First Experience with Re-Pinning

[thequantaleaper]

Well... First let me point out that I have learned another lesson from doing things without reading and learning about them first...

I got this new Defiant deadbolt from Home Depot today... and I started to take it apart only to find that perhaps I should've stopped pulling on the plug when it started to slide out... but no, I didn't.

So just as you would expect I had springs and pins flying all over the place. So after about 30 minutes of carpet combing, I found all of them.

Well to put this long story short.... I duct-taped a pencil and very carefully reinserted the drivers and springs while pushing it in to keep them from flying out again ... i put the key pins back in the plug and pushed the pencil out with it as fast as I could and it actually worked.

Needless to say I will be using the pencil first (now understood to be called a plug follower) and make it easier next time. Definately a word of new found advice to anyone else taking a lock apart for the first time.

From one newbie to another.

And just a question on my behalf, would you experienced folk out there recommend using a plug follower with a shim.. or just a shim? Any advice?

[dsdayl]

I only use a shim when I want to take apart my locks without picking them first. Or I repinned them in such a way that I can't pick it back open.

Then just push the plug out with the plug follower.

If you have a key to open the lock I see no reason to use a shim. Just the plug follower.

This is all speaking from my experience one newbie to another.

[CapnCurry]

I always use a plug follower, unless I'm going to replace the driver pins with security pins. As to the shims, Dsdayl is right: if you have a key, no need. I've personally found that it's just as easy - and a lot more fun - to pick the lock open as to use a shim. It's probably just a matter of preference at that point, but the shim and the plug follower really have nothing to do with each other in a technical sense.

[keysman]

There are times when the plug has too big of a gap at the back of the plug , allowing the top pins to drop into that gap when removing the plug.
These are usually the type that have a "C or E" clip holding the plug together.
A shim closing that gap makes the job a lot easier.

[Varjeal]

keysman is perfectly correct. The odd brand of cylinder sometimes has a wide grove for the retaining clip or ring, and will allow the driver pin to drop into it. This is very frustrating unless you use a shim in combination with the plug follower.

[CapnCurry]

Schwoops... mea culpa. I can see now where plug followers and shims would need work together on certain plugs. There's something that Foley-Belsaw doesn't teach ya...