Re: door locker catches sticking

by Wanda Sun Apr 15, 2018 11:22 pm

We also have 2009 Broadway and had problems with our catches after this winter. I got replacements 'Silver inner catch only' via Autosleeper website. Their online parts enquiry service was excellent. I attached a photo with my query and got a quote the next day. Cost £1 each plus £4 postage and we replaced all 17. Hope this helps.

by Dare-devil-dennis Mon Apr 16, 2018 9:27 am

Some of mine were the same from new. I found it was the fit of the actuator button as it goes through the hole in the door. If they are fitted slightly out of line, the button drags on the hole. I re-aligned them by loosening the screws and followed it up with a quick blast of silicone spray, removing the excess with a cloth. Problem free since.

Does anyone remember the film "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"? the father used Windex for everything - very funny. I'm a bit like him with silicone maintenance spray. It doesn't react with stuff in your van except glass, where it will make it shed water. (It could make your windscreen smeary in the rain). I recommend it for all sorts of things. It has no solvents to damage anything.

https://www.toolstation.com/shop/p21983

Thetford sell the same stuff in their own brand for toilet maintenance, but at 3x the price. £2.79 from Toolstation.

My dealer recommended using it on all the windows rubber seals. It prevents them from sticking together after long periods of being clamped shut (especially the wind up roof lights).

by Cymro Mon Sep 09, 2019 5:40 pm

The catch on one of my lockers - as shown in Chrisk's photo above - has been sticking for some time. The button wouldn't spring back out. A clout or dropping of the door would usually sort it, but I needed to fix it. I'd tried lubricating - to no avail.

So I unscrewed the retaining 2 screws and removed the catch. I noticed that immediately beneath the chrome button were 2 copper washers. They were not aligned centrally on the stalk. "Should they be?" I wondered.

So I removed the catch on the adjacent cupboard, which had never given any problem. Sure enough, its 2 washers were aligned. So using a pliers I gently aligned the washers on catch 1, and put it back. Bingo. No problem.

Chuffed with my prowess, I put back catch 2. Hopeless. Button stuck in every time. So it wasn't the washers. Eventually I sorted it: the catch must be perfectly aligned such that the button and plunger are dead centre of the hole through the cupboard lid. I found that the left retaining screw (a flat-head self-tapper, shorter than the right-hand screw) had chewed the wood into which it had been screwed. It wouldn't align the catch properly. However, the right-hand screw - which is longer and is in fact a bolt-type screw (like those holding the cover of an electrical socket) - screws into the underside of the metal handle of the catch. It's therefore possible to really tighten that. And by doing so, the button was properly aligned, and unlikely to move - although I'd be happier if the left-hand screw into the wood was also doing its job.

But so far, so good.

I shall use some Milliput putty [thanks to Gromit on this Forum] to lock the underside of the catch in its properly aligned position so that it won't move.

Cymro