Locking Habitation Door

I have a Broadway EK 2016 with a Cobra alarm. The cab doors automatically lock when driving along so if you exit using the habitation door then the cab remains locked during your stay, however, I wonder if there is a way to lock the habitation door from the inside of the vehicle? I know that you can set the alarm but deactivate the interior sensor with a push button in the cab but the sequence requires this to be done immediately after the key is removed from the ignition. I don’t want to set the alarm at night, just to discourage anybody from "accidentally” trying to enter via the habitation door whilst we are asleep!

Are you saying that there is no internal handle which is lockable? Surely not.

Correct. There is a brushed chrome recessed handle in the door which you pull down. No lock that I am aware of.

Push the top of the handle and it locks?

At night we lock all the internal doors using the button on the dash provided for this purpose. It sits next to the red hazard warning light button (assuming your alarm is not linked to this) it's pretty straightforward.

I lock using the van key fob when we 'settle' for the evening. If we need to go out after that we can open the hab door using the handle in Ploughlin's photo and the cab doors remain locked. When returning to the van the top of the hab handle is pushed in again. We often have our curtains drawn so this is easier for us than the button on the dash.

We might lock them but most times unlocked, but we have 3 dogs they hear someone a mile away. 

We were at the CCC site at folkestone a few weeks ago, a chap pulled in for the night he never left his MH but fitted wheel clamp and steering wheel clamp just for the night.

Be aware of an anomaly on some vans with the locking handle as shown by Ploughlin. (Possibly others too??) It could cause problems.

Status = Cab doors locked . . . habitation door unlocked.

If you now unlock the cab doors with the fob, the hab door is usually (though strangely not always) locked at the same time. (This also happens if the hab door is wide open, on vans with the electrics connected via a cable at the bottom of the hinged side.)

It was explained to me that the hab door locking and unlocking works as a "flip-flop" mechanism. When the fob button is pressed, it changes from whichever state it is in to the other. Except that I've never noticed the hab door unlock itself unexpectedly!!

Curious, or what!! 

Gromit wrote:Be aware of an anomaly on some vans with the locking handle as shown by Ploughlin. (Possibly others too??) It could cause problems.

Status = Cab doors locked . . . habitation door unlocked.

If you now unlock the cab doors with the fob, the hab door is usually (though strangely not always) locked at the same time. (This also happens if the hab door is wide open, on vans with the electrics connected via a cable at the bottom of the hinged side.)

It was explained to me that the hab door locking and unlocking works as a "flip-flop" mechanism. When the fob button is pressed, it changes from whichever state it is in to the other. Except that I've never noticed the hab door unlock itself unexpectedly!!

Curious, or what!! 

I can't (today) replicate that on mine. If I press the unlock button on the key fob all doors are unlock, irrespective of their current state. If I press the button on the Sigma fob (my cat 1 alarm) the cab doors toggle between locked and unlocked but the hab door only locks.

It's raining a bit too hard to test the door open scenario.

Maybe this is another of those little differences between Fiat & Pug.

Gromit wrote:Be aware of an anomaly on some vans with the locking handle as shown by Ploughlin. (Possibly others too??) It could cause problems.

Status = Cab doors locked . . . habitation door unlocked.

If you now unlock the cab doors with the fob, the hab door is usually (though strangely not always) locked at the same time. (This also happens if the hab door is wide open, on vans with the electrics connected via a cable at the bottom of the hinged side.)

It was explained to me that the hab door locking and unlocking works as a "flip-flop" mechanism. When the fob button is pressed, it changes from whichever state it is in to the other. Except that I've never noticed the hab door unlock itself unexpectedly!!

Curious, or what!! 

That has never happened with me, Dave.

OP - I have the Cobra alarm and if I am parked in a particularly dodgy place I would set the alarm and cancel internal sensors using the complex and time limited process to which you refer.  At other times I lock the van at night while we are asleep using the button next to the hazard flashers on the dash.  That has the effect of locking all doors, cab and habitation and at the same time pulling up the drawbridge (aka step!).  In the morning I unlock all by using the unlock button on the dash, next to the lock button - which also lowers the step.  Even if the cab curtains are closed I don't find it difficult to reach through the join and touch the lock switch.
My Peugeot remote (only 1 was supplied and they csot about £200 for another one) has 3 buttons - Nearest the key flip out button unlocks cab doors, centre one locks all and sets alarm and the third one unlocks the habiatation door and lowers the step (btw Awning light has also been configured to come on when van is locked or unlocked).  The Cobra remote will lock everything (and pop step up) with the large button but the smaller button will only unlock the cab doors. When the Cobra fob is used there is NO CONFIRMATION of operation from the flashing indicators, unlike the Peugeot fob which gives a single flash for lock and a double flash for unlock.
Finally - there is a rocker switch on the driver's door which will lock or unlock the habiatation door and will simultaneously lift or lower the step, as appropriate.  However ot will not lower the step if the engine is running.
I hope that (lengthy) summary helps!

I also have the lock that Plouglin shows, I learned from experience that when I manually unlock the hab door to go out I also use the fob to unlock the cab doors.
One morning when I went out without unlocking the cab doors, I left the hab door open and the wind slammed it shut and it locked itself, so now before exiting the van I make sure all the doors are unlocked.

AndyRoyd wrote:I also have the lock that Plouglin shows, I learned from experience that when I manually unlock the hab door to go out I also use the fob to unlock the cab doors.
One morning when I went out without unlocking the cab doors, I left the hab door open and the wind slammed it shut and it locked itself, so now before exiting the van I make sure all the doors are unlocked.

They are all so different aren't they. Closing the hab door with the cab locked does not lock the hab door on mine. And with reference to inspiredron, my step will remain where I left it and will only retract on its own if I start the engine.

chrisk wrote:  . . .

We were at the CCC site at folkestone a few weeks ago, a chap pulled in for the night he never left his MH but fitted wheel clamp and steering wheel clamp just for the night.

I don't use a wheel clamp but I do have a steering wheel lock and I always fit that on the steering wheel when pitched, simply because it's the most convenient place to store it!  Once the silver screens are fitted it's no longer visible anyway.

I confirm that our Nuevo acts exactly as described by Gromit. (below).

Gromit wrote: Be aware of an anomaly on some vans with the locking handle as shown by Ploughlin. (Possibly others too??) It could cause problems.

Status = Cab doors locked . . . habitation door unlocked.

If you now unlock the cab doors with the fob, the hab door is usually (though strangely not always) locked at the same time. (This also happens if the hab door is wide open, on vans with the electrics connected via a cable at the bottom of the hinged side.)


The same thing happens if you open or lock the cab doors using a key rather than a fob. The fact of the matter is that by now I'm so wary of being locked out that when on a holiday I never leave the van without taking the keys. Gromit says: "(though strangely not always)" and that sums it up: the locking system is not 100% predictable. Although I've stored a spare key externally, I now try to take the keys with me every single time I get out.

dbroada wrote:

AndyRoyd wrote:I also have the lock that Plouglin shows, I learned from experience that when I manually unlock the hab door to go out I also use the fob to unlock the cab doors.
One morning when I went out without unlocking the cab doors, I left the hab door open and the wind slammed it shut and it locked itself, so now before exiting the van I make sure all the doors are unlocked.

They are all so different aren't they. Closing the hab door with the cab locked does not lock the hab door on mine. And with reference to inspiredron, my step will remain where I left it and will only retract on its own if I start the engine.

On my Broadway when I bought it the step would only work via the button next to the door or when I started the engine, after some searching, think it was on this forum, I discovered that if you changed jumper positions (I have a small unit mounted behind the drivers seat that houses the jumpers) the step would retract using the fob to lock the doors and also with the push button on the drivers door.
The only problem I have is that I had an Autowatch alarm system fitted but when I use that to disable the alarm and open the doors it only activates the cab doors not the hab or the step, activating the alarm closes all the doors and retracts the step.

AndyRoyd, I was aware that the step could be reconfigured by that box but so far I am happy with it as it is. In fact, having to cut short one holiday this year because of the step retracting while I was on it (I think my arm brushed the button) the fewer methods to activate it, the better.

dbroada wrote:AndyRoyd, I was aware that the step could be reconfigured by that box but so far I am happy with it as it is. In fact, having to cut short one holiday this year because of the step retracting while I was on it (I think my arm brushed the button) the fewer methods to activate it, the better.  

Oooh that must have have hurt, didn't realise that you where that old and infirm, think it would be a good idea to show our ages on our profiles

Now I’m feeling dumb! Who would have thought that you just push the handle in to lock the door! I guess eventually I would have asked Marquis at the next service, meanwhile we have driven several thousand miles around Europe in three trips without locking the door at night because we didn’t know how to do it. A long initial handover but they can’t cover everything (although it might help if they had a checklist). Arming the alarm then disabling the interior sensor is far to fiddly so the locking is perfect for us.
Thanks to everybody including all the additional information which I will take on board.

BornAgain, as far as the learning experience goes, we've all been there (and it's still going for some of us  ). The great thing for all of us is that we have this forum to get an answer to this type of question to help fill in the gaps in our knowledge base.

We had the van for nearly a year before realising there was a little roller blind in the toilet roof light  

Askit wrote:At night we lock all the internal doors using the button on the dash provided for this purpose. It sits next to the red hazard warning light button (assuming your alarm is not linked to this) it's pretty straightforward.

It is possible to lock yourself out with the cab button lock.  To do so lock with the cab button when the habitation door is open and then go out and close it!
So we only use the cab button when settling down finally.  If you use the fob you set the alarm which on our van goes off normally when you move.  (There is a way of setting the alarm so it does not do this but I have to look it up.)