Propane tank cabinet door problem - Montana Owners Club

MikeandBarb · 05-14-2005, 03:23 AM

Had a problem with propane tank door opening while travelling this past week. Its against the law to put a lock on this door - any ideas to solve this problem?

carlson · 05-14-2005, 04:51 AM

Against who's law is it illegal??

MikeandBarb · 05-14-2005, 05:03 AM

We were told its a federal law to have a lock on that compartment at the rv dealership.

sreigle · 05-14-2005, 06:06 AM

Here's an easy fix for you that worked for me. Look at the latches at the doors on each side. Specifically, look at the inside part of the latch, that little bar that holds the door closed. On one side, to open the door you turn this latch upwards. On the other side you turn it downwards. When they get a little loose they will work themselves down on that side and the door will come open. On the other side, they will never work themselves upwards and thus will not come open accidentally.

All you have to do is remove that screw holding that bar in place, turn that metal bar 90 degrees, and put it back on. I can't remember which side is the culprit, it's been over two years since I did this fix and have not had a single recurrence of this problem.

A temporary fix when you are on the road is to bend that bar inward a bit so it's a tighter fit. But the above is the permanent fix. I showed this to Keystone at the factory tour and again at the Tampa RV Show in hopes they'd make this change during assembly.

I have no idea about the law issue but would think it would be a safety issue. I'd want to be able to quickly turn off the tanks in case of fire or an accident. Or any time there's a propane leak.

Dustytuu · 05-14-2005, 06:29 AM

I had to fix the door something like that on the sewer hose compartment and also the front basement door. Also I installed extra locks on basements doors. Now have two different kinds of locks. That keeps them closed going down the road. Someone could get in there if they really wanted to but they will have to work harder doing it. Going to put somekind of lock on inside of laundry shoot this weekend. Saw a post on another forum where someone had their new 5th wheel entered through there, (must have had a child go through there) anyway they lost all the furniture, electronics curtains,everything but the stove and fridge was taken. It was in storage when this happened.
Don

CountryGuy · 05-14-2005, 06:50 AM

Dustytuu

Steve R. has a fix for the laundry shute, he simply opens the bathroom door, leaving it open OVER the shute. Cannot get in that way. May not be an option for you, just a thought.

HamRad · 05-14-2005, 07:37 AM

MikeandBarb,
Hello folks.... the very first problem I had with our rig was the propane door. Of course I'm a nervous wreck driving the rig for our first trip. We started late and was trying to catch up with the folks we were camping with..... looked in my rear vier mirror and there is the door flapping open! Made a mad dash for the side of the interstate.... Thank goodness there was a great pullout. Got out closed the door and made sure the latch was closed. Thought maybe I'd left it open.

Took off up the road and within 15 miles there it was open again! So we're about 10 miles from the top of the mountain... I'm not stopping.... Once we got to the top I pulled off again and pulled out the duct tape! Never leave home without it. :-)

Taped it up and took off. When we got to our CG the next day I started looking at the latches. They simply install the latches all the same way. They should be put on so as to make sure gravity works for you not against you. So fixed them so that they would "fall" into the latched position rather than out of the latched position. Have never had a problem since.

If you look at the inside latch like Steve suggests you'll see what the problem is. And it is an easy fix. Just reverse the way they are and you should be fine. It should be happening only on one side. On ours it was the drivers side.

Good luck....
HamRad

MikeandBarb · 05-14-2005, 09:31 AM

Thanks alot Steve R. and HamRod for your ideas! I will reverse the latches on the one side right away! Why didn't Keystone think of that?! Thanks again! Mike and Barb

sreigle · 05-14-2005, 10:55 AM

Dusty, the bathroom door over the chute works great, like Carol said. You cannot reach the door to close it from inside the basement. The chute door does not open far enough. I tried.

By the way, the day we took delivery of this Montana I lost all the keys on the way home. I got into the rig via the laundry chute door. If the basement is empty it doesn't have to be a child! Well, not in body, anyhow! Another option is to slide the pocket door across the chute door. I'd have to doublecheck but I don't think that can be reached from the basement, either.

stiles watson · 05-14-2005, 11:11 AM

Does anyone besides me collect these bits of knowledge for future use? My problem now is how to effectively catalog them for future retrieval and use. Two great tidbits, Thanks.

Montana_738 · 05-14-2005, 01:25 PM

Thanks everyone,
This problem has happened to me three times now and I always tell Rita when we get settled down I'm going to do something with these locks.
When we finally settle down it totally slips my mind to make the repair. I have a big note to do this now before we go anywhere.

Bill

sreigle · 05-14-2005, 02:21 PM

Stiles, I am like you in that respect. I save lots and lots of these things. In My Documents I created an "Info" folder. Inside the Info folder is a myriad of other folders for various topics and inside these I save these tips.

I have a similar filing system for all these CG suggestions/recommendations (filed by state and area within state) and also "travel ideas", like those that describe a particularly gorgeous drive in Utah.

Just have to have a big enough hard drive! And back it up frequently!

Russ and Sandy · 05-14-2005, 05:44 PM

Just to add another wrinkle to the laundry chute door saga (pun intended) - A few weeks ago we found ourselves locked out when our door key would not go into the deadbolt key slot. Have a total of 5 keys and none would go in. Borrowed some WD-40 and still no go. Night was fast approaching and possible snow. We had taken the precaution to leave the bathroom door open as a security measure.

Unloaded the basement and slid in on my back where I found the chute door hinge is attached with square headed screws. Removed the screws and Voilà! I was able to crawl up through the opening. (Some considerable contortions for this old body, I might add.)

End of story? No! I could not get the deadbolt latch to open from the inside! Removed the screws hiding the latch to the door. Could not get the lock out. Tried considerable force on the lock shaft with vise grips - would not budge. Now it is almost dark and beginning to get more concerned. We were at Torrey, UT which has no services but a gas station (and a Days Inn where we picked up WI-Fie access from our camp site across the road).

I don't know much about locks, but decided maybe I could drill it out. After getting setup to try that, I had second thoughts about such drastic action and was not even sure if it would help. Tried beating on the door, more WD-40, praying.

Then in some desperation, I held the key against the keyhole and gave it a sharp rap with a hammer. It went in! And turned the deadbolt lock! Put it back together using flashlight. Didn't use the deadbolt the rest of the trip. Seems to be fine now.

I guess there's a moral in there somewhere. Just be sure to keep the locks lubricated, I would guess is the main one. And, leaving the bathroom door open is just another one of those things that will only slow down a determined "thief". We will continue to do it.

By the way, it didn't snow that evening but we were at Ruby's Inn campground just outside Bryce Canyon, UT the day before where the overnight low was 18 degrees and we had about 3 inches of snow in about an hour. Needless to say we didn't spend much time at Bryce Canyon. Capitol Reef weather was perfect.

Russ

CountryGuy · 05-15-2005, 03:14 AM

Wow Russ,

That is quite the story! Glad you got back in and did not destroy the lock. (Wrote it in a humorous manner, even if you did not mean to, you had me smirking.)

Not sure if it is worse getting locked OUT of the Montana or locked IN the Montana. That happened to us, locked IN the Montana, with 3 of the 4 yorks still in the truck, with bright sun a shining, thankfully it was not a HOT bright sun. After studying the drop out of the fire escape hatches, since it was NOT burning, we both decided that we were NOT jumping! We ended up setting the alarm off on the truck, time after time, till the campground owner came to investigate. He was able to just simply open the door from the outside. Pin in the door latch had slipped out, so we could not open from the inside.

Sure can be exciting when you are living in a RV!

Carol

sreigle · 05-15-2005, 04:12 AM

Carol, I know it wasn't funny at the time and I shouldn't laugh at you but it's darn hard not to smile while reading your post, ya know???!!!

Russ, thanks for the info about the hinges. I never paid much attention to that. Anything that slows "them" down helps, though. I guess we could drill out the square screwhead hole so they couldn't grip the screws. Then they'd have to drill out the remaining screwheads and I doubt many are going to go that far before giving up.

To tell the truth, most of the time we don't think to open the bathroom door. I guess we're complacent since we've never had a breakin. If that changes we'd probably get better about that. We do lock the deadbolt, though, so I'll be sure to get that lubed again this week. It's been awhile.

CountryGuy · 05-15-2005, 04:55 AM

Steve,

Nope, it was NOT funny at the time, rather scary for a few minutes.

HOWEVER: Even funnier was Al's suggestion to use the cell phone to call the office. Had the cell phone - - - - - - - - - - the phone number was IN the truck, ohh, I could not get to the truck! DUH!

That was the year my travel log was titled "The Adventure of 2004"

Carol

Montana_2953 · 05-15-2005, 05:26 PM

Carol, you have had some rather great experiences with your travels. You should right a book. It would keep the RVer's in stitiches. I was just cracking up about you getting locked in. Remember the post I wrote about getting locked out of the NEW MONTANA? I sent Kathi into the laundry shute. She isn't small, but she to got in. That is the beginning of our experiences. Now hopefully we can take all of your experiences and just learn from them.

keepontruckin · 05-15-2005, 08:51 PM

It is my understanding that is against the law for an RV dealer to sell a RV with the locks on the propane door. However, I was informed that you may self-install them afterwards. Which opens a whole new topic. I am surprised with the valuables that I am assuming that we are all storing in the storage compartments that I have not seen a thread on swapping out the locks. There are 3 keys that are keyed and will fit most 5th wheelers storage compartments. However, if you take a key that fits into the storage door locks and is not designed for them; jiggle it up and down and sideways, you can very easily unlock the storage doors. I have just completed swapping out all my storage door locks and adding 1 additional key lock to each storage compartment by replacing 1 turn wingknob on each storage compartment.. I have also added the locks to the propane doors. It may be true that if a thief wants in, they will get in. However, I will make it more difficult for them than the factory delivered solution.

Treecounter · 05-16-2005, 02:47 AM

When we have the problem of opening compartments with out locks. We bend the locking arm so that it is hard to close and that keeps it in place. Our 3280RL has only three locking compartments and we changed the locks on them. It isn't cheap but didn't like the idea of every one in the world having keys to our rig.

sreigle · 05-16-2005, 04:12 AM

Brian and Cindy, some folks have swapped out the locks. I was aware of two keys, the CH 751 and 347, but didn't know there's a third one. The reason I haven't swapped out the locks is I can pop that door open with a screwdriver is about five seconds so the lock is not very effective anyhow. It would take a whole different locking method or system to make it more secure. Also, since we've never had a problem, even those times I messed up and left the doors propped up all day while we were gone and all night while we were asleep, then just haven't seen a pressing need. This is totally just my opinion and I will feel differently if and when we lose something out of the locker.

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