Bargman L300 cylinder replacement?!

[thewanderlustking]

Seriously, this was supposed to be an EASY ONE..  But surprise surprise folks our locks Bargman L300 are stupid expensive at $300 plus (if you can find one) and of COURSE are a larger cutout than ever other silly RV door lock on the market. 
 

Overall, mine looks great. Proper vintage. But I can open it with any key that even “sorta” fits in the hole. A flat blade would probably work better than the actual key. Plus for some reason mine doesn’t lock from the inside (or it is smarter than me, likely story…). 
 

If need be, I can rivet two aluminum filler plates to the inside and outside, but I would prefer a simpler/cleaner solution. 
 

Any ideas?  
 

I have found one full replacement, a Bauer Motorhome Entry Door Lock, BP12RV but at $139 I would rather ghetto it slightly I think with the filler plates and get a power remote latch. 
 

I much prefer the vintage look. Replacing just the lock cylinder would be ideal. I took mine apart to measure the cutout, and it doesn’t look too rough inside. In fact I am gonna go back out real quick and see if I can figure out the non-working deadbolt or inside locking issue out.  Maybe I will pull it out completely and fiddle with it on the bench.  
 

EDIT: The L300 cutout is 4 1/2” tall by 4 3/4” wide. The standard opening is something like 3 3/4” tall by 2 3/4” wide.  So far most of the outside dimensions I am finding on normal replacement locks are just slightly smaller than the Bargman cutout….

Edited September 5, 2022 by thewanderlustking

[thewanderlustking]

Okay not sure if this is how the lock is “supposed” to work….  But I was pulling the key out in the horizontal position. I can actually pull it out basically in any position, but let’s leave that alone for a moment now lol. 
 

If I pull it out in the vertical position after it is locked, I can push and pull the deadbolt pin inside. 
 

But this bothered me that the key, or a screwdriver, could disable the ability to unlock it from inside. So I pulled everything apart and poked at it more. And discovered that the deadbolt pin can be unscrewed from the locked position. Mine was actually frozen and it was while trying to get it all apart that I unstuck it. 
 

Next issue, super bad lock cylinder…  After completely disassembling the lock I figured out to pull the cylinder out I only need to remove a clip, a spring, and the rotation pin.   I think I could even have left the clip and spring in, and just pulled the pin. 
 

I think I found a replacement lock cylinder. It was only $9 and is on the way. If it fits, I will post up the info of what it is for.  It isn’t a “Bargman” cylinder and it’s for some completely different application altogether. 
 

Here is what the Bargman one looks like. 
 

 

[thewanderlustking]

I tried to modify a Thule lock (since I have a handful sitting around) but the drill bit walked. The hopeful lock arrives tomorrow. I don’t think it as good of a lock, but we shall see….   I may try again with a Thule lock and use my drill press, especially if I don’t like the other lock. 

Edited September 9, 2022 by thewanderlustking

[thewanderlustking]

Alright I ordered a Slide-Co 152179 Patio Lock Cylinder off of Amazon, but it didn't work.  It wouldn't take a lot to get it to work...  It was a tad sloppy in the depth.  A simple spacer could be 3d-printed, turned, or something appropriate found. 

 

But the Thule lock actually fit perfectly and I think is much better quality.  The problem with the Thule cylinder is that it doesn't have the hole for the pin, and is slightly too long on the tail.  The tail was easy enough to cut off, but I failed on drilling the hole for the pin.  I need to just go at it once in a drill press with a SUPER sharp bit and cutting fluid.  The lock case is hardened or something.  I have a couple more Thule cylinders on hand, so I will give it another shot.  Unfortunately my drill press is garbage.  So I might be ordering a new one...    

[thewanderlustking]

Alright success!  So I used the original cylinder housing but used the lock plates and the keys from the Slide-Co 152179 Patio Lock Cylinder.  I had popped off the cover, so I used the Thule sliding plate and spring to repair that.  Took several tried to get that back together, working, and recrimped.  

 

The retaining plate spring got bent on reassembly to the housing, that should be put into place AFTER the cylinder goes back into the latch housing.  The retaining plate looks like it should be able to be installed before putting the cylinder in, compressed and then spring into latched with the cylinder installed.  But it didn't spring in enough...  Hence trying to put it together without the plate.  

 

I sorted out the spring, put the cylinder in, rotated it, then used an angled pick to get the spring fiddled into the hole.  Installing the retention plate and sending it home was also a minor pain.  

 

But now I have a working lock assembly the can't be opened with any key or flat blade screwdriver.  It isn't perfect, the key does need a touch of wiggle, but it actually locks and unlocks now.  

 

Another search, this time for Bauer Motorhome Entry Door Lock, BP12RV, actually found some slightly cheaper options.  I wanted a chrome one to match the L300, but I guess the black one would match the front door handles and not look too bad.  Reading the reviews though and it seems modifications are needed to fit it in L300 replacement.  I might go ahead and order one, but if I have to modify the cutouts I will be sending it back.  If modifications are needed, I might as well change over to a newer style latch assembly and get the remote lock option.

 

For now at least I have solved the problem and can lock and unlock it.  While my neighborhood is safe and quiet, leaving tools and supplies in there essentially unlocked made me a bit uncomfortable at times.