about your lock problems. Today was not a good day for either of us, but please send me your full story via email. I would love to read it!

[jrgwdenner]

Carol, sorry to hear that you and Al had another problem with your door lock. Glen and I had a similar experience but fortunately it happened when he was outside and I was still in the rig. He thought I had locked him out! We also had a part broken and had to replace the entire mechanism. Before we got it fixed, we had to bungee our door closed so Greta wouldn't leave to explore the world.

[Verle and Sue]

Hi Carol, I'm so sorry to hear about your lock problem and would really enjoy the "whole" story. I've locked myself out of things plenty of times, but never in. . . YET!!! Hmmm, maybe we should get a spare to have on hand, LOL. I've been making a list of "spare parts" to always have on hand, from all the posts people write in. Sue C

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Another tidbit we learned, the good people, at the lock company, said that there is a two year warranty on the lock, FROM date of manufacture. To find that date, open lock, look for a clock type thingy, will have 2 rings, one for year, one for month. The nice lady I talked to at the lock place said that is when your warranty starts.

New lock has a warranty that is affectively 18 months, not 2 years. We checked the date.

Gotta say, nothing like both of ya getting locked INTO your Tana for a interesting jolt to your blood pressure!

[IL. Camper]

we also had our lock break but we were on the outside and i had to crawl in by the clothers hamper boy was that tight . we had to get our lock from a momty dealer . once i was in i loosen 4 scews and the lock fell out . darrell

[IL. Camper]

we also had our lock break but we were on the outside and i had to crawl in by the clothers hamper boy was that tight . we had to get our lock from a momty dealer . once i was in i loosen 4 scews and the lock fell out . darrell

[sreigle]

We've not yet broken a lock but I did have to open the lock and use the 800 number shown inside the lock and give them that code to have keys shipped to me after I lost them on the day we took delivery of our 2003 3295RK.

Carol, what on earth do you guys do to the locks on your rig? That's two door locks, right? If I could figure out what causes this I'd know what to avoid! Or you are just lucky???

[rvghostdriver]

Do you slam the doors hard? Only person I know is a freind who slams doors hard. He broke the lock and the window fell down too.

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Rvghostdriver: We don't slam the doors any more, believe me, we had the window fall down 3 inches, broke the little plastic thingys that hold it up, had to turn the window upside down and a lot of silicone later, all is well. This happened a couple of years ago, and after a interesting discussion about slamming doors, and how it annoyed certain MOC members, and paying attention, you will RARELY see us slam a door anymore.

Steve: 2 outside entry door locks, the first one, the pin slipped out, we held in position with silicone for months, was eventually replaced. This one a part broke inside. Also 2 OEM bathroom door handles, within 6 months of each other, broke, while the door was closed and CAROL WAS OUTSIDE OF POTTY ROOM!!!! I no longer close that door, even tho Al replaced the weak OEM's with some nice solid lock from Menard's (or Lowe's or Home Depot or someplace like that)

As some of my dearest friends say to me all the time: Carol, if you had anything OTHER than BAD luck, you would have NO luck!

[sreigle]

Carol, as always, you and Al are welcome to visit us in our Montana. HOWEVER, when you do, please remind me and I will open all doors for you. After reading about the kind of luck you have with door locks I think I'd rather just open all the doors myself!!!!

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Steve

What can I say??