Can’t get this open-Key won’t turn-all others are fine

[patriciahawk]

[DoubleR]

Which storage area is it? You may have to access it from the inside of the trailer. Could something inside the storage be blocking the lock from swinging around?

[HHPJ]

Shoot with lock cleaner spray, press in the top of door while turning key... may be too much pressure on tab

[Mollysdad]

Looking at the Globetrotter layout, it appears all the 27' are front bedrooms. The rear has no outside access, so I'm surmising the baulky lock is under the bed.
First, lift up the bed and see if you can get access to the inside of the storage. The latch is held by one small nut, so if you take that off you can open the door and see why the lock is pesky.

[nryn]

Originally Posted by patriciahawk

Attachment 337475

I had a problematic outside storage lock on my shakedown cruise. Turns out on mine that the black handle bit (the bit that lifts and that you rotate to open) has to be FULLY seated—as in perfectly—in order to turn the lock. Not sure if this is the case with yours, but try pushing on the black lever and ensuring that it is fully seated around the lock cylinder. Mine “clicked” when it was seated and the lock turned as normal and very smoothly once it did. No other lock on the trailer behaves this way.

[patriciahawk]

Thank you for the suggestions. Adjusting the hitch level took care of it. Whew!

[patriciahawk]

Originally Posted by Mollysdad

Looking at the Globetrotter layout, it appears all the 27' are front bedrooms. The rear has no outside access, so I'm surmising the baulky lock is under the bed.
First, lift up the bed and see if you can get access to the inside of the storage. The latch is held by one small nut, so if you take that off you can open the door and see why the lock is pesky.

Thank you. We had tried that as well. No access that way. We have twins.

[Leilanisteve]

Same thing happened to us last year of course just before we were leaving the house. Tried everything I could think of. Locksmith couldn’t pick the lock [emoji107]
Grabbed necessary gear by lifting up the bed but no chance to reach the lock mechanism from inside. Lock was changed out later. Will try adjusting the jack next time. Thanks

[KK4YZ]

We had the same problem with the rear hatch lock on our 23D. After trying to get it unstuck, Called a locksmith who tried everything in his bag of tricks and ended up drilling out the lock.
The latch will still work with the lock drilled out - just isn’t lockable. AS sent me a new lock/latch assembly. It was easy enough to replace.

[out of sight]

The same thing happened to me on my FC 28 rear compartment door. The key wouldn't turn the lock cylinder. I was able to access the lock from the inside after lifting up the bed. Though I couldn't reach it or see it I got a mirror and flashlight and with an 18" socket extension I was able to remove the latch. You will need a 1/2" deep socket to loosen the latch nut.

I am asking Airstream to send me a new lock under warranty.

[GOUSC]

Originally Posted by patriciahawk

Thank you. We had tried that as well. No access that way. We have twins.

I have a Globetrotter with twin beds as well. I’ve never had that issue but all the suggestions noted are good. FYI – If all those fail in the future, there is a way to access it from the inside. When you lift the mattress off of the bed, the plywood base for the mattress is the ceiling in the outside / inside storage compartments. There should be 6-7 phillips head screws attaching the plywood. Unscrew those, lift it up and you will get access to the lock from the inside to remove the nut. If you ever have to opportunity to do this it will show you how everything is put together.

I had to do some clean up work after service at Jackson Center and had to adjust the bed base when I got home. This is off topic; however, when doing this I had my outside storage compartment bins open while my wife was taking our sheets off to wash. With the compartments open in the daylight we could see gaps around the bed base and the wall. The outside light from the compartments makes any gaps noticeable. If you have any then you can get some insulation / foam strips / etc to fill those areas to keep cold / hot air / dust from entering thru the gaps in the storage compartments.

I also noticed dust at the foot of the bed down at the floor area on the inside shell. Due to the curve of the inside shell and the straight edge of the wall in the storage compartment, there is a gap against the wall on both sides. I stuffed insulation in there as well to keep the cold / heat / and dust out of the interior.

I felt kinda stupid not realizing the ceiling in the storage compartment was the bed base. We would always feel cold air when sleeping next to that wall. Now, it appears to me the majority of that would be cold air in the outside compartments coming up thru any gaps that existed. I’m hoping this will minimize this in the future.

I also added clear sealant where the metal diamond floor in the storage compartment meets the wall. If any water enters the storage compartment, it will enter any gap and be on the interior of your RV in the inside storage compartments.

[Jen1043]

All of a sudden I couldn’t open one of my latches in our 2019 27FBT International.
This post was helpful. Thank you for starting the thread and all the comments.

The key wouldn’t turn the lock at all. The day prior it had been a little stiff.

My solution was to completely flood and re-flood, saturating the area behind the black latch with White Lithium grease. I just kept working it, key in, key out, and trying to turn over and over. Eventually it just broke free.

Pfew, I am glad it worked!