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tobutton · 08-21-2015, 06:30 AM

I was opening the door and screen yesterday, no problem. When I went to close the door the bolt lock was stuck in the out position not allowing me to close the door. I pushed it in with my thumb allowing me to lock it with the other latch but cannot seem to get the bolt lock to turn with the key or the inside rotational latch. Any ideas?

Nomad518 · 08-21-2015, 09:06 AM

Give it a shot of WD40. Could be it just needs a bit of lubrication.

AWCHIEF · 08-21-2015, 09:21 AM

I use graphite in all my locks.

HowieE · 08-21-2015, 09:30 AM

You will have to take the lock set off the door and open it up for inspection. The bolt has most likely come free of the lock.

On mine the flat spring that positions the bolt had broken. I made a new spring out of a piece of hacksaw blade.

Get it apart ASAP before you get locked in or out as the bolt is free to move. If you can't get to it now tape the bolt in the open position so you don' get locked in or out

cwf · 08-21-2015, 09:43 AM

AWCHIEF is correct. Using liquid lube, especially WD-40 is not best. Many reasons why.

I have found silicone spray to be average substitute for graphite. I use silicone where I might accidentally come in contact with good clothing. like door latch. The internals, graphite.

tobutton · 08-21-2015, 11:19 AM

I will pull it apart to check the spring and pick up some graphite lube and give it a try.

spclkaz · 08-21-2015, 01:58 PM

See the thread "Stupid Deadbolt Lock" posted below.

Years ago on my first Airstream, I got locked out coming home on the last leg of a two week trip. Fortunately I was within a couple of hours of home. The dealer's solution was to REMOVE the door (which was never the same after they reinstalled it.) I had the deadbolt lock removed (and also did so on my next Airstream.)

It ended up costing me a couple hundred dollars to fix. I complained bitterly to Airstream about this poor design, but they never responded.

Needless to say, I never plan to buy a new Airstream... and this one, my third, is likely my last one as well...

Pay your money, make your choice... but get rid of that damn deadbolt...

HowieE · 08-21-2015, 02:35 PM

I have had the dead bolt and the door latch both fail while on the road.

Luckily I had opened the wall over the door bolts and once I crawled in through the front window I could remove the door from the inside. One picture shows the access holes. I cover them with white 2x4 plastic electrical box covers. One picture shows how I had to hold the bead bolt open till we got home and I could open the wall to remove the deadbolt. The third picture shows where the door latch set failed, tip of green tie, and required machining and welding. The door latch set was just a completely stupid design.

The spring failed on the dead bolt and the bungy cord id holding the bolt open till we got home.

In the door latch the plate that pulled the latch failed. I had to machine releaf areas on the plate and the surrounding housing to allow for welding the latch back to the pull plate. The alternative was a klutzy new door knob and a patch plate on the outside of the door.

tobutton · 08-22-2015, 08:30 PM

I took it apart and could not find anything obvious. The funny thing is the key on the outside will rotate properly but the knob inside will barely move. In either case the bolt does not move.

HowieE · 08-22-2015, 09:01 PM

Something is broken if you can turn the key and not get movement of the bolt

vaquitaboss · 08-23-2015, 08:01 PM

We were camping last week, and inadvertanly were locked out. The door lock had somehow locked on us with the keys inside. Luckily, our windows were open, and before anyone could grab a camera, I hustled inside.

I've not figured out how this got locked without our moving the knob. This happen to anyone else? We now have extra keys outside the camper.

thanks for any thoughts

Nomad518 · 08-23-2015, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vaquitaboss

We were camping last week, and inadvertanly were locked out. The door lock had somehow locked on us with the keys inside. Luckily, our windows were open, and before anyone could grab a camera, I hustled inside.

I've not figured out how this got locked without our moving the knob. This happen to anyone else? We now have extra keys outside the camper.

thanks for any thoughts

Yup. This happens more often than you would think. It happened to us once. Fortunately, a friend with a handy Swiss Army Knife was able to work the deadbolt back so that we could open the door. I think the deadbolt slid into the locked position due to centrifugal force as the door closed. Now, I keep an extra set of keys in our truck whenever we're traveling with our Airstream.

tobutton · 08-24-2015, 06:55 AM

Would it be a good idea to leave it disabled and just use the door lock?

cwf · 08-24-2015, 10:36 AM

You can increase the "spring tension" on the door slide bolt. The bar tends to slide out on a "long swing" to close it.

vaquitaboss · 08-26-2015, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tobutton

Would it be a good idea to leave it disabled and just use the door lock?

It was the main door lock that locked on its own. Real mystery to me how that could have happened, but I will have an extra set of keys on my next trip. Thanks for your reply.