By Chris Dougherty
Chris Dougherty is a certified RV technician. Here is a letter he received from a reader while he was serving as RVtravel.com’s technical editor.
Dear Chris,
I viewed the RV Doctor’s video on “combination compartment locks.” Most locks come with a “flat” as well as an “offset” cam to hold the door shut. The combination locks that I looked at previously showed the locks with only a “flat cam.” Is the flat cam permanently attached to the lock or can a screw be removed to exchange the different “offset” cams? (From the locks that I currently have and would be replacing as I need the offset cam.) Thanks. —Jerry
Dear Jerry,
The product you are referring to is the Combi-Cam lock and, yes, the cam can be replaced, as it is attached with a screw. The lock comes complete with two straight cams and an offset cam in the box. That said, I am not certain if the cam attachment dimensions are the same as with standard cam locks, but it would be worth a try, if one of the included ones won’t work. If they were not to work, the company offers a number of accessories, including cams for various applications. They can be found at combi-cam.com or on Amazon.
##rvt757 #RVDT1213
I would like to know how to open a basement door the the key won’t work with any more or very seldom. I have tried Graphic.
I’d give a bit of WD40 a try. It may seep into the tight spots a bit better. Then I’d follow up with graphite once it has broken loose.
Wondering why the industry won’t change their policy of using the same locks/keys on their RVs? They put money, time & effort into useless things like glowing blue lights on stove knobs & furniture, but won’t help to stop thefts by changing up the locks.
My KZ came with all locks keyed the same. These are Global Link double cut keys. 90 possible key combinations. Chances of someone having your key is pretty slim.
First thing I’ve done with every TT we have owned is convert all the exterior locks to a single unique non-master key (okay, there are about 75 keys in the manufacturer’s series – close enough to unique). In fact, we own two TTs, larger seasonally stationary, smaller is our ‘on the road’ unit. both TTs use the same key for all the exterior non-master locks. Not that we advertise this to neighbors.
I store all the original lock cylinders and keys and will swap them back in place if we sell a TT.
Why don’t OEM manufanufactures use non-master keys? The dealers. The salespeople only carry a couple keys to get inside any RV on the lot. They don’t lock the door’s deadbolt and if you look close the latch lock often has a “M” (master) stamped on the lock cylinder.