Pos-A-Lok cable broke on entry door

[Wayne R]

Well after almost 4 years of fultimming the cable to the Pos-A-Lok mechanism broke. I took the mechanism out of the top of the door and tied the locking paw in the released position with a nylon tie strap. This allowed the door to close until I could get a new cable from PTL. It has been a month now and we like it without the locking feature. The door still has the arm that prevents it from opening too far.
I plan on ordering the cable but I haven't seen any negatives yet

[Wayne R]

Well after almost 4 years of fultimming the cable to the Pos-A-Lok mechanism broke. I took the mechanism out of the top of the door and tied the locking paw in the released position with a nylon tie strap. This allowed the door to close until I could get a new cable from PTL. It has been a month now and we like it without the locking feature. The door still has the arm that prevents it from opening too far.
I plan on ordering the cable but I haven't seen any negatives yet

[hrhuggie]

Wayne,
sounds like you like it the way you have it, but if you lived in the desert like we do, when the wind comes up and blows your door shut on you... you might like the locking feature

[Old Rv'er]

Hello,
I don't have a clue what is being discussed. I am assuming the entry door?
I have adjusted the lock assembly so the remote feature actually locked the door (dealer could not seem to get it) and tried to program the keypad- doing something wrong there - but Pos a loc, has me stumped. Please describe in more detail for us uninformed folks please.

[Wayne R]

Pos-A-Lok is a feature PTL puts on the entry door to hold it in the open position. To close the door there is a black handle on the inside of the door that unlocks the Pos-A-Lok mechanism. The intent is to prevent the wind from blowing the door shut. We find it to be more annoying than helpful. At least when parked for the summer in the Ozarks where the prevailing wind actually keeps mine open.

[Old Rv'er]

Then mine is broken, or not installed. What should I look for, because my door is constantly closing in any kind of wind, and it's a pain? If I open the door and intend it to stay open, I don't want the wind to close it. Another thing if installed the dealer must have known about and not repaired, however, I noticed Country coach motorhomes did not have a positive locking "open" on them either, so maybe it's something intentionally left off.

[Ted III]

Monty, I doubt if the pos a loc was left off. If you remove the black handle assy you will see very quickly how it works. More than likely the cable needs to be adjusted. I think thier webpage would help www.ptlengineering.com
but unfortunately it is down for improvements.

[Jim A]

I would suggest before you take anything apart you get a ladder and look at the top of the entry door when it is opened. Where the arm attaches to the door you should see a cam. On mine that cam was stuck and would not rotate to lock the door in the 90? position. A little WD-40 and it worked as good as new, and there has never been a re-occurance of the problem.

If it will not lock open, it is probably not the cable. If it will not unlock with the handle, THEN it is a cable problem. The cable is the release mechanism, not the locking mechanism.

[Old Rv'er]

I will check it this week. Thank you for the information, sent the link to my other office, to check with them via phone tomorrow. Someone can maybe e-mail me some kind of manual.

[Old Rv'er]

Called PTL this am. Some doors have a clip at the top of the angled bar, this clip was of poor quality in some cases and would break. I don't know if mine has the clip or the pos a lock. I will check Wednesday, and if no POL, then the young lady I talked to said to call her back, she indicated a new arm was in order, with a heaver clip on it. Something in the way is manfactured, requires the clip while the arm is being put together.

[Algoma]

You learn something everyday, especially from this forum. I had seen the "pos-a-lok" sign on my entry door but had no idea what it was. Just went up the ladder to check the the top of the door and there was the cam stuck open. A little oil and a tap with a hammer and it is working! My driveway is not quite level and the door was always closing on me, but no longer! Thanks Jim for the info.

[Jim A]

You will get my bill in the mail.

[quikduk]

When we bought our coach, the arm was missing and the mechanism had been broken and left in the door. I too saw the decal but had no number to call.

I stumbled across a used Gulfstream in a local showroom and asked if they minded if I looked at the assembly. I wrote the number, took a few digital pics and found that I needed a whole new assembly. It was around $130 shipped to me.

When I went to install it, I found that Gulfstream "cheesed" the installation and I had to modify the door a bit to get it to work, as well as re-thread the holes in the door.

So far, it works great...but we do not leave the door open in very strong gusts as the company suggested that is what broke it. FWIW, I would think a hydraulic strut would work better but I don't have the clearance for one above the door.

[Lindenberg]

You can add me to the list of people wondering what a Pos-A-Loc is.

I looked at my door this past weekend and found the cam was resting on top of the arm so it never engaged and the cable was broken where it connects to the cam. I was able to add a new stopper to the remaining cable, make some adjustments and now my door functions as it should.

Did PTL Engineering supply all the door locking mechanisms to WRV? While making my repairs I discovered the black plastic molding behind the inside door handle is cracked and missing a small section. Does anyone know where these can be purchased from?