Wheelhouse owners question

Typical aluminum frame fish house door with the flip handle rather than a door knob.

I am experiencing my door latch frosting up to the point where it is unusable. I had to use a hammer claw to pry the catch bolt over to get out. From there I had to use the deadbolt to keep the door shut.

I could try spraying random stuff in there but I thought I would try to pick the brains of the guys that have hopefully found a way to beat this issue.

Maybe I just need to disassemble the mechanism and pack it full of grease?

My uncle had the same problem. After trying several things he has just gone back to the old reliable propane torch. A couple second blast from the torch and the latch opens up. I know it stinks but it works for him. The torch stays in his truck all winter. I’m interested to hear about something better too.

Get some air flow and heat by your door should help. There’s always a lot of heat on the top 15% of the house, so a small fan can move a lot of heat around when hung from the cealing.

A product called “Never wet” may also be effective in this case.

I don’t have a perm, but i’ve learned to always have a torch with regardless…Ya just never know what will happen when your spending a few days on the ice.

If you have a forced air furnace, I use a length of 4 inch furnace ducting and put it by the heat register of the furnace and the other end hanging on the door lock or lower part of door (whatever is froze) and it thaws out within minutes. I also lube the lock mechanism every time I go out with WD 40.

I use a nice penetrating lube and spray the lock and inside every time I go out. It still freezes sometimes. A propane torch is then also my method.

How does everyone else deal with moisture in their house freezing their windows shut? Is it just me, or does everyone else have that issue as well? This last weekend on Red when it was extremely cold, all my windows had so much condensation on them they all froze completely shut. Also my unit has the skylights, which I would never buy again, and they had so much water on them they were dripping down like crazy.

Do we just need to keep a window cracked open at all times to let some moisture out or what?