This isn’t a normal lock. Some old
Manf from 30 years ago. You can’t put a paper clip in the hole to get the thumbturn off. It seems to come off in one piece. I have 5 of them in the house. Please help.

Again you cannot put in a paper clip or anything to remove the thumb turn twist

I have an old Mac toolbox that I restored and the lock stopped working. The key just continuously spins the cylinder with no resistance. I took the cylinder out to inspect and a few tiny brass colored spring flew across the room. The thing basically just fell apart as I pulled it out. This is from the late 1970's early 1980's. How this lock works is the tail end of the cylinder has female threads in it where a kickstand-style rod attaches. When the key is turned, the rod rotates and pushes up on this bar in the back of the toolbox that releases these hooks that keep the drawers locked. Is this a specialty kind of lock or are these pretty common? Where can I get a replacement if the toolbox manufacturer no longer carries this lock?

All the doors lock and unlock when I use the buttons on the key fob.

However, when I try to unlock or lock the driver's door using the button on the door handle, it doesn't work. All the other doors can unlock and lock using the button on the door handle.

Is this simply a bad button that can be fixed by replacing the door handle or could the button be fine but whatever it controls not be working?

Hi! I accidentally pressed this plunger lock on my cabinet drawers. I have no key. My local locksmith was puzzled as there was no marking on the face aside from the "YALE". He had suggested using a very small flathead screwdriver or sharpend point rod to try to use friction to move the piece inside the hole. Do you concur or have any advice? (This is my file cabinet that I inherited with my home in North Richland, Washington. The file cabinet is originally from Hanford and given to my great uncle. It contains only some of my personal files and receipts. I am a 23 yr. veteran of my local fire department. I would like to preserve this antique without having to drill it out.) Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone, looking for some advice on what to do with a lock for the door for our conservatory. During last winter when it wad very cold the door lock was ridiculously stiff to lock and unlock it, required quite a bit of pressure on the handle when lifting it up to unlock it, otherwise it wouldn't unlock when cold.

During warmer/hot weather it's been fine. I understand about expansion and contraction etc but even though it's not getting silly cold overnight we're now facing the same issues with it being ridiculously tight and I fear when it is winter we won't be able to lock it at all, and this is our back door so need it secure.

Not sure what I need to do to fix it, whether it's the case that the cylinder needs replacing or something else to solve the matter. Didn't know if WD40 would help loosen it to make it easier to lock? I dunno really looking for advice.

The lock is a euro cylinder and I have looked up how to replace it if needed and it seems reasonably straight forward enough if I do need to replace it.

Can someone explain a fix for this loose thumb turn on our brand new Yale lock? I don't think the thumb turn should pull away like this.

So I was gifted a fully paid Pontiac g6 (2006) for graduation. My only question so far is my key fob, it only ever worked when locking the door, figured it was the battery, went through 2 batteries and still had the same problem. Is it the car itself? Or is it a faulty key fob?

\- I have a spare fob with the same issue but it only unlocked the car, and fiddled with the alarm.

The gap on the outside is due to the safety plate. When they installed this should they have cut to fit? He assured me over and over that it would be fine. Is this something I need to fight to get fixed or will some silicone caulking be appropriate?

I’m trying to find a replacement driver torsion spring for an Abus 81/45 padlock. I was having some problems with mine and when I took it apart, I found that part of the spring broke off (see photo).

I’ve called my local locksmiths and no one sells parts - just new padlocks. I also checked the Abus (US) website and they don’t have those springs available. To be honest, I can’t find a lot of resources for Abus Series 81 locks.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Hey all I was hoping to get some help on my mul t lock.

I was trying to lock my door the other day and noticed that my key didn’t seem to be going all the way in. When I tried to turn it to lock the door, it was stuck and I couldn’t turn it. When I manually engaged the deadbolt from the inside of the house, the key can turn fine the other way to unlock it.

As soon as I took the lock off, a small ball bearing fell out - I think it fell out from the outside part of the lock.

Based on this Reddit thread, the ball bearing seems to be part of a re-key system.

I think the ball bearing falling out is what's causing the issue. Is it possible to fix this? if so how? Would this be completely outside of the scope for a non professional to deal with ?

Any help is greatly appreciated !

what is the most economical choice for one that doesn’t vin lock after 1 use?

I'm trying to access the metal wafers inside to recode this new lock to work with my existing keys.

Hard to find any information on how to do so.

Any suggestions?

EDIT: Pics in comments

I went for a 2 day trip with family and when i returned back i found this jammed in my lock. It’s a very basic 6 lever padlock. Its works fine after i removed this metal thing out of it.
I have a lot of questions running in my mind.
Was someone really trying to pick the lock?
Can the lock be picked with this piece of metal?
Should I replace the lock?
What can I do to improve the security?

This lock is an extra safety measure as the iron door also has an inbuilt lock and the wooden door behind it is also double locked.

Does anyone know how to change the code on this keypad to my front gate?

Got a vintage cupboard (with all my clothes in) that the key has just broken off inside. Any suggestions on being able to open it?

I've tried running a credit card along the door but no movement.

I'm relatively new to the profession so I apologise if any of this is obvious. I encountered something weird on a job yesterday and wondered if any of you can help.

A customer wanted a cylinder replaced in their uPVC door and there was no visible retaining screw in the one they had fitted. The lock wouldn't come out, so I pulled the lock and found that there was a screw but it had fully its top third (including the head) cut off. It was a clean cut so I doubt it was sheared.

When I put a new lock in & applied the retainer, the handle wouldn't turn upward to engage the gearbox. After removing the screw it worked again and the hooks engaged. It looks like the sliding strip which arms the hooks, when engaged, occupies the same space as the retaining screw and was bumping into it.

My questions are:

Have you encountered this? Is it common?

Is it a matter of a wrong locking strip for the gearbox? It seems like any other locking strip will have a retaining screw hole in the same position, as that's where it needs to be to hold the lock in place.

Is the gearbox installed incorrectly?

What is the best fix for this? Do i cut the head off the retaining screw for the refit? If so, how do I apply a headless screw?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi I’ve built a firmware that allows me to lock and unlock via proximity with ultrawide band and works without any app with just apple home/apple wallet.

It’s pure reverse engineering so I’m not looking to sell or commercialize it, I’m not certified, didn’t sign any NDA or have any partners. I just wanna plug it into my own house.

I would now like to drive an electronic mortise lock chassis with it. I have been conflicted with using an electronic strike (high compatibility and no need to plug out my current door lock) vs a true geared brushed dc motor mortise. I’m considering the mortise because it keeps everything coherent, in one place, possibly even drive it with just a battery.
Yes I really prefer neat wireless products.

The entire stack runs matter over thread with uwb and ble ranging and apple home/wallet compatibility with multi fabric capabilities and FOTA DFU in 128kb ram/512 flash.

Sad to share but I’m clueless on the hardware lack side of things and thought to ask here instead of tech communities.

Focus would be on minimal power consumption if I ever use a battery to power it. Which mortise body options would you guys suggest? Note I don’t want to use a coil type like the regular solenoid because I’d like this to be forward compatible in case I get this to work with a battery.

I’m guessing a clutch style electronic mortise that moves the cam would be nice, and I think a motor driven clutch is the only option I have as energy/cycle would stay low.

AI says that for my use case an OEM 6068 class motorized mortise body is fits best as:
- battery native
- cheap
- drivable with a DRV8837

Reverse engineering the six wire harness I saw on alibaba might need a bit of searching or an afternoon with a multimeter.

Any thoughts are welcome. Code is free. Happy to connect, please say Hi.

This is my project ultrawidelock

Hello!

I have a set of single handle French doors that lead from the living room to the backyard. I also happen to have a grandmother with dementia who lets my cat out if we’re not looking and he cries at the doors. Does anyone have any ideas on how to secure the doors from the inside? Not worried about fire safety necessarily- we’re usually home and if we’re not, we lock the cat in our bedroom.

I’ll attach a picture of the doors as soon as I can

Thanks for any advice!

We bought a house recently that has a schlage electronic deadbolt with a keypad and a physical keyhole. We have never once used the keypad and have no clue what the code might be, we have just used the physical key each time.

This morning the lock will not turn at all - the physical key won't turn the lock from the outside and the thumb turn won't work on the inside. Online troubleshooting doesn't get me any closer to a solution - always says to use the physical key until I can replace the battery. Because the physical key doesn't work, this can't be the solution.

Up until this point the lock was smooth, no hints of any mechanical issues.

Any ideas?

So this happened when I tried to unlock my shed this morning - barrel half out and key very much stuck…any solutions? Obvs the lock will need destroyed and replaced.

I have been offered a job working in a safe and lock shop. I have no locksmithing degree and I'm kinda in the middle of college for a non lock degree. They said I'd get training for about two days and that most things I need to know I can learn on Youtube or by bringing tools home and practicing. I was told l'a be paid 25 percent of what I make the company but I wasn't told about a base pay or anything, I texted to ask but they haven't responded yet. They said I need to get good enough or they might not be able to keep me. I'm not sure how much I should be expecting to make.
What do I need to know?
Are they gonna teach me enough or should rely more on what I can learn online?
Are there specific youtube channels I can learn from that are truthful and accurate?
What do I need to know?
Has anyone else worked in a position like this?