Jammed storage door latch...Yikes...

[thirdktm]

Went to open an outside storage door, first unlocking the latch that takes a key. Then I tried to open the latch that rotates 90 degrees clockwise (I think). And it was jammed, inside the storage compartment.
I can't figure out what to do. Do I put a wrench on the outside lever and just break it off, hoping then that the latch can be diassembled?
I think the jammed latch is like such latches on every RV in America.
It's a 2017 Melbourne on the MB Sprinter chassis.
Thank you in advance for suggestions.

 

[GTS225]

Try parking it in a different spot. Maybe the chassis twist is such that it's causing the latch to hang up.
Barring that, I suggest you try drilling, in successively larger sizes, the latch, without damaging the hatch. Latches are relatively cheap compared to finding a new hatch door.

Roger

 

[Flashdman11]

"Jammed" depends on how bad. I would try some pliers and pushing on the door while turning it.

 

[RoadrunnerII-JAY]

Any chance you have something that shifted inside the compartment and is sitting against the hatch inside?
Just moving the rig and backing up and hitting brakes hard enough to bounce rig might move the binding item. Try forward bounce the rig with brakes.
Try a set of pliers wrap Jaws in duct tape to prevent marring the latch handle


RoadrunnerII

 

[Scott-JAY]

Can you access the same compartment from inside the rig? If so you could probably free the jam it from there.

 

[RogerR]

All of the above may help. In addition look at the frame door fit. Does it look like the door is crooked, binding, one edge tighter that the other sides? Could be the door is binding due to stress. If moving doesn't work a gentle prying on the tight side might help. Watch out, mostly aluminum in these doors and bending is easy to do.

 

[Jagiven]

That sucks, I have one the the thumb screw is tight. Have you tried pressing hard on the cargo door and try turning it.

If that does not work, and something has fallen and jammed the thumb screw, it might be time to go on a drive on the bumpiest roads you can find, and wiggle the stuff away from the thumb screw.

I hate the thought, but if nothing else works, use a large adjustable plier and grab the thumb screw and give it a twist. Lot more leverage than what your fingers can apply.

 

[craigav]

Lots of good suggestions. One thought I have is for you to look at the latches of other compartments and determine from them if you need to turn the latch clockwise or counter-clockwise. On mine, it is clockwise to latch and counter clockwise to unlatch.

I did have many years past one that jammed and the issue was with the latch itself. In my situation and after trying most of what has been suggested here, I used a crescent wrench and was able to turn the latch which broke it. However, I was able to get in the compartment by doing that and then a few days later I replaced the latch. ~CA

 

[thirdktm]

Good news re. jammed latch...

By some miracle, I suppose, this morning the jammed latch turned, allowing the door to the compartment to open. It was not jammed by anything stored inside the compartment. That's what I feared.
To all of you who offered suggestions, thank you thank you thank you.
I have removed the latch and will replace it. It'll be an easy operation.
The problem seems to be a jammed cam inside the lock itself. This is the situation one of the people who replied had once encountered.
The mechanism inside the lock is not visible or accessible. And after spraying a light lubricant into the mechanism, and that not helping, I dripped oil into it. Still no improvement.
But grasping the barrel with a wrench and then turning the handle back and forth many times through its 90-degree rotation with another wrench --and still no improvement. Well, it's beyond repair.
Thus, I'll find a new one at a local RV outlet here in Albuquerque.
Thank you, one and all.

 

[nfisherman]

I had the same problem. I replaced a bad latch and the new one did the same thing after a couple of months. I took the new one apart. There's a ball and spring inside that control the movement. The mechanism had rusted and was causing the latch to stick. I cleaned it and added some grease inside the latch. It works well now.

Here's the latch that I had to grease:

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-44323-...99&sprefix=camco+rv+latch,aps,162&sr=8-4&th=1