Trip Doctor's Medeco Switch Locks

[poor paperclip picker]

I was wondering for any of you that purchased one (or more), have picked it yet. I have tried and cannot get it. I can set one or two pins, but that is it. I was thinking that people who have one can post here and talk about techniques and such. I guess what I am confused with is do you need to rotate the pins in this lock or no.

Or feel free to share you experiences.

[raimundo]

I have one, If memory serves, its 6 pin, no sidebar, and very small paracentric keyway, I haven't picked it and I haven't spent an hour trying yet, I think I'll start by making a very slim pick or two. perhaps a couple of sidebyside .010" feeler gauges and try to move the pins by counter pushpulling these while lifting the pin,

[femurat]

This lock is too advanced for me! I decided to disassemble mine, to make it more affordable.

I'm going to remove the two clips on the sides by filing a little the body. I hope I don't ruin the lock. Then I'll remove a few pins and try to learn something from it the old fashioned way...

Cheers

[poor paperclip picker]

This lock is too advanced for me! I decided to disassemble mine, to make it more affordable.

I'm going to remove the two clips on the sides by filing a little the body. I hope I don't ruin the lock. Then I'll remove a few pins and try to learn something from it the old fashioned way...

Cheers

Let us know what you find.

Thanks

[raimundo]

My previous post said 'no sidebar' something must have confused me when I wrote that. its one of those sidebar locks with no top pins, I never thought it was anything else, but that must have been a mental typo of some sort when I wrote that. when ya use the internet in cafes, all sorts of stuff is sometimes happening to screw up the train of thought.

[femurat]

So cutting the lock with my dremel wasn't as hard as I expected


Here you can see the sidebar and what came out when I removed the 2 clips


And finally I removed the springs keeper


The cylinder has 3 options for extracting the key


I made a close up photo to show you the difference between the pins. The second one has the groove on the bottom. It also seems to have a different finish: it's less polished than others. This pins are the biggest I've ever seen!
WARNING this image is huge!


I've assembled the lock with just the first 2 pins and I'm trying to learn how to pick it with a very small half diamond. With the lock opened I tried it out and found that you can rotate the pins simply by pushing or pulling the pin tip with the diamond. This seems to work even with the springs in and the lock assembled. I think I've said enough...

Cheers

[poor paperclip picker]

Nice breakdown Femurat! Now I know what the insides of the lock look like. Rai, those mental typos happen to me all the time too.

Since this lock has no top pins, do the pins still have to be lifted, or just rotated?

Thanks

[femurat]

Those pins need to be lifted AND rotated at the same time.

The tricky thing is that they just have a little hole, not the usual groove, so it's harder to find the exact point.
I've repinned my lock with just two pins and it's really hard to set them. Their serration makes you think you have set them... I just need a little more practice.

Cheers

[poor paperclip picker]

I have set one or two in my lock, but it could be false sets with those serrations. I guess I will just have to keep practicing. Eventually I might have to break it down, and do it pin by pin. I just don't want to ruin it since I only have one. But I would looooove to pick it.