Problems w/ pins

[clem_c_rock]

Hello,
I'm very new to lock picking and I've, so far, had some success at picking locks. It seems like the biggets problem I'm having so far is getting the pins to stay up after I have found them and pushed them up into their clicked position. I am putting a fairly good degree of tension in the tension rod but they always still seem to fall back down after I've pushed them up.

Does anyone have any advise as to changing tools or anything else?

Thanks for your time!

[thelockpickkid]

Sounds like you may not be using enough tension, also remember your only trying to hold the driver pins at the shear line not the key pins, they will fall back leaving the top pins trapped at the shear line, Also what you should do is go through the lessons that some of the other members have posted, do a quick search and you will find lots of helpful information.

[clem_c_rock]

Thanks for your time. In some of the videos I've watch so far they suggested only putting about a pound of preasure on the tension rod. What do you suggest?

I'm going to look at some of these lessons here in a bit. Thanks again.

[l0ckp1cker]

Which lock are you picking and how is it mounted?
Could it be that those are the key pins coming down?
If so, then that's a good thing. It means that the driver pin is set and the key pin can move freely in the chamber.
You can easily test this by feeling the tension on the pin. Is the key pin, after you set it, really light, almost as if there's no tension at all?
Then you set the pin like it should. If you still feel tension from the spring as if you didn't set it at all, then you probably didn't.
In this case I would say that you are not using enough tension or haven't found the binding pin yet. Your tension should be enough to turn the key if it was in, but not too much. It's hard to explain but if you use too much tension then you will notice that the pins get stuck.

But I still think it could very well be the key pin

[clem_c_rock]

I'm trying to pick a regular outside door deadbolt. The pins I am feeling are very, very light and feel like they are falling freely by their own weight via gravity. I've also been experimenting using more tension and it still feels like the pins aren't clicking into place when I'm pushing them up.

Does anyone have some particularly good lockpicking videos they recommend?

Thanks!

[cryptocat]

Thanks for your time. In some of the videos I've watch so far they suggested only putting about a pound of preasure on the tension rod. What do you suggest?

I'm going to look at some of these lessons here in a bit. Thanks again.

A pound of pressure is huge. Something like the weight of two normal housekeys or a couple of quarters should be enough. Once you've got all the pins set you might need more tension to really turn the cylinder and open the lock, but while you're working on the pins try way less tension than you think you need.