Chateau C 970 lock

[josh0094]

Josh, you really got these locks down hu? I have always had trouble with them. I am really impressed. Good job.

thanks man!

[poor paperclip picker]

Its been a while since anyone has said anything here, and I was just wondering if anyone has any pointers, I still haven't gotten this guy open...maybe I should try more, I cant even remeber the last time I tried this bad boy. I got reminded of it when I was locking up my bike and saw someone used this same lock to lock up their bike next to mine.

[Galen]

Its been a while since anyone has said anything here, and I was just wondering if anyone has any pointers, I still haven't gotten this guy open...maybe I should try more, I cant even remeber the last time I tried this bad boy. I got reminded of it when I was locking up my bike and saw someone used this same lock to lock up their bike next to mine.

I haven't had any luck on this one either. I can SPP through most Kwikset-style and 4/5-pin Master Locks, and have even gotten some use out of my new SouthOrd 7-pin tubular pick, but this one still eludes. My parents tossed me a Chateau C-970 and also an ABUS 24/70 (both were previously used on storage that is no longer needed) when I was in town visiting, and I've yet to open either.

[pickmachinist]

I have a version of this lock, branded for a storage facility. It has 5 spool pins and the only way I've consistently picked it is by firm tension, raking to a false set, then spp gently backing off tension to set the pins and applying more tension after setting each pin. Some locks seam to be easier to get the furthest pins through the hole on the back, because of the crazy bitting. It can be quite repeatable after you do it a few times in a row. If you get frustrated, put it away and pick an easy lock a couple times, then come back to it and try again. I made a cutaway of the cylinder showing the pins. Note the bitting on the key. Like someone mentioned earlier, the keyway is restricted by the sharp curves and is best picked with very thin picks so they can lift the pins through the curves.

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[poor paperclip picker]

I am back at working on this devil of a lock. This is the only lock I own that I have not picked, besides Trip Doctor's Medeco Switch lock. And I have a hunch that I have a better chance at this than the medeco, but I am beginning to doubt that.

I can set some pins, if not false set all of them, but I can not seem to get the plug to turn at all. So I don't seem to get that few degree false set rotation. So I am assuming that not all pins are set/false set, but no matter the tension I use, I can't get it. It is frustrating and I am thinking of using a bench grinder to "pick" this open.

[Solomon]

Seems like a copy of the abus discus. Lots of companies are making these, I have a Master no. 40 which picks very easily but it doesn't contain any mushroom drivers. The one thing about it is that rotating the plug is very spongy, even wth the key. Because of this, I find using light tension doesn't get you anywhere so you need to use a bit more than usual. It also helps a lot to vary the tension up and down with a pulsing motion, although more than you would with a standard tumbler. You could have all the pins set and not know about it, so add heavy tension here and there to see what happens.

These style of locks all seem to be key retaining, and there is a spring return mechanism which resets the plug from around 45 degrees of rotation. Once picked, the plug will sit at about 10 degrees and should be open at this point. To lock it again, you need to rotate it with a bit of force in the other direction to click the shackle into place. Same goes for using the key. So, once you get that amount of rotation, apply heavy tension as if to open the lock and see what happens... if that doesn't do anything, you should be free to release tension completely then apply the normal amount, then try and locate the pin(s) which are in false set. Because of the sponginess of the plug, none of them will fall back into the keyway when you do this.

Is the plug nice and tight in the housing or does it have a lot of give? Because the one you have is really cheap, the tolerances aren't gonna be very good at all so I'd imagine you could rake it into false set very easily regardless of that, but if the plug is loose with noticeable give in ways there really shouldn't be any, that can cause problems. That's why a lot of cheaper locks can be so awkward to pick.

[h3lladvocate]

I'm having a similar frustration with this lock. The site claims it has mushroom pins, so this would be my first lock with security pins I think, but it doesn't seem to respond correctly. It has 6 pins, and when I release my tension after raking for a while, I hear what sounds like 6 pins resetting, but it doesn't seem to false set, as in the plug doesn't rotate at all a few degrees even. Also, when I go through the lock with my half-hook, I don't get any backwards force on the tension, suggesting that there are no security pins, but it seems to difficult to not have security pins. The only thing I can think of i serrated pins maybe, but it still seems off. I'm not sure, I might put this down for awhile, can't seem to figure out whats going wrong.

[lock2006]

I have the Brinks R70 disk lock i was able to pick open after a while of practicing
not an easy lock to pick but, it was fun picking this lock
i used light tension with a small half dimond pick and boom lock open
like i said not an easy lock to pick open
but it good to practice on this locks.

[FarmerFreak]

I got defeated by one of these the other day. It didn't help that it was on the sunny side of a storage unit on a 100 degree day (for a customer). It bugs though, I haven't had to cut off a working padlock in a long time.

I spent a little extra time cutting it off in such a way to not mess with the plug. Since I wanted to play with it later.


I found that it is very easy to put too much tension on the plug, which makes picking the mushroom pins incredibly difficult. When I looked in it with my light and sight tool, it was easy to spot the problem.


I could see a split in a pin that felt deep to the touch. Obviously this pin needed to be shallow. Once I knew that I was able to pick it. I just had to keep pushing the shallow pins up higher (easier said than done).

All in all, this lock is a lot harder to pick than it really should be. And I don't recommend learning how to pick security pins on this lock. Get an American to learn how to pick security pins.

[FarmerFreak]

I ran into another one of these yesterday. Except it was much much easier to pick than the one in my previous post. It picked like any other spooled lock. The difference between the two locks (same brand/model) is like the difference between Schlage spools and Assa spools....ok...that is an exaggeration, but you get the idea.

I think it comes down to cheep manufacturing. And will just be luck if you get an easy one or a hard one.

[harleythemiller]

@ farmerfreak, in your picture it looks like the barrel turned counter clockwise is this so or is it just all the way around clockwise

[Solomon]

@ farmerfreak, in your picture it looks like the barrel turned counter clockwise is this so or is it just all the way around clockwise

The cylinders in those locks are mounted with the pins at the bottom. It's turned 90 degrees CW in the picture.

[awol70]

Here i pick one C70 under two minutes.
i rate them more difficult than Abus Discus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv4GTCo3Vqg

[Josh66]

A friend at work gave me one of these today. I did a search here on it and found this thread... I'm relieved that my trouble with it wasn't unwarranted, lol!

[cledry]

lockcoach, tell me how you got the chateau bumpkey, No one I know has a card for chateau for their code machines, I haven't seen the information on cuts and spacing for chateau locks, I know of one attempt to make a bumpkey for them using either american lock specks or abus lock specs. but it didn't work.

Can't you simply measure an existing key for your spacing and make a reasonable assumption on the deepest depth used? Then if you have an HPC1200 use the micrometer card. I wouldn't think it would be difficult at all.