Slam latch failures on outside galley

[mooney7882v]

2016 22RBK; slam latches on storage units work fine, however on the exterior galley, not so much. If I relieve pressure on the hatch by removing the gas pistons, the latches function properly. If however, the pistons are attached, the latches will not close enough for the bolt to clear the strike, I assume. Regardless, the hatch can open during travel (and did). Service center at the storage facility advised this afternoon 2014-15 and 16 slam latches were under a recall--I cannot find any evidence of a recall. Swapping the latch from the cargo hold to the hatch did not make a difference, so I suspect the 'recall' is not the problem and it rests more with the weather stripping or something else that it prohibiting the hatch from closing completely. I just don't understand how the pistons affect closure and why they latch if not under any pressure from the piston works as designed. Ideas?

 

[danemayer]

Hi mooney7882v,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

My guess is that when the galley door is closed, the pistons are at the end of travel just a bit too soon. The solution might be to reposition the mounts for the pistons a little.

 

[mooney7882v]

ok, so I thought about that as well so I moved the piston anchors up a little based on what I saw on youtube (credible source to be sure!). If the pistons were at the end of their range of motion too quickly then they just become a stick holding the door ALMOST closed, or a LITTLE open, yes....is that what you are thinking? If that's so, I would need to mount the anchor a little lower, essentially pulling the shaft out of the piston a bit when the hatch is closed?

As an alternative I wonder too about a shim under the mount, essentially putting the anchor deeper into the cavity of the galley allowing the piston a little more travel so the slam hatches would engage?

Hi mooney7882v,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

My guess is that when the galley door is closed, the pistons are at the end of travel just a bit too soon. The solution might be to reposition the mounts for the pistons a little.

 

[danemayer]

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with the arrangement of doors and struts, but I'm guessing a little lower would do it.