Ever been locked IN!?!

We had this happen this weekend. I was in the trailer, DH left for his meeting. He locked the door from the outside as he typically does, so I don't have to engage the lock from inside. A little later, I attempted to open the door... for the first time ever, I could not get out! The red lever that is the deadbolt was in the "locked" position, but I could not move it to the "unlocked" position, no matter what I did. The handle would make the regular latch disengage, but not the deadbolt. How did this happen? How do we make sure it doesn't happen again, to anyone!? If there had been an emergency, I really would have been in a pickle! I happened to see our neighbor outside. I handed her our key, and she was able to unlock the door from the outside and free me.

Erika

There was a thread recently about checking the lock on the door. If I remember correctly the locks internals can become loose.

It happened to me once several years ago. Some internal part on my lock broke. As in your case my wife was inside and I was outside. Purchased a new lock from a local rv dealer and replaced the old lock. I now keep a screw driver inside the rv in case this happens again and both of us are inside. With the screw driver I can disassemble the lock and open the door.
Don

Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to check out our deadbolt to insure it's working properly.

Erika, there was a recent thread about the opening for the deadbolt being too shallow on a few rigs. When locked, the deadbolt is sometimes forced into a jammed condition and won't come back.

I'm not sure this is what you experienced because I think in that thread the key wouldn't operate the lock.

In any case, I'm pretty sure the general condition causing the problem is a bind somewhere in the mechanism. Both the key and the red lever apply a relatively small amount of leverage to the deadbolt mechanism, so it must be free of binds for it to work well. I would get a lock lubricant from a real locksmith to make sure it's properly lubricated and examine the alignment of the door and lock components to see if something is causing a bind.

I did remove the 4 screws from the door lock inside, but still could not get the deadbolt to move... I didn't take it apart further, however.

We are replacing the lock with the new remote keyless entry RV lock, so hopefully this will not happen to us again.

Keep in mind there is two (in most instances) emergency exits in the RV. The window in the bedroom is one of them. It is recommended by safety experts that you open the emergency exits periodically to ensure their operation and your familiarity with their operation. Some fire safety experts also recommend regular fire drills using the emergency exits. Our operates by pulling in on the two handles and then pushing out on the bottom of the window.