First Pin Has No Tension?

[gr00ve]

question about front-most pins. in 2 of my locks the front-most pin is almost... dangling? it has 0 spring tension and just gets pushed out of the way when i put a pick in it. is this normal? is this set? i dont understand

[cppdungeon]

This is a good lesson. Its why you don't pick locks in use (I'm not saying this one is, just that its a good lesson). It could be that the spring is damaged. take it apart to find out. the other problem could be that the top pin is set. jiggle the plug back and forth to see if that fixes the problem.

[gr00ve]

its on two padlocks i bought recently, the front pin is just loose.

[lunchb0x]

The cheap master lock ripoff padlocks at work are like that, its because they are really poorly made and the top pins jam in the top of the lock, also the springs in them aren't that great.

[gr00ve]

so are you saying that the first pin is set already?

[Safety0ff]

Look at the key, is the cut closest to the shoulder, very high? On some locks, the spring is not compressed when the pin is at it's lowest.