Brinks padlock help please

[Debberz13]

I hope someone can give me some help. I am managing my brother's self-storage business and sometimes we have to cut locks. Can someone please tell me the best way to remove a round Brinks R70 padlock? It is the type that you have to have the key to both lock and unlock. Actually it looks just like the photo on the "shop" button at the top of this screen. Right now we are cutting them with a torch but we have to be very careful to not damage the door in the process. Thanks so much!!!

[ericm115]

I can't imagine that you would need to cut the R70 very often. In any case, they are pickable but if you want to be able to pick it consistently you will need to learn lockpicking; it's not a beginners lock, though it may be picked open occasionally by luck.

So, hang around and read up and practice and you will be able to open the R70 nondestructively eventually. The only other good option seems to be finding a way to squeeze some bolt cutters around the shackle.

Lockpicking it great fun, but it takes practice and time and interest. There is no special secret for the R70 though... just lots of tension and learn what the pins feel like.

As far as I know, there is no simple bypass for this lock.


em

[LockNewbie21]

So umm.. you own the locks.. but you have any keys? Who is the locksmith or suplier that sent you, i am guessing atleast a hundred locks with our back up codes, or keys? Why would you trash all these locks when a lcokie would make you keys?


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DONT BREAK INTO PEOPLES STUFF, and don;t use a torch.. you'll shoot your eye out kid.

Clever really Clever way to try and get some info, And if your honest.. well i pity you and your buisness for the amount of money you will be set back form mutilating your locks. You crack me up buddy, always good to get a good laugh

[LockNewbie21]

Actually it looks just

Right now we are cutting them

So you want to learn to cut it, so you can shop them.

Thought i would display you contradiction incase you decided to see who stupid you were

Cheer mate!

[Squelchtone]

Actually it looks just

Right now we are cutting them

So you want to learn to cut it, so you can shop them.

Thought i would display you contradiction incase you decided to see who stupid you were

Cheer mate!

LN,

Let's not flame all the new users. I guess you've never had a storage unit before. I have and a lot of them will give you the lock and key, and that's the only lock and key because they don't want you to be paranoid that they are going into your storage unit and poking around. If you don't pay your bill there is another set of latches for their lock so when you come back there are 2 locks on the door.

When someone doesn't pay the bill, or looses their key, they have to cut the unit open and tag sale the stuff or just throw it out, or if the owner lost his key, they sell them a new R70 after they cut open the old one.

The one thing I will say to the original poster is that we are not a bunch of locksmiths hanging out answering customer questions, we're a bunch of people interesting in how locks work and the challenge of sitting around and seeing if you can open a lock without a key. It's becoming quite a large hobby/sport and it's totally legit, not a bunch of ex-con's trying to figure out how to break in somewhere.

That said, we do get shady people asking thing like how do I open such and such model lock, because "I lost my key", and we do try to filter out criminals, bored teenagers up to no good and other such ilk. I think LN's response was in leiu of recent new users asking things that sounded awful shady, but I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt.

The R70 is meant to be difficult, and is a copy of a much harder lock called the Abus Discus, made by a German company. If you have a handyman cutting them open, see if it would cost the same to have a locksmith come once a week and pick open several at once instead of calling him out every day. Otherwise, as someone said, there is no magic tool to pop it open like in the movies, you'll have to learn picking, which is totally fun, but the R70 is not a total beginner lock, it contains a very strong spring and you have to have an established feel for locks and be able to visualize what is happening inside while you pick it. Just sticking a pick inside probably won't open it unless you're having really good luck.

Hope that helps you in your quest, and I hope you can appreciate our stance on doing our best to keep out rif raf. Sometimes its just hard to tell a person with a real lock problem or someone trying to be tricky. Give a local locksmith a call, I'm sure they'll help you out.

Squelchtone

[Raccoon]

I don't know about where you live, but here, by law, the owner of the Self Storage unit MUST cut off the padlock, and place the cut padlock in the storage unit, before placing their own padlock on the unit.

This is done as some sort of proof of exercising conversion, or some such.

There is never an instance where the owner of the unit should be picking a padlock, ever.

[p1ckf1sh]

Why would anyone cut a hardened shackle when it's much faster to use a drill? Are regular people (non-lockies) so ignorant about locks that they don't know about drilling at all?

[Raccoon]

My 36" bolt cutters can cut through a 1/2" shackle with relative ease.

[ericm115]

Why would anyone cut a hardened shackle when it's much faster to use a drill? Are regular people (non-lockies) so ignorant about locks that they don't know about drilling at all?

ouch p1ckf1sh.

still, I stand by cutting it. I have a pair of bolt cutters that, I believe, can cut the R70. If not, I have seen larger ones that no doubt can. If Debberz doesn't have a cordless drill, he will have to walk around his storage facility looking for electrical outlets and dragging extension cords. Buying a new drill will also cost more than a large pair of bolt cutters.

Regardless of how fast drilling may be, and I am not a lockie and am a bit ignorant about this, I know how long it takes to clip a bolt with a suitable pair of bolt cutters. I can't imagine that drilling would be faster if your bolt cutters are suited for the job.

I would rather invest in a large pair of bolt cutters if this was going to be a common thing than have to worry about extension cords, batteries, and drill bits. Not to mention, drills are easier to accidentally injure yourself with.

Perhaps it's preference. Like you and I both said, I'm ignorant on the subject of drilling, but still, I don't think your quick remark was well deserved.

[Raccoon]

Drilling also requires a suitable surface for the lock to rest on. This is not easily accommodated with a lock that is dangling on the latch of a garage door. If you manage to get it against the door, there's a chance that you'll drill a hole through the lock and into the door. You could try holding it with your hands, but I wouldn't recommend it.

It's a whole different ballgame when the lock isn't sitting snugly in your workbench vice.

[illusion]

I bet you could get a clamp mech for them, or even make one i guess...

[ericm115]

I bet you could get a clamp mech for them, or even make one i guess...

that might be kinda cool actually. I suppose if you were gonna do this on a regular basis, that's not be a bad idea.

[unbreakable]

My 36" bolt cutters can cut through a 1/2" shackle with relative ease.

MMMmmm boltcutters........

I got to use a huge pair at school last year, soo fun

I felt like going on a rampage

[p1ckf1sh]

ouch p1ckf1sh.

Ouch? What is wrong, did I insult you with any of my remarks? I certainly was not my intention to do so, and I am sorry about it if I did, but I am still not quite sure what made you go ouch at all?

[/quote]still, I stand by cutting it. I have a pair of bolt cutters that, I believe, can cut the R70. If not, I have seen larger ones that no doubt can. If Debberz doesn't have a cordless drill, he will have to walk around his storage facility looking for electrical outlets and dragging extension cords. Buying a new drill will also cost more than a large pair of bolt cutters. [/quote]
Well, yes you are kinda right on all this. I was just taking the OP into consideration, where the poster said they are curently using a "torch" to cut them. That is some kind of welding equipment I guess, and he said it is hard to do while not damaging the door. I imagine it takes quite a while, there is a risk of ruining the hasp as well and that it is a quite considerable piece if equipment to lug around. OTOH, most people I know have a cordless drill. So, suggesting to drill or better yet wondering why many people who are not lock-literate do not come up with that idea was what initiated my posting.

I know that drilling is considered evil around here. I know it is bypass and I will not give clear details. But I had to replace 4 of those locks in the beginner stages of my picking career for my mom, and I could not open them (they are real Abus with spools). I cut the hasps on two to get training locks, but the other hasps were so solid and expensive to replace that drilling the lock was the quickest way. It took me 4 mins on the first and 2 for the other with a cheap 9.6v drill that was no more than 15€ in any hardware store.

Regarding bolt cutters - while not exactly knowing the design of the hasp, it might be hard to get in the cutters. The Discus design was made to withstand exactly these brute force attempts. The round design takes a lot of beating the the cutout where the shackle and hasp are joined is not exactly wide and bolt cutter friendly.

So, if I had this storage business, and if I was legally required to not pick but destructively open locks regularly, the drill would be a good friend of mine.

Also, I did not need a good support for drilling. I gave them counterpressure with my hand. If you think it is easy to drill into your hand, think again. The plug is brass, drills easily. When you are through with the drill and hit the stainless backplate, you notice that for sure. If you are afraid of slipping on that and allowing the drill to go through the moisture drain hole, take a small piece of wood to cover it while holding it. Or make a clamp as suggested.

Really, I was not trying to piss someone off with my post. I am sorry if I did.

[Bud Wiser]

I'm a noob, but can pick the R70 faster and easier then a schlage any time! Usually in 30 seconds using a very rigid tesnsion tool and hook pick. I suggest if I can learn to do it practicing for one hour, most any one could.

Another suggestion I would have is you might want to consider giving out easier locks to remove but still provide a level of security to your customers.

Not inteded to be sarcastic in any way, simply trying to give another prospective.