Coachella

Our locking system on Coachella has been sounding weird for the past several month. Usually when we lock the coach via the keypad we hear a very definite thump! Every so often, more when cold, we hear a very weak tink when we lock the door. The other morning, after deciding to sleep in the coach, the door would not unlock (manually) from the inside. I applied a bit of brut force and the door unlocked but then the electronic portion didn’t work again.

I tracked down the lock manufacturer (Bauer) and they stated that lock (the BP-12RV) is a manual lock and any electronic activation must have been made by a third party. I contacted Jayco, our coach manufacturer, and they stated the door was delivered to Jayco with the lock and electronics installed by Dexter. I reached out to Dexter and they have not responded yet, but I’m not holding my breath. It’s an old coach and it appears Dexter still makes RV doors but they don’t do electronic mods like this, at least I don’t think.

Above is the original lock installed by Dexter. Keypad looks like one used on 25 year old Ford products. The lock is the Bauer BP-12RV which is still manufactured today. Very sturdy cast lock.

The two photos above show the actuator designed by Dexter and it’s mounting bracket. A small wire actuator arm connects to the actuator and to the Bauer lock. I’m unsure exactly where the actuator arm connects on the Bauer lock, so I’m waiting for Dexter to perhaps provide me assembly instructions.

Waiting for Dexter to respond, we purchased the Bauer EM Bluetooth lock which is designed to exactly fit into the same opening and mountings as the BP-12RV. We ordered the lock from RVUpgrades.com and received the lock in 3 business days (I recommend these guys, quick delivery and better price than from the manufacturer!). This was a 5 minute installation and highly recommend this lock. It’s one drawback is the lock uses 4-AA batteries which is unlike the Dexter design that used 12V coach power provided by two contacts on the door frame (really bad design, having 12V live all the time on the door frame). So, we’ll keep an eye on the battery levels on these AA batteries so we don’t get locked out (it has manual keys too). The Bluetooth feature is really nice. If you have your phone on, the app installed and Bluetooth running on your phone, the door will automatically unlike as you approach the door. Nice when you have your hands full of dogs!