Community Forums

Diggyrv · 09-23-2018, 07:28 AM

we are looking at purchasing a DP and we already have a list of must haves. I am curious about the power compartment door locks; are they as good as they would seem? Do they continue to work? Any advice on this would be appreciated. And help on which years, makes and models have them.

mrfix · 09-23-2018, 07:35 AM

We have a 2016 american coach and they work well.

bruceisla · 09-23-2018, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diggyrv

we are looking at purchasing a DP and we already have a list of must haves. I am curious about the power compartment door locks; are they as good as they would seem? Do they continue to work? Any advice on this would be appreciated. And help on which years, makes and models have them.

Yes and no .... they are basically the same components that are used in cars. I never minded locking them manually. I have to walk around and check each door when I travel anyway. Locks are worthless to begin with ...

Jake21 · 09-23-2018, 09:15 AM

2002 American Eagle and all my bay doors have power locks. Work great.

FIRE UP · 09-23-2018, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diggyrv

we are looking at purchasing a DP and we already have a list of must haves. I am curious about the power compartment door locks; are they as good as they would seem? Do they continue to work? Any advice on this would be appreciated. And help on which years, makes and models have them.

Diggyrv,
Well, as you can see and read, there's opinions. We've owned four motorhomes in our RVing life and, the one we have now, an '04 Itasca Horizon, 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT, is the only one that has both electric or, central locking and, it also has individual "auto-on" compartment lights. They turn on and off, as you open and close the compartment doors. Both the wife and I never liked individually walking around and locking and unlocking each compartment door. We can push a button, in one of three places to lock and unlock both the compartment doors and, the entry door to the coach. One of those places is of course a key fob.

We've had very little trouble or issues with our system, even being an '04 with factory installed central locking.
Scott

Dutch Star Don · 09-23-2018, 12:19 PM

When we bought our Dutch Star, one of the must haves was power bay door locks. Walking around and checking your doors is one thing, but every time you stop somewhere, walking around and locking the door is a pain, it's also a pain to walk around and unlock them when you're setting up camp. With the power locks, we can easily check that our bays are all locked, every time we leave the coach and lock the front door, as the bay locks lock when the front door locks.

It's also nice to be able to reach inside the front door and hit the unlock button when you need something out of a particular bay. Buying a new coach without power bay locks would be like buying a car with manual door locks.

I'm sure that many who don't have power locks will come along and say it's no big deal, but I guarantee that if someone were to install them for free on their coach, they wouldn't turn it down.

Dav L · 09-23-2018, 12:33 PM

I would have liked power locks. But I still give each door a tug as they will look closed even when not latched.

rgvtexan · 09-23-2018, 03:04 PM

My 04 Horizon are still working the main door and compartments.

RVPhil · 09-23-2018, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diggyrv

we are looking at purchasing a DP and we already have a list of must haves. I am curious about the power compartment door locks; are they as good as they would seem? Do they continue to work? Any advice on this would be appreciated. And help on which years, makes and models have them.

This is a no brainer option. No Keys required to open or lock. Your entire lower bay is locked at one time with the press of a button. I am so thankful I ordered this option. Just imagine walking around your coach and using a key to unlock every door and then lock them one at a time. duh!

RKins · 09-24-2018, 03:19 AM

Ours have the power locks and it saves a lot of time - imagine getting ready for bed and you remember that you didn't lock up the basement - you can get dressed again and go out or just push one button. Your choice.