Wilson Bohannan padlocks-whats the keyway?

[atticRR]

Hey all,
I scored on a couple of Wilson Bohannan padlocks the other day. They're only 4 pin and i cant get em open-yet. I'm sure application of some lube will get em open with less protest, hopefully. Anyway this looks like an interesting keyway and i was wondering which one it is? The warding makes this lock pretty tough to pick, luckily i have a homebrew slimline pick that reaches them nicely...

this is a great American company that has been in business for a long time, for info about these guys check out the linked article (thanks schuyler)
http://www.americanprofile.com/articles/producing-locks-since-lincoln/

and the pictures...

[squelchtone]

Wilson Bohannan has their own keyways, that one is WB A keyway, but if you get blanks from ILCO, or Jet, or whomever, it will be a variation on the WB A theme.. WB1A/B/C for 5 pin, WB2A/B/C for 6 pin, W1071A, 1071A, JET-WB2A/B, etc.

You can download a copy of the ILCO (Independent Lock Company) blank catalog .PDF http://www.zipflockco.com/images/Ilcok.pdf and search for Wilson to see what the keyways look like.

WB are some of my favorite locks, well made, and fun to pick, I just wished they used some spool pins to make them harder to pick since they are used to protect power distribution and other utilities in the USA.

Squelchtone

[cledry]

Also notice the shackle material is brass. They are not designed so much for security as they are for non-sparking properties and weather resistance.

[Evan]

@squelchtone & cledry:

The common keyed alike padlocks used by utility companies are not designed to be high security, just to be a reuseable tamper seal that is more than those little bent wire or plastic seal tags which are used on meter cans because even those "low security" padlocks can not be easily removed by someone with wire cutters looking to do opportunistic tampering...

The padlock shackles are often brass because the lock body is brass and it is common for these padlocks to be used to secure energized switching equipment and transformers... If the shackles were made of a dissimilar metal to the body of the padlock given the usual outdoor environmental application and the potential for stray voltage or ground fault conditions the padlocks could become damaged by accelerated galvanic corrosive action...

~~ Evan

[atticRR]

thanks for4 all your info. these came from a campground owned by PG&E, they were used to secure everything but the highest number of these was being used to secure the toilet paper rolls in the lovely vault toilets. There were two per bathroom and there 7 bathrooms/2 toilets each that i saw. of course i wanted to pick one off just 'cause, however, i did manage to restrain myself. later while walking around i came to an area that had a bathroom under construction and outside, half buried in dirt and pine needles lay my two abandoned WB locks. whats strange is that the normal #of locks was still securing the TP to its holder and there was nothing else nearby to lock. weird but cool.

[Joe Momma]

The blank for that WB looks like a ILCO 1000A to me looking at my reference

[Joe Momma]

Picking a PG&E WB is fun, extreme MACS from pin to pin.
High-Low-High-Low-High and it is 5 pin BTW

[atticRR]

thanks for the bitting info, thats good to know. Both locks give only four clicks when i run my half diamond upsidedown. I know WB does make four pinners, theyre 'series 0'. I'll double check mine again, but im 99%sure thaey have only 4- which really surprised me. Ill let you know what i find out.

Do you know which region the PG&E lock you picked came from? Remember, mine were used to secure camp ground stuff (based on where i found them) rather than power generating paraphernalia.

[atticRR]

its a series 0, 4 pin lock. Absolutely for sure!

[Joe Momma]

its a series 0, 4 pin lock. Absolutely for sure!

You are right I stand corrected it is a for pin indeed, made me go check again
that's what I get for using my memory

but it is High-Low-High-Low though... and since I had it out I checked an ILCO 1000A blank,
fits fine

The 5 pin PG&E I was thinking of is the one for sub-stations etc. and is not the one you have,
the 5 pin is by CCL.

[Joe Momma]

CCL PG&E 5 pin


WB PG&E 4 pin


also found these pics on flea-bay of the WB one you have, they must have 5 pin versions of the WB too??
The key bitting in the pics below makes one think so...

[atticRR]

wow, you werent kidding about the high-low-high-low! thats a trippy key. i still havent opened mine, ill try an extreme bitting pick attempt tonight, wish me luck!

[Joe Momma]

did ya' get it?

[atticRR]

i did! well, i got one. it was (from the outside) low(like i didnt have to move the pin)-high-med-high. I got the other one as well but its so hard to turn the cylinder that my tension wrench almosr entered orbit when it flew out before the shackle opened. i'll post a pic after work tonight. Thanks to everyone for their input.

[atticRR]