Upside down locks

[spuds]

A question not asked is a stupid one!

[MBI]

As a locksmith, I see tons of incorrect instalation of cylinders.

Most often it is in KIK/KIL cylinders where the instalation was done by a maintenance man who simply did not know how to hand the lock. I would pick normally.

In aluminum storefront doors, an upside down cylinder typically means that the door has been disabled for some reason, either temporarily or permentaly. I would bypass a different door because the cam is in the wrong position.

Commercial sliding doors on high power operators often have cylinders mounted upside down. This is normal due to how the lock is manufactured and/or installed in the door. I would pick normally.

Roll up gates and glass doors can be any manner of cylinder position, from normal to sideways to upside down. Pick normally.

Profile cylinders are almost exclusively installed upside down. In my experience, if the cylinder is right side up in a tri point door, it is a KIK/KIL cylinder. Pick normally.

[bembel]

For me, all US locks are "upside down".
When it comes to lockpicking, I prefer the European way. Okay, it depends strongly on what you're used to, but it seems much easier for me to move a pick downwards than upwards because I can use my index finger for that.

[thingus13]

I think it makes the locks harder in some cases. For example a weak spring will really make things harder when the lock is upside down. I also think it is worse for the lock in that any dirt, water etc. will fall into the chambers instead of out of them.

I always think of it as The Mark of the Amateur when I find standard locks installed upside down

Or when they forget to tighten the screw holding a mortise cylinder in. One time, I saw a medeco on the side of a building, used for emergency entry, but you could just unscrew it by hand.

I was a court house in this little town up in the mountains (Colorado) and in the door there was a high security ASSA mortise cylinder, and the screw was falling out lol. I took the lock out of the door and handed it to one of the bailiffs.....