Do you have one of those groovy RV keyless entry door locks on your rig? Our Genesis Supreme toy hauler came with one, and we weren’t sure we’d like it until we started using it. Then we loved it! But after a while it started having problems and acting up.
The way these keyless entry door locks work is you punch in a secret code on the keypad and then it sings a little jingle. When you are unlocking the door, the notes in the tune ascend to a higher pitch. When you are locking it, the notes descend to a lower pitch. Kinda makes sense for opening and locking the door. Sing up and it opens, sing down and it locks.
One day when we went to unlock the door, the tune wasn’t so friendly — it made a nasty noise with two notes. Right after the nasty tune it made the sound of locking the door…but we were unlocking it!
An RV keyless entry door lock is awesome — until it starts acting up!
For the next few months, every time we locked or unlocked the door we heard the nasty error message tune followed by the opposite sound for what we were doing. Unlocking the door gave the sound of locking the door, and locking it gave the sound of unlocking the door.
Every time we locked and unlocked the rig, we each thought, “We’ve gotta look up these weird sounds in the manual!” But we never did. The door still locked and unlocked, it just made weird noises. We lived with it.
You enter the code and then press the “lock” or “unlock” button. It’s magic!
Finally, the other day, Mark decided enough was enough, and he opened up the battery compartment on the back side of the keyless entry keypad (on the inside of the entry door).
The battery compartment is accessed by removing these two screws.
The problem was immediately obvious: the batteries had leaked battery juice all over the place and they were dying a slow death.
Mark removed the cover and saw dried white fluid from the batteries.
The batteries were covered with yuck.
He cleaned out the little compartment that holds the batteries, put in a new set of four AA batteries, and POOF! The RV keyless entry door lock worked like a charm. No error code tune, and the locking and unlocking sounds matched what we were doing.
So, if you have an RV keyless entry door lock on your rig, and it starts making unexpected sounds when you lock and unlock the door, you might need new batteries. Take the cover off the keypad and check them out. And keep some spare AA batteries on hand!
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Very interesting and makes sense. Yesterday while fueling at Costco we saw a woman who had left her key fob in the car to fuel her car. The car locked!! She was almost hysterical 😭. She was unable to rouse hubby on the phone. Another woman came up to her and said “you’re not the first, and certainly won’t be the last”. I’m glad I have an older vehicle.
How frustrating!! I had that happen to me once a 1990 Eagle Talon. I casually left the keys on the car seat while I got out to look at a squirrel that was injured by the side of the road. I closed the door and watched in horror as the doors promptly locked on their own! Ever since, I’ve been very careful about triple checking where the keys are whenever I close the doors on any vehicle!
I change the batteries out one a year whether they need it or not. Every battery operated device in the trailer gets new batteries yearly. Even the TPMS sensors! Glad you got your problem sorted out.
That’s very smart, Scott!
With all that corrosion in there you were lucky to get it going again! Good thing you guys are an engineering team!
I’m not sure about being an engineering team — more like a Mechanical Wizard and an Onlooker — but we definitely caught it in time! The batteries were less than a year old, sigh.
Never use Duracell. They always leak. Everready never leak
That’s a great tip. Thank you!! We’ve been using rechargeable batteries for a lot of things too but find they don’t hold a charge very long.
We had this same thing happen to our lock. I decided to change the batteries and it was back to working properly again! I love being able to walk James or go somewhere and not need a key.
Aren’t these keyless door locks great?! We love ours too — not having to worry about keys. It seems like a trivial upgrade until you have one, and then it’s so wonderful. Ya just gotta watch those batteries, lol!
Hi Guys!
Hadn’t checked in on your site for a while — been travelling (in the truck camper, of course!).
So funny. I decided to check in today, RIGHT AFTER I had finally gotten around to changing the code on my RV Lock!! What a coincidence??
Looks like yours is the same one I have. In case you may be growing weary of the loud sound they make when using them (I definitely was), there is a very simple way to silence them (at least on mine anyway). Just hold down the “1” button for a few seconds until you hear two beeps. That’s it!
You can easily hear the unit locking or unlocking without those screeching beeps!!
Really enjoying the truck camper so far. The turnbuckles and tie downs are working like a charm!
So nice to go anywhere I’d like with no worries about maneuvering or not fitting. Made it to Florida after about a month’s cruise from AZ. Heading up the east coast starting on Memorial Day.
Enjoy your summer!!
How great to hear from you, Peter. Thanks for dropping us a line! And what a cool coincidence that you just finished changing your RV lock code before landing on this page! We’re so happy to know the turnbuckles and tie-downs are working well for you and that you are having fun in your new camper.
What a trip you’ve been on. Wow!! I’m sure you’ve seen all kinds of interesting places already, and you still have many more miles and adventures to go as you travel north. What a blast! Enjoy the beautiful Atlantic coast and have a great summer.