Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Info & Discussion Forum

The top slide on my pantry has a latching mechanism that no longer latches. I have sprayed some lube on the slide with no change. I could easily install an external latch, but would rather not. I am now using a bungee cord and occasionally forget to fasten that. The same would be true with an external latch if it does not latch automatically. The best solution would be to replace the slide if I can find one. Anyone know where to get a replacement or an alternative solution?

Hey Tom,

I have fixed our pantry slide lock with a child safety catch lock similar to these:

https://www.amazon.com/Dreambaby-Secure ... 998&sr=8-7

I usually find a box of them at Home Depot, Lowes, or Walmart. You might need to mount a small block of wood up above the slider to create a mounting point for the latch. I have found you can sometimes position the latch so it grabs the metal on the top of the slider or even just the wood. You can also use the included plastic for the catch. I make sure to warn folks about the catch - that you need to push up with your thumb as you slide out the pantry. If you just yank on the pantry you might break the catch. The good news is they come in boxes of 10 or so for under $10 - I always travel with a spare few. Here is an image (sorry it ins't great) of our safety catch. Hope this helps.

Thanks Kevin. That's a simple solution, but my pantry differs from yours. Mine does not have a door. It might still work though.

Ah!

I see, very different. Well what about some Cabinet Door Latch/RV Drawer Latches? My 2001 has these and I think the work pretty well:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T4 ... UTF8&psc=1

In fact, I like them better then the metal ones on my 2003 24RB - so I have replaced several of the metal latches with these. It looks like you might be able to mount one or two of these and they might do the trick. Maybe where the red arrows are?



They have 8 lbs of pull force - they hold pretty good. If it were me, I would then also find a way to mount the child latch I shared or something similar... then if the panty slides open on a hard turn you have a safety to stop the thing from slamming open - I hate when that happens.

Good luck!

I think that 8 pounds of pull may not be enough. Your post reminded me that I have some magnetic catches recommended by member tanksalot. I haven't used any yet. They supposedly have a 60 pound pull. If they have that much pull, it might be a bit excessive. I'll keep you posted. Thanks.

Link: Magnetic catch on Amazon

Yup,

60 pound pull could work... if that doesn't you could also consider finding a nice clean looking latch on the outside. Done right I bet you could make it look pretty nice. I know you will need to pad out the wall side to make some of the latchs flush but a little wood stained the same color might work or even some kind of spacer. Here are a few examples of different styles:

https://www.amazon.com/Alise-MS9001-Sta ... B01GHSTTSM



http://powertecproducts.com/stainless-s ... te-2-pack/



https://www.myknobs.com/delsb3058u15.html

https://www.kipp.com/gb/en/Products/Ope ... -clip.html

https://www.jwwinco.com/en-us/products/ ... less-Steel

Best of luck, let us know how things work out.

I installed one the magnetic catches this morning. Getting the magnet aligned is critical. I doubt that the pull is 60 pounds but hopefully it will be enough. I can always add another if not.

Excellent suggestions.

On the topic of the Pantry Slide. Does anyone know the trick to get the pantry slide out of the cabinet. I need to remove it and I haven't been able to figure it out.

Thanks.

If your pantry is the same as mine, there are three slides, two on the side and one on the bottom. If you extend the pantry all the way out, you will see a plastic tab on the side of the lower rail and on the bottom rail. Moving the tab on both the side and bottom rails will allow you to pull the pantry out.

My pantry got a thorough test today. Eight miles of god awful gravel/dirt one lane washboard and rutted road. The magnet came through with flying colors.

One trick I found that works, is to hold down the locking latch while you close the pantry. For some reason one of my pantries will positively lock when I do that but will not if I just slide it closed. The other works the way it was designed.

I tried your trick but no luck. This prompted a more thorough investigation. I found that there is a tab on the stationary part of the slide that got bent in. Prying it out did the trick.

Well, my latch failed again so I reinstalled the magnet. Bent the aforementioned tab every-which way to no avail.

There is a magnet? What is it supposed to do?

When the latch first failed I installed a magnetic catch. I then got the latch to work by bending a tab on the slide and then removed the magnetic catch. When the latch failed again I reinstalled the magnetic catch.