problems with pins

[Phoeny]

i'm lockpicking for not long and i have a problem. i insert the tension wrench and teh pick in the lock and start picking, then sometimes when i allready have some pins down, some of the pins jump back up and i dont stop providing tension, i dont know why they jump back up :/

so does anyone know why this hapens?


//Phoeny

[SmokieD]

i'm lockpicking for not long and i have a problem. i insert the tension wrench and teh pick in the lock and start picking, then sometimes when i allready have some pins down, some of the pins jump back up and i dont stop providing tension, i dont know why they jump back up :/

so does anyone know why this hapens?


//Phoeny

Your question is confusing, because generally the pins are supposed to go up as opposed to down.In order to pick a lock the top pin has to be above the shear line. I assume you know how a lock works. If not, take your lock apart and look at the peices in it. They have many diagrams in this site to show how the lock works.

But to your problem, the object in picking a lock is to find the pin which is binding,( Digital Blue has a thread i believe in the PICK FU DO NOT TRY section, its a sticky so its a the top.) If you keep picking a bottum pin which is not binding, you defeat the purpose of actually finding the binding one, not to mention u might have to repick it if the top pin falls back down again. Practice "feeling" which is the binding pin or pins so u know which ones to look for.

Also it could be your tension. Keep light tension, i mean LIGHT tension. Just enough so the cylinder doesnt move back.

[jabial]

Sometimes, that happend to me when I tried to pick the pins in the wrong order. Picking is possible due to little imperfections in the lock, so there is an ideal order for the pins to pick. When you move a pin that has less play, it can push the rotor backwards, thus releasing the tension on the pins with more play. Usually I find it easier to pick the deeper pins first.

[Gordon Airporte]

Your question is confusing, because generally the pins are supposed to go up as opposed to down.

He or she is probably in an area of Europe where cylinders are mounted upside down.
If you could fill out your profile, jabial, we might be able to help you more.

[m3ph15t0]

If he is, and his cylinder is upside-down, It could be happening because he is using too much tension or oversetting a pin. That used to happen to me all the time untill I got used to telling the difference between a set pin and an unset one. I'd be pushing on a pin and it would go pop and then I would just hear a nice little click as all of my other set pins would go back into place. It sucked.

[Raccoon]

Yes. This is commonly the result of oversetting a pin that has already been set, and pins after it have been set. When you over set that earlier pin, all following pins fall back down and you have to start over or get that overset pin to drop back down (or up in this case).

Alternately, there could be a spool pin that is false set. You could false set a spool pin, and properly set all the other pins after it. When you go back to properly set the false set, all the following pins will fall back down (as stated above). Solution is to set the spool pin, and move on.

[m3ph15t0]

Oh, yeah. I didn't think of a spool. He could also be loosing to much tension if he's setting a spool and the previous pins could drop (or pop up)

[jabial]

If you could fill out your profile, jabial, we might be able to help you more.

I'm not the one who asked that question.

[SmokieD]

i'm lockpicking for not long and i have a problem. i insert the tension wrench and teh pick in the lock and start picking, then sometimes when i allready have some pins down, some of the pins jump back up and i dont stop providing tension, i dont know why they jump back up :/

so does anyone know why this hapens?


//Phoeny

Practice "feeling" which is the binding pin or pins so u know which ones to look for.

Also it could be your tension. Keep light tension, i mean LIGHT tension. Just enough so the cylinder doesnt move back.

On second thought, it could also be not enough tension. I found that out today when i unsuccessfully tried to pick a lock i normally do in no time at all. You have to provide enough tension so that the pins or pin binds but still not to much that you make it hard for the pins to be pushed passed the shear line. There are 3 stages that pins go through while picking a lock.

1. Springy pin, when you insert a key into a lock this is what you feel, and most people who have never picked a lock, this is only how they know the pins. Take your pick and push up on the pins without any tension. This is what youll feel.

2. Binding pins. This is what you should feel for when picking a lock. You have to learn this. It feels stiff. Play with the tension wrench but not enough that it binds the pins to an unmovable state, but just enough that it doesnt go back to stage 1.

3.Separated bottom pin. This is when the top pin is passed the shear line, and the bottum is below it, allowing no pressure whatsoever.IN order for a lock to open it has to have all pins in this state. With your lock cylinder turned to the side after you have opened feel the pins so you get acquainted with the feeling.

Now try to detect which pins are which when applying the tension and you should be fine.

oh, and security(spool, mushroom, serrated) pins are another story.

[Gordon Airporte]

If you could fill out your profile, jabial, we might be able to help you more.

I'm not the one who asked that question.

Whoooops. Um. Eggnog. Yeah, that's it.

[Phoeny]

Your question is confusing, because generally the pins are supposed to go up as opposed to down.

He or she is probably in an area of Europe where cylinders are mounted upside down.

thats correct, i live in slovenia

and thx for all the other replys