Deadbolt doesn't fully disengage?

[Pathian]

Hello all,

I'm fairly new to lockpicking, and I only just got my first practice deadbolt lock to mess around with. I've gotten a fairly decent touch raking it, and I can open it fairly quickly now

I decided to try giving the lock on my front door a try. I got the pins engaged and the plug to spin, but the door didn't open. I was curious, so I decided to try it again with the door open to see what had happened.

When I pick the lock, I can spin the plug with the tension wrench clockwise 180 degrees. However, the plug stops spinning with the bolt still extended about 1/2 centimeter which was enough to keep the door from opening. I tried the key, and found that the plug spins just slightly over 180 degrees which fully disengages the deadbolt.

The lock is a kwikset, but I can't tell any more than that as I did not install it. Can anyone share some insight about what I may be doing wrong?

Thanks much

Justin

[datagram]

You really shouldn't pick anything that controls access to your home...that being said, it sounds like you're just getting the cylinder rotated 180 degrees and then the top pins are falling into the keyway cut on the bottom of the cylinder. With the key inserted, the top pins are prevented from doing this. In any event, just using the bottom side of a pick to push them up and you can continue rotating whichever way you like.

[freakparade3]

The above post is exactly the answer to correct your problem. I just would like to say once again this is why we tell people DO NOT PICK LOCKS YOU RELY ON.

[Squelchtone]

The above post is exactly the answer to correct your problem. I just would like to say once again this is why we tell people DO NOT PICK LOCKS YOU RELY ON.

Is there not a blurb about picking locks you rely on when a new user first signs up? If there isn't there should be. In sizd 24 red font, before they click I accept the rules and conditions to this site.

in my not so humble opinion,

Squelchtone

[Pathian]

Thanks for the tip, using the backside of a pick to set the pins did the trick.

And thanks. I didn't see anything about not picking locks you rely on, but it seems perfectly logical. I'll stop messing around with that one.

Thanks guys!

[prag]

Picking locks in use is a big no-no

The reasons are that the mechanisms in the lock ie the springs, key pins or even the key parthway( I think it's called the plug) can get damaged. When this happens the lock will cease to work correctly or not at all.

When the guys on this site say so listen with both ears. I have a couple of practice locks and in about two week I can feel the springs and pins / pinstacks not working correctly. I need to get replacement pin stacks for all the practice locks. I love this trade/hobby.

[zeke79]

Be especially careful if you are renting an apartment, etc and you are picking the lock for practice as the top pins falling into the keyway at the 180 degree point can get you in trouble if the lock happens to be master keyed. In that case, master pins can fall out of their chambers and get lodged in the keyway which will prevent you from inserting a key. Then, even if you get the masterpin that fell out dug out of the keyway there is a good chance that your key will no longer operate the lock and also a chance that the owners master key will no longer operate the lock.

As said before, save yourself the hassle and do not pick locks that you do not own or locks that are in use.

[Al_Coholic1011]

All right, so let's just say I picked my deadbolt lock on my front door and it just so happened to be setup for a master key as well. And now my key, and from what i just read the master key, will no longer work. How do I fix this? Also, is there a trick to picking a lock that uses a master key that will prevent this from happening?

My home and my pocketbook would appreciate any help you have to offer.

-Jeff

[cppdungeon]

Don't pick locks in use. That said, unless you are the manager/owner, you dont have a master key, you just have a key that opens that door. if you pick a lock with master pins in it, and they fall in to the plug, your pretty much pwned. thats when you need to call a locksmith. the way to avoid this is to (as mentioned before) put you pick into the bottom of the keyway so the little pieces dont fall in.

--Cpp

[lunchb0x]

The best thing to do would be to get a locksmith out to fix it properly.

And the "trick" to prevent this from happening is to not do it, do not pick locks that you either rely on or that are not yours becuase as your lerning you will most likely breaks something, its not expencive to get a lock to first practice with.

[zeke79]

Your best bet is to call the property owner (I assume this is an apartment, either a house or a complex) and explain what happened. This way, the locksmith who setup the masterkey system can repair it back to its original pinning configuration. The locksmith who set it up originally should have the masterkey system on file. Calling anyone else to come fix it will just cause problems in the end although you will be able to get your key working again by calling any locksmith. Whether or not the masterkey works after that will not be known until the property owner or manager tries it if the lock is repaired by a locksmith other than the locksmith who set the system up originally.

Sorry, but there is no way to help you out in your current situation unless you have the master pin or pins that came out and know what pin chambers they need to be installed in. Even in that case you would have to carefully disassemble the lock and keep the pin stacks from each chamber in the proper order and then reassemble everything and placing the master pin or pins that fell out into their proper chambers. This is not a task for a beginner by any means.