Brinks R70 Issues

[chaos4zap]

Well, I'm still fairly new and have been practicing a bunch. So far, I can open all padlocks I have with relative ease except for one, the Brinks R70. From what I could find already posted on this site, I understand this is not the easiest to pick, but I feel it's time to move on from the "wow, that was easy" locks. I know this lock has at least one spool pin in it. The issue I'm having is with the tension. This disk lock, even using the key, takes a good bit of force to open. It doesn't feel like it's in need of lubrication or anything, it just seems like it takes a little elbow greese to engage and turn the shackle. Everything I have read about spool pins say's to use very light tension. The problem is that I have to torque the heck out of the thing to even get the pin's binding. With that much force, it is very difficult to tell when I'm at just the right amount of tension. I can get it tio where it false set's and the plugg turns partially, but I'm not having any luck with this spool pin. Does anyone have any advice on applying the proper amount of tension to this thing?

[femurat]

With that much force, it is very difficult to tell when I'm at just the right amount of tension.

Yes, it's difficult, but it's possible. Leave this lock alone for a couple of days and then try again. There's no trick, you just need to get a feel for it. Sometimes wiggling the tension can help. And don't be worried to leave some pins fall while you pick, you can easily push them up again.

Cheers

[pin_pusher]

good point femurat, giving a difficult lock a rest is important, so is switching between difficult locks. i'm still having trouble with this american lock, think it's the 1100...anyway, a little time, and light tension (or wiggle) is a good thing, but i can't say there's any real "trick". just practice practice practice.

[FFVison]

Actually, I had a tough time with my R70 at first. Then I did some reading up on this lock and it appears that it has a hell of a spring behind the plug. You do actually have to apply quite a bit of force to pick this. I haven't really had difficulty picking it once I found this out. With this lock, you just apply a bunch of torque and when needed, pick the false set pins. I don't think this is a good lock to learn about spool pins. Only trick to this lock is make sure you are using enough torque to turn the plug in the first place. If the pins aren't binding, you aren't using enough torque. My R70 seems to fly in the face of everything that I have seen about locks with spool pins, aside from needing to repick the same pins once they are false set.

[Doctor Hexagon]

FFVision is correct. I have one of these locks and the best advise I can offer is don't be afraid to use more torsion force to get the pins to bind. You'll find a good balance of force to use to overcome the counter-rotational force on the plug and still have light enough tension for successful SPP. These are a challenging style of lock but far from impossible.

Good Luck!