Problem with lockbody

[Jedilocksmith]

I replaced the lock and installed a thumb latch on one of my friends tattoo shops(storefront/glass door) here in town. Everything has been working as it should for over 6or7months now. As of this weekend, it seems the lockbody is not working properly. The shop was closed so they locked it from the inside while they closed up and then they couldnt get the door unlocked(they where locked in, kinda funny). They managed to open it by giggling the heck out of it but it is still happening...and not just on the thumb latch; It is also doing to same thing on the outside/lockside of the door. I was thinking maybe the lockbody needed to be greased? Ive been scratching my head on this one all night. Any ideas?

[Squelchtone]

I replaced the lock and installed a thumb latch on one of my friends tattoo shops(storefront/glass door) here in town. Everything has been working as it should for over 6or7months now. As of this weekend, it seems the lockbody is not working properly. The shop was closed so they locked it from the inside while they closed up and then they couldnt get the door unlocked(they where locked in, kinda funny). They managed to open it by giggling the heck out of it but it is still happening...and not just on the thumb latch; It is also doing to same thing on the outside/lockside of the door. I was thinking maybe the lockbody needed to be greased? Ive been scratching my head on this one all night. Any ideas?

Only thing I can think of is .. are the cylinders loose and have rotated away from where the set screw goes into the side of the cylinder, or are they still at 12 and 6? does the key and the thumb turn work ok to flip the bolt or retract it if you hold the door open? the door could have settled and maybe the laminated latch is dragging on the door frame?

good luck, let us know,
Squelchtone

[Evan]

I addition to the common problems that Squelchtone pointed out, there are a few interesting things that can happen to the mechanism inside an Adams Rite narrow frame lock which can cause it to stop functioning properly...

You should also check all of the springs inside the lock body to make sure none of them have broken or become mangled... Also check that nothing alive has taken up residence inside the door, frame and lock, ants and some bugs can make their way into that type of lock and cause problems as well...

~~ Evan

[LockDocWa]

Does the lock act the same if the door is open?
If it does then the lock is to blame.
If it does not then bolt-to-strike alignment is to blame

[Jedilocksmith]

Update:

Well it turns out it was not the door I was thinking of...it was another door on the opposite side of the building which I only replaced the lock on it...it still had the old thumb latch. But either way, it was still interesting. The lock on the exterior was functioning properly but if you locked it from the inside with the thumb latch it was really hard to unlock, you just had to muscle it.

So I took it apart and this is what I found...
http://i604.photobucket.com/albums/tt12 ... hoto-1.png

http://i604.photobucket.com/albums/tt12 ... /photo.png
Over the years the cam on the back had worn a huge groove out of it making it really hard to engage. Is this common? I cant tell you exactly how old the thumb latch was but it was not in the best shape. When you turned it, it just felt dirty...like someone threw a handful of sand in it; Even after I took it apart and cleaned it up a bit.

So put a new one on and it feels great. Not hard to turn at all, even when it engages. What do you think may have caused that to happen?

[Jedilocksmith]

Also check that nothing alive has taken up residence inside the door, frame and lock, ants and some bugs can make their way into that type of lock and cause problems as well...

~~ Evan

Funny you mentioned that, I did also find some spider egg sacks in there.