bs lever lock pics

[quicklocks]

[Varjeal]

I haven't seen the inside of too many lever locks, but I've seen enough to realize those are the nastiest false notches I've EVER seen. Man, that would really mess a person up.

[Safekey]

Chubb detainers above.

Chubb levers below.

[quicklocks]

[Safekey]

They are a bit on the large side

[Keyring]

Here's a UK 'Homebase' BS lever. Sorry about the crappy focus.
I only had a couple of minutes available.
What makes me wonder is that ALL the false notches in this lock
are on the wrong side of the real notch to do any good.
I suppose it depends on the height of the particular notches that
the key is set up for.

[quicklocks]

[toomush2drink]

Heres a few more to get your eyes around. First up is a union bs 5 lever look closely at the stump and you can see it has a notch as well as the levers. This isnt really an expensive lock either !!



This is a securefast mortice with the key in and half turned



enjoy

[Jlo]

Hi,

I was interested to see the pictures of the chubb detainer lock. I know these differ from normal lever locks and are used on 'comercial' properties and offer many more key differs.

Can anyone explain why its more secure than a normal 5 lever bs lock as the detainers still seem to have a slot for the stump to go in to and its difficult to see but I am guessing there are shallow notches on the detaners as well. But then so have the levers on a lever lock so what is the difference?

Looking foward to the replies.

Kind Regards

Jlo

[Safekey]

I will post a picture of a 3G110 detainer lock when Im next in shop.

Four examples for information:

3G110 (BS3621) = 5 Detainers and approx 25,000 differs Standard case size 73mm

3G114 (BS3621) = 5 Levers and apprx. 1000 differs, Case sizes 67mm & 80mm (The Staddon roller pick will work on this lock & 3G115)

3G135 = 5 Detainers and approx. 75,000 differs. Special key profile only available from Chubb. (Does NOT have British Standard !)

3K277 (BS3621) = 7 Levers with approx. 6000 differs, 20mm throw bolt.

Detainers offer more depth cuts, which in turn offer more key differs.
Key length and guage are also different for lever compared to detainer.
Detainers does not mean higher security, as the BS shows above.

Detainer locks are more common in commercial and lever to residential. Microswitches can be found in either for connection to alarm systems.

[toomush2drink]

Is there anyway of telling if there is a microswitch present or is it just a case of asking the customer if it activates the alarm ? I can just imagine the grief one of these could get you into when drilling.

[Safekey]

Generally the customer would know if the key/lock operated some kind of alarm trigger. A lot of hospital store rooms & nursing homes have them, especially where drugs or valuables may be kept. A simple alarm system can be used and the microswitch connected to the on/off. This saves time when the nurse/doctor needs urgent med stuff, but cannot afford to spend time switching off the alarm then back on again when leaving.

Dont know of any means to identify if a mortice lock has a microswitch installed. You could probably use one of those 'Wall Wire Locaters' Used to test for current before drilling into a wall. However, I dont know if these devices could detect that small of a current, especially within a lock case.

[toomush2drink]

I suppose we could do with one of those really thin probes with a camera in like the special forces use for surveillance.

[Romstar]

I suppose we could do with one of those really thin probes with a camera in like the special forces use for surveillance.

Funny you mention that. I was thinking the exact same thing.

[xlr8ed1]

those are some nice pics

for those not in the know the difference between the chubb and the ERA locks has to do with the stump. The chubb uses only a brass stump which can easily be forced across (brass being very soft.) The era uses a solid steel stump (just look at the pics) which makes it hard to force open - this was its main selling point.

You will also notice some of the levers have half mooned shaped machined off them. The reason for this is so that high cuts dont pick up the lever next them. Indeed if you ever cut a mortice key the high cuts are slways alittle thinner then deep cuts in order to allow the levers to fall into the deep cuts of the key. Some locks avoid this by putting little spacers inbetween the levers (like the ERA)

the problem with era locks (apart from being english made) is that the spring tension on the levers is very weak and can be easily picked with a modified key blank that will decode the lock (only five cuts) which if you have space and depth keys then a key can be made.