Jammed Mortise Lock

[snowrider72]

I have a corbin russwin mortise lock that is jammed. The key rotates the cylinder but will not open the door. I've removed the core and manually tried opening it, with no sucess. I've used a K-22 tool and attempted to open the door from the inside with no luck (lever move's but does not disengage latch). I have no way of getting inside the room, and hinges are on the interior. Tried the false ceiling, but there is a fire wall preventing access. Does anyone have any suggestions, that would cause little or no dammage.

[Evan]

I have a corbin russwin mortise lock that is jammed. The key rotates the cylinder but will not open the door. I've removed the core and manually tried opening it, with no sucess. I've used a K-22 tool and attempted to open the door from the inside with no luck (lever move's but does not disengage latch). I have no way of getting inside the room, and hinges are on the interior. Tried the false ceiling, but there is a fire wall preventing access. Does anyone have any suggestions, that would cause little or no dammage.

@snowrider72:

When you removed the core did you use one of the SFIC cylinder wrenches to try and operate the cam/lock works ?

If you did and even with using the tool you can not create enough force to operate the lock it sounds more like it is broken rather than merely being jammed -- you should snap the SFIC housing cylinder out of the mortise lock body using the cylinder wrench and see if the increased access with the cylinder removed allows you to manipulate things inside the mortise lock case any better...

~~ Evan

[snowrider72]

I did exactly that, once i removed the core, i tried to manipulate the mechanism that way with no success, it would spin freely as if it were unlocking, but the latch wouldn't release.

[Evan]

@snowrider72:

In that case it is time to use rotational force applied with an SFIC cylinder wrench tool when the core is removed to snap the cylinder retention setscrew and see if you can successfully manipulate the broken pieces/linkages inside the lock case to get the door open...

If that doesn't work for you, you can attempt to carefully spread the frame of the door to see if you can open it that way before you have to resort to purely destructive/damaging means of forcing it open... If the cylinder cam spins freely then it is good odds that there is a lot of damage inside the lock case which will mean either repairing the broken parts or replacing the lock case with a new one...

~~ Evan

[mhole]

Is this a sprung latch or a deadbolt?

If it's the former, try the usual methods for slipping the latch, and combine them with turning the cam. It sounds like the lock has failed, and sometimes this causes the broken mechanism to block retraction of the bolt/latch. Turning the cam can clear the obstruction, allowing you to slip the latch.

Also, possibly stating the obvious, try turning the cam in the opposite direction - sometimes the connection to the latch works both ways, and only the side which gets used fails.

Depending on how dramatically this has failed you may end up having to spread the door or removed the door stop so you can cut the latch/bolt off. Broken locks are a PITA compared to locked ones, as they are an unknown quantity.

Good luck!

[snowrider72]

I'll give that a try thanks for the advise, it is a dead bolt.