Help! I suddenly can't pick my Brinks

[op-sec]

I'm tripping over not being able to pick my Brinks #101-50001 anymore. I've gotten it about 15 times in the past three weeks but all of the sudden, it is all mushy. I get the false set and then, nothing else will bind. It used to be that once I got the false set, I could pick everything else and then go back and pick past the spool of the false set. Not anymore. Everything else is now not binding or it won't budge, no matter how much pressure I put on it. I've tried lighter and heavier tension. No luck.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why the personality of this lock would suddenly change?

Thanks!

[freakparade3]

It's why we tell people not to pick locks they rely on. I know that is not the case here, it's a your practice lock. It is a great example of how picking can damage a lock. The pins or springs may have been bent or otherwise damaged. Or is could be you just lost the feel for that particular lock. We all have locks we could pick easily and then one day they became unpickable.

[raimundo]

If you can look closely at the first pin or lift it and look at the second one, look for vertical scratches or other types of scratches, if these are deep, it is affecting the picking, Sand the edges off your picks.

Then shoot some wd40 in the lock, this is not long term lube, but it will free up anything stuck from brass dust or whatever, and change the picking characteristics of the lock again, when this happens, don't expect to pick it as you had before, learn to pick it as it is now, listen to the lock and do what it wants, or just pick it while watching tv and not thinking about it. Just hold the lock and use light tension while you visit and tap up a bit on each pin, lightly, don't try to think it through, just go light and don't even think about it. it will open again, and you will learn more. What works is what works by doing, thinking about it will tie you in intellectual knots and probably offer false paradigms.

[bluestar]

I've had that with several locks changing their picking behaviour all of a sudden. In all cases, I disassembled the lock, cleaned every part of it and reassembled it. It helped - hte picking behaviour was in all but one cases like before.

[op-sec]

Trust me... I don't pick things I rely on. I picked my deadbolts and exterior doorknob locks _right_before_I_removed_and_replaced_them.

I think this is a case of me damaging the lock - plain and simple. Either that or it is binding on the brass dust. I have caught myself using WAY too much tension on this lock (and others) for whatever reason.

In every case except the first time where I have picked the Brinks, it has been while I was subconsciously picking it while watching TV or something else. Now that I've shaken the cob-webs off of my picking (after ten years dormant), I wanted to pick it again and kind-of pay attention to learn more about the lock. Oh, well... It's a cheap lock and it still works with the key. Maybe I'll just get another one and go from there.

Thanks for the suggestions on the WD40 and smoothing off my picks. I've got SouthOrd picks that are pretty smooth to start with but, I may polish them up a bit more still. What do you think?

[raimundo]

drag your thumbnail along that edge that you think is pretty smooth, if you feel vibration, you should sand with black sandpaper (made for metal) until the vibration is gone. these tiny little file teeth are cutting and eroding the lock, and any sharp edges on the pick tip will contribute to it becoming caught or stuck or jammed if you have ever had that experience.

[Squelchtone]

I'm tripping over not being able to pick my Brinks #101-50001 anymore. I've gotten it about 15 times in the past three weeks but all of the sudden, it is all mushy. I get the false set and then, nothing else will bind. It used to be that once I got the false set, I could pick everything else and then go back and pick past the spool of the false set. Not anymore. Everything else is now not binding or it won't budge, no matter how much pressure I put on it. I've tried lighter and heavier tension. No luck.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why the personality of this lock would suddenly change?

Thanks!

Not sure if anyone asked this already, but does the key still work?

Squelchtone

TOOOL US
Boston Chapter

[poor paperclip picker]

I had the same problem with my schlage KIK. I just stopped for awhile, and somehow later I was able to pick it again. I still think that I might have damaged the lock because the pins always remained set when I set other pins. But now I set some pins, then I set another and it unsets at least one of the previously set pins.

And for squelchtone, in my lock the key did still work. If you put the key in and out a few times it sort of stopped the unsetting.

[op-sec]

The key still worked wonderfully. Tonight, I did an even exchange for the same model lock at Wall Mart. This new lock feels just like my old one did when I thought it was "broken".

That will teach me to doubt myself when I'm doubting myself for doubting myself!

I can get he two security pins. They're not a problem. It seems that the tolerances in this particular lock model are very tight though so, I'm not getting the feedback.

I've picked most everything else with easy - IE; first pick times under 2 minutes and I average about 30 seconds on all of my locks now. Except this thing!

Do these things require more tension? It's trivial to exchange it for yet another lock if I need to if I break it so, I'm not so worried about that. I'm just wondering if I'm just not applying enough tension or if I'm applying too much tension.

The pinning on this lock is a bit tricky as well.

1 and 5 are very shallow (close to no cut and both the same), #2 and 3 are deep (both the same). #4 is just slightly deeper than #1 and #5. It makes it hard to get to #4 and #5

IE; the key looks like this:

Code: Select all

----|-\_/\       /\      /\    /\_/\   
     |     \   /   \   /   \_/       \
     |      \_/     \_/              /
     |                             /
     |===========================/
----|__________________________/


That makes it hard to get to #4 and #5 without messing up #2 and #3. I guess I might need a long hook or reach.

I think that part of it is my tension. Something is off - obviously. I picked the other lock twice within about 2 minutes the first day I had the other Brinks #101-50001. This one (same model) I haven't gotten. It just feels mushy or tight but, never just right.

Any pointers are greatly appreciated!

[raimundo]

the bitting you show offers some difficulty, what was the previous one that you did pick look like? obviously, to set the last two pins after the deep pins have been set would be a matter of difficulty, Why don't you start with those difficult pins first, I usually start with the pins hardest to reach just because of this. but don't be trying to intellectualize and impose your pin set order on the lock. The pins will set in an order that suits them, you can only learn that from picking. If those two long pins seem easy to set, set them and then go to the deep pins, but don't worry about having the long pins fall. You only set them the first time to make the deep pins play, if you set the deep pins the long ones can be reset again, and don't forget to set the shallow first pin either. You should work all the pins, and not really care what is set and what is not. Watch TV and just use the pick to tap on the bottoms of the pins, and move to the next one. While it is possible to be using too little tension, its unlikely, most people get frustrated and the tension grows.

[vitti]

I'm not bashing you or anything but I'm in retail management and returning something for replacement that you broke doesn't feel quite right to me. Sounds trivial but every little return like that makes an impact on the business and in turn on the employees and the consumer. In my business we get a lot of 'defective' returns. We only get a small percentage of the cost of those goods back from the manufacturer. The remaining amount is tallied up as shrink and impacts my bonus as well as the rest of my staff's bonus. It only takes being one dollar below the bonus threshold to lose it all together in my company. One little return like that has the potential to make a significant financial impact for me personally.

So do as you will but please keep in mind that even the largest retail entity in the world has employees who can be impacted by such things.

[op-sec]

Yawn...

The lock has a warranty which does not say "you are not allowed to practice picking locks" and the last time I checked, my local walmart had a "no questions asked" return policy which I would assume also includes no questions about the ethics of returning a lock for an even exchange. It was returned with packaging intact and in like new condition outside of the jedi mind trick I was playing on myself making me think it was unpickable anymore.

I'd venture to guess that the legal fees and fines related to the hiring of illegal aliens and other undocumented workers had a greater impact on your bonus than my returning a $5.00 lock for an even exchange.

Speaking of which, if you're a Wall Mart employee who has a financial performance based bonus, it would reason that you are in Management and part of the problem and not part of the solution. Why did I bother even responding to you?

[vitti]

Take it easy, I'm not angry or anything. I know people do this every day and many companies have no policies to dissuade you from doing so. All I am saying is that your efforts to save a few dollars do indeed have an impact on the system as a whole, however negligible they may seem.

We each have our opinions and I'll respect yours. All I ask in return is that you respect mine.

(and for the record, no, I do not work for Wal Mart)

[bumber]

I'd venture to guess that the legal fees and fines related to the hiring of illegal aliens and other undocumented workers had a greater impact on your bonus than my returning a $5.00 lock for an even exchange.

HaHa thats funny because Wal-Mart is so cheap they will probably just put clear packing tape on it and try to sell it on the clearance rack for a month or so, and assuming you dont re-buy not knowing anything of it then they will send it back to Brinks for their 40% or whatever back

But I still spend quite alot of time there even though they are cheap-o's
they are like the only store in my area that stays open 24-7, and they even let the drunks walk around like Zombies at 3am

[Ofnir1]

But I still spend quite alot of time there even though they are cheap-o's
they are like the only store in my area that stays open 24-7, and they even let the drunks walk around like Zombies at 3am

Lol there's drunks at my local Wal-Mart at around the same time as well, always gotta sneek a peek at their facial expressions while entering and exiting