Locking water filler cap - how hard can it be??

[Ned Swift]

Afternoon all, hope you're enjoying the rain!!

 

Anyway bought a new water filler cap for Ned A few months ago and it used to lock but I can't get it to work today.

 

It is White in colour, has a hole for the key in the middle and three mouldings into the outside as finger grips.

 

However I turn it or lock it - I can still twist it off!!!

 

What am I doing wrong it's driven me nuts!?

 

Ned Swift (psychiatric ward 10) :-)

[lennyhb]

Sounds like the type we had on our Hobby caravan, used to have to push it inwards very hard to get it to release, just as fingers are about to break it would undo, also seem to remember unlocked position on the lock was anticlockwise.

 

 

 

[J9withdogs]

I remember someone on here advising putting the filler cap in boiling water. It worked for me.

[ROON]

Yep Ned, I think it was me who said it originally..... I had driven up to the local locksmith feeling totally frustrated and he gave me the advice and for some strange reason it worked for me too.

 

I can't believe that with all the people who have this problem the designers havn't come up with something better. The locksmith said I wasn't the first to call him up about it ... and there arn't that many motorhomes in our town from what I see on the roads. *-)

 

PS If you are fiddling about with it, be careful a small spring doesn't leap out and you lose it.

[njw]

had this problem about a fortnight ago was told about the boiling water trick and yes it works a treat ,i was thinking that i would have to buy a new one but some man told me about it at the western motorhome show and saved me a fortune

[Ned Swift]

Wow - yes the boiling water has done it!!

 

What a strange fix, no idea how that works!

 

I am applying to leave the asylum now.

 

Thanks for your help

 

Chuffed Nef :-)

[libby]

I had the same problem, so I put cooking oil on the sealing areas (2) and it works fine.

 

My guess of the problem is that all the plastic parts are new as produced. The boiling water anneals the plastic so reducing the hardness effect allowing it to be more flexible.

 

 

 

[RupertGS]

After rather stupidly leaving my filler cap next to a tap in the old DDR a few weeks ago I ordered two from this firm and can't recommend them too highly:

http://www.leisureshopdirect.com/

I think it was just over £20 for two and I now have a spare should I have another mental lapse!

They arrived the day after I ordered them, superb service.

[Derek Uzzell]

If you are ordering a replacement filler-cap it will be important to identify the correct design, as there are several different types and they aren't necessarily interchangeable.

 

These caps' internals are made from crappy plastic components that stick together given the least opportunity. The boiling-water trick (if you are lucky!) just causes the internal components to free up and the water, once it has penetrated into the guts of the cap, then acts as a lubricant. There's a strong chance that, if you've had problems with a filler-cap and 'cured' it by boiled the cap, the problem will reoccur later.

 

Locking filler-caps that spin when locked really need to spin very freely to provide useful security. If they don't, then a good hard push and twist will open a locked cap.

[little-jack]

There is also a small plastic 'nib' in these horrors that breaks off and eventually makes the cap virtually impossible to remove. Imoh once they start to giv trouble they just get worse - worth a tenner not to end up with one jammed on. (they never seem to jam when off the filler)