I have been dealing with a reoccurring issue(5 times now) of clients unable to get into their trailers due to a serious flaw in the design of their door lock set. I am hoping to help some of you not run into the same issue. It happened to me today and I thought I would share what happens, why it happens, and how to avoid it happening to you...
Many of you have the lockset above in your unit. It was made by Bargman Co and was used
1961 thru
1968 in just about every model. Both the L100 and L200 look the same on the outside. The L100 uses the same knob on the interior as the exterior.
The L200 uses an interior handle like the one pictured above. These locks were discontinued about two years ago. While still manufactured they sold for $85. Now that they are no longer made, the price has been jacked up to over $250. I saw one sell on Ebay for $450 just last week. When it fails, it seems as if all is lost and it needs to be replaced. 90% of the time it is a simple fix, so simple it makes you feel foolish to think it was even a lost cause...
If you unscrew the back side of the lock set. See middle photo... those two screws... just remove them and the back comes right off.
In the very center of the exterior knob is a screw shown above. Tighten it and suddenly the lock works again. If that screw loosens just a little bit, it fails to work for you. I suggest that the screw be removed and re installed using a little LockTite to keep it from coming loose in the future.
I hope this helps even just one of you...