Scamp Door - Fiberglass RV
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Old 05-20-2003, 06:50 AM   #1
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Scamp Door

This past weekend I went solo camping, just Molly and me,,,, Molly is my dog Boston Terrier. We went to a dog show and decided to stay the two nights in a campground/mobile home park. Saturday afternoon, after the show we came back to the camper to relax and perhaps for me to go for a swim. I unlocked the camper door, attempted to take the key out of the lock. While doing so I turned the key, had it in my hand and shut the door with us inside. Molly let me know that she had to go out and I found that we were locked in. Not a person to be found on the RV section of the campground as most of the campers had been deserted for the summer while the owners went to their northern friends and relatives. I shouted out the window to no avail. I did have a cell phone, I called the sheriff and he came to let me out... I think that this is a real danger. Has this happened to anyone else? Julie



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Old 05-20-2003, 08:06 AM   #2
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escape window

most late model RV's require a quick-opening window (over the bed in my Casita)- that can be opened quickly in the event of fire or such. Bet your Scamp has a couple quick release handles on the bottom of one of the rear windows.



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Old 05-20-2003, 11:51 AM   #3
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Most Scamp 13s have an emergency exit in the roof vent, I think. Just pop the roof open and climb out. Pretty handy if your Scamp happens to by lying on its side, but not too easy otherwise. Especially since the roof may or may not support your weight.

I'm befuddled though about how it could have locked you in. As I look at my door lock it doesn't seem possible. I'll have to play around with it some more and see if I can duplicate the problem.



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Old 05-20-2003, 07:25 PM   #4
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Scamp Door

Thanks for the posts! I guess I never thought about tearing the camper up to get out of it. I also never thought about how I would get home with a camper in need of repair. No one is getting the point, this is dangerous, and something to be concerned about! I have air conditioning on my roof and I am not a youngster, I doubt that I could lift the roof. The back window is another option, one I had not heard about before.... I have carpeting covering the entire inside of the Scamp. I guess I missed the lever to remove the window. If you want to duplicate this "trick" just turn the key as you remove it from the lock, get inside in a hurry, like one would do to prevent a dog from dashing out... Then try to move the lever with whatever you have available inside. Just be sure a phone is available ... I was able to open the windows far enough to shout out and to hand the key over to the good sheriff.



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Old 05-20-2003, 08:12 PM   #5
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Julie,
You got my curiosity up and I tried in on my 81' Burro. It has a Bargman lock.
Locked the lock from outside and sure enough the inside handle wouldn't open the lock ( I did not jump inside) BUT if I moved the inside locking lever then the handle worked to open the lock even though the outside was still in lock position. If you don't
have one of those inside lock levers maybe you should look into replacing the lock.
The only other problem I heard of like this was when Charles, the winter camper, had his door frozen shut. A hair dryer was the answer for that.



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Old 05-21-2003, 06:17 AM   #6
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Locked In!

My Scamp's previous owner had the exact same thing happen. Fortunately, he had a tool kit and was able to remove the inside lock/door handle and was able to make his escape. It appeared to be caused by a worn lock cylinder. When the door was shut, hard, the cylinder turned in the outside door handle to the lock position. Replace the cylinder! If you think about it, if it can be locked by slamming the door...it might be able to be unlocked with a screwdriver. How secure is that????

I must agree...the design is horrible.:bh There should be some sort of override mechanism to allow the handle from the inside to open a locked door, similar to some doorknobs found in homes.



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Old 05-21-2003, 07:31 AM   #7
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Locked in

I know it must have been pretty scarey for you. Glad it turned out okay.

I went out to my trailer and made every attempt to lock myself inside and I couldn't do it. No matter how I locked it then shut it, I could open it from the inside. What I did discover, is that it would be very easy to lock myself out. Not nearly as scarey, but very frustrating.

I'm having a couple of extra keys made. I suggest you change your door handle and lock to one that will open from the inside regardless of whether it is locked from the inside or the outside.



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Old 05-21-2003, 07:34 PM   #8
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Scamp Door

My Scamp is in storage right now... I am thinking about calling the company and asking about a safer lock/opener combination... If I had not had air-conditioning I would have been dead in the 90 minutes it took to get me out of the rig. Without the phone my fate would have been definite. It was 95 degrees that early afternoon.... It was a tramatic experience...



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Old 05-21-2003, 10:14 PM   #9
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Our Scamp had the same problem. I added a regular home style dead-bolt lock above the original door lock, keyed the same as our home lock. Then I threw away the key for the original Scamp door lock and just use it as a latch. The dead bolt has an inside handle so a person can always get out.



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Old 05-22-2003, 05:29 AM   #10
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Deadbolt

Loren, do you have pictures?? I'd like to see anything that would show how putting a deadbolt on a Scamp door was accomplished. How did you build up the area for the deadbolt to fit?? What did the throw go into that made it secure?? So many questions!:wave



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Old 05-22-2003, 06:40 AM   #11
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Julie:wave

We heard about this at a Scamp Camp two years ago. The man said he and his wife went into the Scamp closed the door. When they wanted to exit the trailer they couldn't. With a key tyed around his wrist he was able to get his arm out the door window and on lock the door. I think the lock went after that.



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Old 05-23-2003, 07:02 AM   #12
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Oh, my, Julie. :omy what if you hadn't had a phone?

and how can throwing away the key keep the door from slamming locked? I'll have to check out my lock. I don't like the thought of this at all.:sad



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