Propane Doors

[creyer]

Our propane doors keep coming open as we go down the road. The dealership has "adjusted" them as much as they can. They indicate there is nothing else they can do.

I have just been using duct tape on them before we leave for each trip. I hate the look of that. Hoping that someone has come up with a better solution.

Thank you.

[chuckster57]

The locking tab on the backside of the thumbscrew comes in several different lengths. Surely they can find one long enough.

[Canonman]

I'd bet a body shop or even a good lock and key shop could adjust them to stay shut or replace the existing lock with something that will work.
I'd suggest the lock shop first since they'll come to you.

[JRTJH]

It could be something as simple as the locks being installed upside down in the door. If the key "twists up" to secure the door, it could be vibrating open (down) during travel. In that case, you could turn the locks over so the key "twists down" to secure the door. That way they will not vibrate open during towing.

If that's not the situation, then as stated, any locksmith or lock shop can fix them by replacing the lock arm on the locks with a longer one. But if the lock opens by the lock arm swinging down, no matter how long they install, it'll vibrate open.

[chuckster57]

And just a reminder: propane storage doors CANNOT be locked, so a keyed cylinder is out of the question.

[K_N_L]

I had this happen once on a full day of travel and did the duct tape quick fix. Fortunately I was able to tighten and bend the tabs some and have not had the problem since, but I always watch for it. As the latches turn clockwise or down, there needs to be something to block the arm from turning with a bounce. Perhaps a small pan head screw on the inside of the bulkhead to add a detent. If you come up with something let us/me know.

[Javi]

I'd lay odds that they're installed upside down... I've seen it in more than one trailer.. mine were... easy fix..

[flybouy]

If they are the thumb latch style you can bend the latch arm a little to get more friction on the door frame. I did this on the two thumb latches on our outside kitchen. I spent about an hour tweaking them and now have apply a slight pressure on the door to compress the door seal to latch it. Solved the issue I had with the door not sealing tight enough.

[liv42day777]

I had the same issue on one side only as the latch tab had to be turned up to lock. I flipped the latching tab 180 degrees so gravity would keep it latched.

[K_N_L]

Quick fix - The latching arm can be removed, only 1 screw, rotated 90 degrees clock wise and reattached on the square base. The latch now will open by a quarter turn upwards, no more issue with gravity.

[hammer045]

The propane door is very flexible and the latches are slowly eroding the metal frame. Longer latches will not work and even duct tape did not help us when we experienced high cross winds on our trip to Wyoming this year.

A simple fix that seems to be working for me was to get a length of aluminum flat bar from Home Depot 1" wide by 1/8" thick. I cut it to the length of the door frame where the latches contact and used good double sided tape to attach it. This extends the frame, but does not interfere with the latch. The wider frame prevents the latch from disengaging when the door flexes.

[KHBama]

I had this happen to me when we 1st got our 5er. Take a look at how the locks are mounted, mine were mounted so that any vibration would cause them to open. Reset them so that the bar on the backside of the lock has to move up, not down. Hasn't happened again since I did this.

[hammer045]

I am glad that it fixed your problem. We had not experienced a problem on our Cougar X-Lite until we hit the open plains and high cross winds. I flipped the direction of the latches and tried tightening them up. When that did not work I duct taped the door with a little duct tape, then with duct tape on all three sides. It still opened up and I could see grooves forming in the frame where the latches slid horizontally away from the frame. The latch is not turning, it is sliding away from the frame. The aluminum flat bar makes a wider frame and prevents the latch from disengaging.

[cynjon]

I had a ton of issues with my propane door as well. I did all the latch reorientation and adjustment as well, to no avail. What I found was that the door basically consists of a u-shaped channel around the outside, with a thin veneer of fiberglass skin held into the channel with a square rubber gasket. The vibration of the fiberglass skin would cause the gasket to work its way out of the channel, and it only got worse from there. I had to use the duct tape method pretty much every time I took the trailer out on the highway. I even had Keystone send me a replacement door under warranty because eventually the rubber gasket fell out. The replacement had the exact same issues.

My solution was to add some lightweight aluminum angle to the inside, glued to the fiberglass skin with some construction adhesive and then pop-riveted into place. As the propane storage is open to the bottom of the trailer for venting, I thought the buffeting might also be due to differential air pressure at highway speed, so I cut some round holes in the skin and put a vent cover over it.

My solution worked great for me...the door has not come open again, even with a trip to Yellowstone this fall, and where before I could see the skin of the door fluttering in the rearview mirror, it is now perfectly still. Just my $.02

Here's some pics:

http://i66.tinypic.com/nvqr6s.jpg

http://i68.tinypic.com/oqakjr.jpg

[mtofell]

I've had this happen on several RVs and have been able to bend things to make a tighter fit. Usually, the fixed part of the compartment frame can be bent a bit to result in a more firm mating of the rotating part of the latch.

[tmason]

Very nice job!