compartment door locks

[brianjames]

got back from our first trip with the new travel trailer yesterday to find that i cannot open one of the compartment doors. I nearly broke one key of (cracked it, but it came out) when I tried to turn the lock. I don't know what to do other than stick a screwdriver in the lock and force it open. Any suggestions?

I hate that you have to use the key to open the latches and have to lock them to shut the doors tight. I still want to be able to lock them depending on where we are at. Does anyone know of a different kind of latch that I could install that would solve my problems?

[flyrotor]

You can buy latches that are identical to the locking latch that have a thumb knob on them, you can google cam-locks and find several vendors for such.

Then you just need to drill and mount them on your door in a similar fashion to the current locks you have, this will allow both options.

As for your stuck locks, try some WD40 in the lock, also, put gentle pressure against the door holding it shut while you try turning the key. Also, look at your keys to be sure you are using the correct key, it should be printed on it CH751, which is a standard lock for all trailers. So really the only thing you are doing is keeping an honest person honest, any real theives already know the keys are universal.

While you are searching for cam-locks, you can order new locks as matching key sets that are different than the CH751 keys.

[jimh]

after freeing them with the WD40, after a couple weeks, spray them with the white grease. i have a couple of the non key locks that i just sprayed. also found the grease works very well on the door latch.

[sherdep]

free the lock with wd-40
Push the door in to relieve the pressure on the lock hasp and turn

you can get extra CH751 Keys at Camping world - doubt the lock is bad just needs a shot of lube and the pressure off of the latch piece to turn

[Willis]

This thread has a lot of good discussion on the subject of compartment locks:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ocks-7115.html

[Terier]

Did you try using the spare key? For some reason on my TT one key works better on one lock while the other works better on the other lock. Same key number.