Door deadbolt lock question

[Bulldog]

Today I locked the outside door bolt lock and left. My DW called and said you lock me in the rig. She said the red lever won’t move. Our friend was in the space next to us so I called her and told her where the hidden key was and she opened the door. I don’t know if it’s made like that if so that’s a fire safety issue. Are any of your rigs like that if you lock from outside you can’t unlock from inside.

[Mikendebbie]

I am betting the lock would not move because the catch plate on the jamb needs to be adjusted. Generally I know when I need to adjust the catch plate when I have to push on the door to unlock from the outside. If she was inside - she would have needed to pull the door toward the inside in order to get the pressure off the plunger so it would open...otherwise it takes a great effort to turn the latch. This is what I think is going on - not necessarily what your issue may be. If you can make it work by pushing on the door from the outside - adjust the position of the catch plate.

[Ram Montana High Country]

A Field Service person told me that when locking the dead bolt that the key had to be turned back to the neutral position or the inside lock would not open the dead bolt … never tried it but did practice it

[beeje]

THERE IS A RECALL? ON THIS. The lock is NOT supposed to operate that way. It can trap you inside (as you found out). The lock manufacturer will send you a core key and new cylinder that you can install yourself.

If I remember correctly, if you lock it with the key from the outside by turning the key 90 degrees and then being able to remove the key, it is wrong. I believe you should have to turn it 90 degrees then back to lock and remove the key.

[Mikendebbie]

...in other words - only remove the key from the vertical position - right?
I never tried it any other way...don’t even know if it’s possible. I will try it sometime.

All I am saying in post #2 above is that my door sometimes gets to the point that DW can’t open it (without me showing her to push here then pull there). She says “FIX IT!”

[rohrmann]

Originally Posted by Bulldog

Today I locked the outside door bolt lock and left. My DW called and said you lock me in the rig. She said the red lever won’t move. Our friend was in the space next to us so I called her and told her where the hidden key was and she opened the door. I don’t know if it’s made like that if so that’s a fire safety issue. Are any of your rigs like that if you lock from outside you can’t unlock from inside.

What year and model is this rig? If it is new, the lock assembly should be replaced under warranty. If this is an older rig, just replace the entire lock assembly, as it's not worth messing with. A couple years ago, my wife got stuck inside when the inside handle broke. After a lot of frustration, she finally got her wits about her and was able to use her key to manually slide the bolt open and got out. We replaced the lock assembly that same day after traveling over 200 miles round trip to purchase a new latch/lock assembly.