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Old 10-17-2007, 11:29 AM   #1
exav8tr
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Danger Will Robinson

I had to leave the Monty early this morning with my DW still sleeping. As I left I locked the dead bolt from the outside providing her with absolute security. Well, she was so secure she could not get out. Yep it seems when you lock the deadbolt with the key from the outside no one can get in or out.

When I returned, I tried to open the deadbolt from inside and no such luck. Is this an isolated incident or has anyone else experienced this????????

This appears to be a big time safety problem. One would have thought that you could open the door from the inside no matter what.

Be careful out there, hear......
 
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Old 10-17-2007, 12:08 PM   #2
Ozz
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I think Carol had this happen, or maybe it was a broken lock. Good to know, thanks.
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Old 10-17-2007, 01:03 PM   #3
Mrs. CountryGuy
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Your lock is broken, at least that is our take on it! If the door is not adjusted correctly it puts undue pressure on the lock, and given some time, BAM!!! BUSTED.

We have been locked IN Tana TWO TIMES!!

The first time, it was a rod/bolt thingy that slipped down and did not allow the door to be opened from the inside, but was opened from the outside with no trouble, solution was to silicone the rod/bolt at the bottom, read about it here:

January 26, New Orleans, at this url:

http://geocities.com/genieyorks/tour2004pg2.html

The next time was last spring in Hope Arkansas, I wrote about it here on the MOC. Not sure it would pop up with a search, but basically, same sort of story, we landed at campground, went in and shut door, hour or so later 3 of the yorks wanted to go out, I grabbed door handle, pulled and it snapped. I knew without any doubt that it was broken. We were able to get the campgrounds owner's son to come down and again, gently open the door. It was a stormy night, the weather radio was going off like crazy, I volunteered to shut the door and go sleep in Big Butt. But, we managed to miss the storms and the next day after about 1.5 hours on the cell phone we were able to find a great dealer in Little Rock that had the lock mechanism and actually knew his business. A few other dealers had locks, but did not know the ins and outs and lost the sale.

The ins and outs, take that lock apart, and there is a phone number inside. Call them, they can provide you with extra keys, and/or you can order a new lock from them, or they can help you find a dealer.

Now, the trick is that the number on your key is just that, a key lock number. If you buy a new lock, you may or may not get a new number, does not matter. All that matters is the MODEL number of the lock. Need it to fit in the opening provided, so you need the same model. Oh, we did get a silver one this time, not the black that was OEM. Again, does NOT matter. Just has to be the model that works in the opening.

I agree, a safety issue, Al and I have decided we ain't jumping out of those fire safety windows unless Tana is on fire. SIGH. So far, we have been lucky, when we were locked IN we were able to find a kind soul to let us out.

Suggestions: keep your keys ON you, if your truck has an alarm, you can set that off time after time, even from IN your unit, and sooner or later someone will show up and you can have them gently let you out.

Other: keep your cell phone on your hip, and when you check into a new campground, immediately tuck their phone number into your pocket. You can call them and ask for someone to come let you out.

Our take is, if you use your unit a lot, you stand a good chance of breaking that door lock at some point.

New locks cost about $30.00 (that is the number I remember from last spring), not sure if that is a spare part you want to keep on board due to the price, not like a bolt for $2.00 is it??
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Old 10-17-2007, 03:10 PM   #4
exav8tr
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Mrscountryguy. I appreciate your info and take on this. The lock appears to be functioning correctly on the inside of the door when you use the deadbolt portion. Locks and unlocks with no problems. It is only when you lock from outside with key. Did yours act this way also???? There doesn't seem to be any undue pressure on the little rod either.

Would love for other folks to check this out and get back to me. Just don't lock yourself in as I did to DW.....

Thanks for the help.....

Phil
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Old 10-17-2007, 04:11 PM   #5
Mrs. CountryGuy
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Phil,

Before I posted that, Al and I went and double checked action of our lock,

Key locked door, key unlocked door. When key locked door we could still move the dead bolt from the inside.

We did not close the door and then throw the dead bolt (from inside).

That is when Al reminded me that if the door and lock are not aligned nicely that the stresses would add to difficulties, both locking, opening and breaking.

After having busted two of these I would not take a chance on that lock functioning as you expect it to. I would be looking for a new lock.

I do not recall ever breaking a lock on the previous units we have owned, one owned for 4 or 5 years, the second for almost 15 years. Had Tana less than 4 years and went through 2 locks. Am I allowed to say, that they are not made like they used to be ?????

Let us know what the out come is, any differing data is always useful and we can all learn from it.

Oh, that rod, slipped out of the lock, downward action. Just to try and clarify.
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Old 10-17-2007, 06:47 PM   #6
EagleRunner
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Just checked mine out and the lock works fine. When you lock both locks with the key (both deadbolt as well as door lock) you can unlock from inside with no problem. I agree with Mrs. CountryGuy that your lock is busted.

Tom
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Old 10-18-2007, 03:32 AM   #7
Mrs. CountryGuy
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Al just checked our lock once again, and tells me that the "ROD" has been re-designed and now cannot SLIP out, as our first one did. They flattened it on the top, sorta like a nail. So, it cannot fall through.

Good luck Phil!
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Old 10-18-2007, 04:41 AM   #8
kegger5769
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Just had our lock assembly die too after 2 years. The lower dead bolt lock part died, the wife locked the door with the key (no issue) and came back to open the lock and the key would not go in but 1/2 way. I was on my way to meet her but was 3-4 hours out so our friend’s husband who she was traveling with crawled up thru the laundry shoot and tried to open it from the inside with no luck either. I have a toolbox I store in the laundry basket so the lock had to be disassembled to get the door open. I ordered a new lock assembly for $20 plus shipping from the manufacture (phone # on inside lock assembly) which should be here today I hope. We used the top lock for the week we where gone with no problems. Kind of frustrating for something to break only after 2 years and only 100 days of use. Hopefully the "NEW" lock assembly will last longer.
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Old 10-18-2007, 08:27 AM   #9
exav8tr
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Well I think I have figured it out. If you lock the deadbolt from outside and pull out the key while it is horizontal you cannot unlock door from inside, however, if you lock door and return key to vertical position you can unlock door from inside. Seems a little strange, I guess if you want to lock someone in, you can. (kids maybe, just kidding). Maybe someone can try this and confirm for me that is the way it works or do I just bite the bullet and buy a new lock. Hate to replace something if it is working as designed, although I don't know if I like this design.
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Old 10-18-2007, 11:48 AM   #10
Mrs. CountryGuy
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Ok, Phil, we did more testing.

Our lock, put in key, turn key to lock. Key is horizontal.

At this point we CANNOT pull the key out of the lock. Al did not force the key, as we really don't want to break it, but it would not move.

SOOOOO, he moved the key back to the veritical position, lock is still locked, we could remove the key from lock and the door was opened from the inside, just fine.

Our take, is if you can lock the lock, and remove the key while it is still in the horizontal position, something ain't quite right.

Hope this helps.
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Old 10-18-2007, 02:04 PM   #11
exav8tr
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Carol, my thoughts exactly. I guess when I leave here I should stop at a RV Dealer to have checked. Will it never end?????? ARG!!!

Phil
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Old 10-18-2007, 03:42 PM   #12
Mrs. CountryGuy
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When compared to some of the fixes we have to do to our units - - Tis an easy fix, only took Al about 20, maybe 30 minutes and we were working in the parking lot of a dealer.

After he tweaked the adjustments I have to say, we have never had a door shut as smoothly as it does now.

If ya drag it down the hard road, something is gonna shake loose.

Will it ever end -- well, that could lead to a very long discussion of life, death, taxes, religion --- things left well enough OFF MOC!

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