Hello. Hope you all are enjoying your Memorial Day weekend. Wondering if any of you have ever experienced a situation where your exterior storage cubby stopped locking. I put the key into the lock and it will no longer turn. I have to travel with the cubby unlocked now which makes me a little nervous. Any ideas are really appreciated.
Another potential lubricant for locks: graphite spray. It's messy if you miss, but it's often recommended specifically for locks. Here's one example from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0094IZ3BA
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Rocinante Piccolo is our new-to-us 2016 Interstate Lounge 3500 EXT
(Named for John Steinbeck's camper from "Travels With Charley")
2005 16' International CCD
2015 19' Flying Cloud
Creston Valley
, British Columbia
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 1,793
Fer sure. We had this happen --in reverse-- with our then-brand new 2015 AS while camping at the Mojave National Preserve in the southeastern California desert, which is a loooong way from anywhere. The thing locked and we couldn't open it. The problem was that a lot of our hitch equipment was stored inside that external storage compartment, and we couldn't get to it.
Fortunately a Good Samaritan in the neighbouring campsite had a spare hitch ball that he sold to us, so we were able to drive on back roads slowly and carefully to the RV service center in Pahrump, NV. They called a locksmith who was unable to open (I. e., pick) the lock after an hour of trying. Finally he drilled it. We had the use of the compartment after that, but it wouldn't lock until we went back to our Airstream dealer, and they got the new lock for it.
I had not thought about it potentially happening in reverse. That would be a really bad situation. So sorry that happened to you. Thanks for providing your ideas. Really appreciate the knowledge sharing.
I experienced the same issue with a 22FB Bambi, only 6 months old. The dealer ( Colonial) replaced the lock , no problem. The Parts manager even shipped the new lock to my house, no charge. Go Colonial ! easy replacement only took 5 minutes....If it's not covered under warranty the cost is less than $50.00
They are fairly common. I've seen them used in other than RV applications.
I sure don't think Airstream manufactures their own proprietary locks.
And they are not that expensive. Although you might not find them at every hardware store. I'm cynically thinking that, printing RV on the package, might raise the cost of the lock
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