break-in or old age : Sesamee Corbin brass cabinet pad lock

[byterbit]

Cause of breakage ? Old age failure or force ?

have a Sesamee Corbin cabinet lock padlock ; been on my sailboat for 20 years. It just broke; the shackel came out of the body when I tried to use it. While it can be put back in the body, it will not stay. As I know nothing of locks, but want know the cause of the failure, I turn to you pros
Was this due to force ( a break in ? ) or just old age ?
Any easy way to tell ?
Many thanks.

[averagejoe]

If you could post pictures of the lock it would be helpful. Include some images of the shackle, and where it goes into the lock.

[byterbit]

Tired uploading pic but got: "Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached."
Hard to get any detail of the openings into the body , in any event. Shackle
came out with a spring on it's internal end.
It is old and has spent it's life on the water; I assume they just fail ?

[averagejoe]

It is possible. I would assume that if that happened because of somebody breaking it, you would see pry marks or something of that sort on the lock, and the area around it.

[chriswingate]

To upload a picture, first upload it to a hosting site like photobucket, then past the "direct link" in between the image boxes that come up when you push the "Img" button in the post reply page. Then it will show up.

[mcm757207]

Old age. The way these locks are bypassed would not cause this.

[Evan]

Old age. The way these locks are bypassed would not cause this.

+1...

And add in the "Corrosive Marine Environment" to that equation...

20 years out of a padlock like that is a good length of service for a lock that only cost a few dollars to purchase...

Replace and move on with life...

~~ Evan