Locked Out!

[wildtoad]

I knew today was going to be interesting from the start. First and totally unrelated to RVing my wife comes into the bedroom late last night and demands I get up RIGHT NOW as there is a snake in the bathroom. So I do as she says and take a look and sure enough a 4 foot black snake has decided to check out the place. I get a broom and catch the guy and take him outside, and go back to bed. I spend most of the night trying to think of from where he could have come in. No idea yet.

Well, the next morning while taking some articles out to the MH for a week at the lake, I find the door will not open. We don't lock it while in the drive way so I know it isn't locked but I try the keys anyway. No luck. All the windows are locked down, I thought about removing the hinge pins but find that to be a more than I wanted to try. So instead I drill through a window frame enough to get at the window lock and voila I'm in. I end up having to take the door lock mechanism apart (a good bit of swearing) where I find the spring loaded latch has broken in the closed position.

So, it's off to Camping World for a new door lock and hope they have one that fits and in stock so we can make it to the lake in the morning.

[popeyemth]

bshpilot wrote:
you guys never heard of Hide-A-Key or using ELECTRICAL tape to tape a key to the frame ??
Im glad i have more than one (possible) entry door.

We keep spare truck keys in the camper and spare camper door keys behind the hot water outside door.

[wa8yxm]

I have a realtor's box in my propane bay.. If you do not know the code it is not much good, My darling daughter and I know the code.

Ti-Mark locks use base metal for the striker bolt, it is cheap and easily broken, the weakest spot is also the highest stress point,, So it breaks, easily

The solution is to have a metal smith carve a replacement out of real steel that will bend rather than break and very likely will not bend eitehr.

I learned how to "Pic" the lock by the way.

[naturist]

Vulcaneer wrote:

And for sure my wife would never walk into the bedroom and demand I get up to remove a snake from the bedroom. She would have let out several bloodcurdling screams, and would have been out the door like she was on fire. I would have needed to chase her down the road, so I could find out what her problem was.

Your wife and mine sound like sisters. She's gotten much better over the years, but one of our first dates "way back then" was to the Ohio State Fair. Walking around the grounds, we came to the Ohio Department of Forestry tent, one of those huge 100 foot long things, we're walking into it from the entrance on one end, we get about 10 feet inside, and in mid-sentance, she suddenly simply vanished. Puzzled, I look around, and there she is, a good ten feet OUTSIDE the entrance, bright red, gasping for air, and working her jaw unable to finish the word she'd been saying. To this day, I've no clue how she reversed course and leapt 20 feet backwards in one bound. But I have witnessed her ability to do that a couple times over the years, so I know she can do it. Yup, she'd spotted a snake in a terrarium at the very far end of the DoF tent.

[ParkCountry]

Bumpyroad wrote:

BB_TX wrote:
The DW unlocked the door to our 5er, inadvertantly turned the key back to the lock position, removed the key, went back inside for something she had forgotten, layed the key down, came back out, and closed the door. Oops! Only key is now locked inside.
Fortunately our basement door was not locked, and we have a clothes hamper under a trap door in the bedroom. So I clean out the basement, crawl inside, push up the trap door, push the basket up into the bedroom, and crawl up thru the small opening to the inside. Not the easiest thing for a 6'-5" person to do.
Now I keep two extra sets of keys in the truck.

your wife is 6' 5"?
bumpy

Ha-Ha!!! We once had a woman like that out at work. Everyone called her "Sasquatch". We never called her that to her face, though, due to a strong sense of self-preservation...

[bshpilot]

you guys never heard of Hide-A-Key or using ELECTRICAL tape to tape a key to the frame ??
Im glad i have more than one (possible) entry door.

[wildtoad]

Dutch_12078 wrote:

TenOC wrote:
You may not be LOCKED OUT. If the unit is not level the frame may have twisted and the door may be jammed. Try to jack up under the door -- only a little to make the door plumb.

Been there -- Done that. . . :M . . . I worked with the lock for an hour until I found the real problem. Once I found the problem, only 5 min to fix.

Re-read the OP... Especially the part where he took the lock apart and found the broken latch. My guess would be that he has the older Trimark 60-0650 lock assembly that was prone to breaking the cast latch bolt. Hopefully, CW will have the newer 60-1650 replacement in stock with it's redesigned latch mechanism.

Yep latch was indeed broken. 14 year old unit, plenty of door closing / slams over the years. Got a new Tri-Mark at CW and installed it. No instructions, but an easy job.

And to be clear, the snake was in my log cabin home, not the mh

[wildtoad]

ScottG wrote:

Tripalot wrote:

bigdad1 wrote:
I'm still wondering about the snake !

X2

X3. How did the snake get in?

I have no clue at this point. I only know how it got out. Tossed over the deck railing. I did watch him slither away.

[Vulcaneer]

The conclusion to be drawn is. The snake did not enter through the door. One possibility is eliminated.



Oh...Wait...Maybe the snake did enter through the door and when he tried to lock it, he broke the lock.

Once the snake was found, My wife would not sleep until I could solve the snake entry problem..

And for sure my wife would never walk into the bedroom and demand I get up to remove a snake from the bedroom. She would have let out several bloodcurdling screams, and would have been out the door like she was on fire. I would have needed to chase her down the road, so I could find out what her problem was.

[ScottG]

Tripalot wrote:

bigdad1 wrote:
I'm still wondering about the snake !

X2

X3. How did the snake get in?

[Bumpyroad]

BB_TX wrote:
The DW unlocked the door to our 5er, inadvertantly turned the key back to the lock position, removed the key, went back inside for something she had forgotten, layed the key down, came back out, and closed the door. Oops! Only key is now locked inside.
Fortunately our basement door was not locked, and we have a clothes hamper under a trap door in the bedroom. So I clean out the basement, crawl inside, push up the trap door, push the basket up into the bedroom, and crawl up thru the small opening to the inside. Not the easiest thing for a 6'-5" person to do.
Now I keep two extra sets of keys in the truck.

your wife is 6' 5"?
bumpy

[BB_TX]

The DW unlocked the door to our 5er, inadvertantly turned the key back to the lock position, removed the key, went back inside for something she had forgotten, layed the key down, came back out, and closed the door. Oops! Only key is now locked inside.
Fortunately our basement door was not locked, and we have a clothes hamper under a trap door in the bedroom. So I clean out the basement, crawl inside, push up the trap door, push the basket up into the bedroom, and crawl up thru the small opening to the inside. Not the easiest thing for a 6'-5" person to do.
Now I keep two extra sets of keys in the truck.

[Tripalot]

bigdad1 wrote:
I'm still wondering about the snake !

X2

[bigdad1]

I'm still wondering about the snake !

[cyntdon2010]

That one of the reasons I purchased a Camper with two doors, and I also keep a spare key in my pickup.

[Dutch_12078]

TenOC wrote:
You may not be LOCKED OUT. If the unit is not level the frame may have twisted and the door may be jammed. Try to jack up under the door -- only a little to make the door plumb.

Been there -- Done that. . . :M . . . I worked with the lock for an hour until I found the real problem. Once I found the problem, only 5 min to fix.

Re-read the OP... Especially the part where he took the lock apart and found the broken latch. My guess would be that he has the older Trimark 60-0650 lock assembly that was prone to breaking the cast latch bolt. Hopefully, CW will have the newer 60-1650 replacement in stock with it's redesigned latch mechanism.