Defeated by an American Lock Padlock

[onetubetone]

So I'm new to lock picking, started a few weeks ago, but I've been getting the hang of it. I've been successful on most houselocks I've tried and cheap padlocks. Anyway, in my travels I came across an American Lock padlock, model 702 I think (I looked it up online)... that thing would not yield to anything I know. First problem, the keyhole was designed craftily to make it very difficult to get a pick in there. Once I managed to get the hang of wiggling around that, I noticed that it was very finicky with the tension. Too little and pins wouldnt set... too much and they'd get caught (anti-pick pins??? I forget the exact terms) So this trouble with the tension coupled with trouble moving the pick around in the weird hole made it very hard on me. In desperation I tried raking... no dice. Anyone have any advice on these suckers????

[n2oah]

I'm not sure about the 702, but most American padlocks have serrated lower pins and spool or mushroom drivers. That's probably your problem. Do a search for "security pins" and you'll find more info.

[vector40]

My advice: Leave Americans until you're better. They're quite tough locks.

[quickpicks]

The 702 is a 5-pin with serrated and spool pins I don't think this one is servicable but I could be wrong. I would strongly advise you to leave this lock alone until you have had some more picking experience.
I have made a succesful tension wrench for theese by gringing about half of a tension wrench off and leaving about half a centimeter ungrinded. When the tensioner is slipped in, it does not get "jammed" in the keyway and has more feedback. I came across this tensoner when one of my early attempts to make a SFIC tensioner failed. forgive me if it is hard to picture what it looks like but it is hard without pictures.

[wtf|pickproof?]

forgive me if it is hard to picture what it looks like but it is hard without pictures.

No problem for me, just get on some pictures of it so I can figure out and try it!

wtf|pickproof?

[Santos718]

Off the official website:



Series = 702
Application = High Security, Commercial/Industrial Security, Freight Line & Automotive Security
Body Material = Steel
Features Uses = Zinc plated, case hardened steel body for cut and saw resistance.
Family = Padlocks
Package Configuration = Boxed, Carded
Cylinder Type = 5-pin
Body Size = 2-1/2" x 1-1/8"
Shackle Diameter = 7/16"
Shackle Height = 1-1/16", 2"
Shackle Width = 15/16"
Shackle Material = boron alloy steel.

[Santos718]

Thought that might help.

[onetubetone]

Ha yeah, that's the one. I guess I'll just pass this up and get some more picking experience elsewhere. Thanks for the info though.

[mouseling]

This lock is extremely hard to pick, but can be bypassed with the right tools.

If you can get it open, take it apart (carefully, so that it doesn't go all over the place) and look at the pins. Also, i'm pretty sure this lock has a wafer to prevent easy bypass access.

-mouse

[MudSlinger]

I too was defeated by this same lock, or one very similar.
when I got desperate I decided to ask a friend for advice, He told me there is a special bypass tool you can slip in through the keyway past the plug and turn the cam with out touching the pins
this of course sounded great so I went online, saw the picture of the 40 dollar tool, printed it out and made my own.
when I tried to put it to use(if u can tell by the theme of this post) no luck.
-Long story short I drilled it out (tough to do btw broke 3 bits)and found my problem, as well as anyone who is thinking of using a bypass tool s'problem.

Im profficient with paint! lemme know if anyone else has run into this.

[keysman]

The commonly accepted method of bypassing with the hardened steel plate is to sharpen the tool to a sharpe point (chisel point) and bend the plate out of the way.

Never tried it myself so I can say first hand.

[raimundo]

the real problem witht the american series padlocks is the spring that fights the tensor, the serrated pins can just about be negated by putting a drop of oil or a spray of wd40 in the lock, (not too much or it will just start coming back out at you) balance your tension to just enough to overcome the spring on the plug, and be very careful of the fit of the tensor, don't let it jam against the cylinder wall. Also, the keyway is small, so use a small pick, and as always, the pick should be sanded so all the sharp edges are rounded. With the right pick, you can pick these locks. It might be time to start learning to make picks to fit certain locks rather than buy those huge commercial picks.

[MudSlinger]

Noted, I just found so suprisingly strong brickstrap and my dremel is itching to have a go at it, now I just gotta cough up the $16.50 for an american 700 series replacment cylinder.

[mouseling]

The Security disk is often called a wafer. The wafer must be broken - eg - punched through by a sharp blade or a special wafer breaker tool.

Then you can use the by-pass tool to open the padlock.

-mouse

[geno]

I am working on a #700 now. They look very similar so they might have the same guts.

All of the pins are serrated and there is one spool pin.

This is the first real lock I have picked, although I have the key so I was able to disassemble it and start with one pin and add as I got better.

I start at the front and work backwards using a homebrew feeler pick. I would find the spool pin and set that first, or you risk having the set pins fall back out.

Another thing I noticed about my lock is that there is one pin that doesnt need to be lifted. Im not sure if it was designed that way or if its just an anomaly.