Does Weather Effect Locks?

[BERK]

I was just curious, since it seems to be harder to pick in cold weather than in warm weather. I'm talking about exterior doors obviously. I've been having a hard time with locks that I can normally open with no problem. Have any of you noticed this or did I just have a bad week?

[lockey1963]

during really cold spells it can be near impossible to feel anything due to cold hands, so a lack of usual feel could be to blame

[Deathadder]

lol, cold, what cold?

*points and laughs at your below freezing temperatures*

[zeke79]

Man, it was 8 degrees here this morning.

[mfschantz]

It was 50°F here this morning. I hope your temperatures aren't moving east.

[dab]

heat shrinks and cold expands, but the tolerances of locks shouldn't be effected

[cjames73]

brass, when cold does contract slightly. steel contracts even less so if any pins bind it will be the anti-drill pins. i have never seen this effect on a lock but i suppose it could happen if cold enough and if the lock has tight tolerences.

[RodVT]

Interesting question in some ways. Time sure flies when your fingers are freezing up. I wonder how/if springs are affected, in terms of their flexibilty, by lower temperatures. Certainly, any contaminents (or lubricants) would be more problematic at lower temps....

[Anero]

heat shrinks and cold expands, but the tolerances of locks shouldn't be effected

it's the oppsite,

Heat Expands things and cold shrinks them

[Deathadder]

heat shrinks and cold expands, but the tolerances of locks shouldn't be effected

yeah, you got that backwards, buddy. only water expands when frozen, but thats because the molecules arrange in a way that forms tiny gaps in between them, which leaves it less dense than when it was water. this is why ice floats

[RodVT]

I will grant that the coefficient of expansion of brass based on temperature is probably small, and it's effect on pins and tumblers negligible, but as things shrink with temperature, maybe the tolerances open up? And when the temp rises, they get smaller/tighter?????

Just a thought, with perhaps no basis in the real world of temperatures conducive to supporting human life. LOL

[unjust]

personally, having spent most of my years in minnesota, which has reasonably brisk winters, that automotive locks have more play in them in winter, and are more likely to be persnickety (due to increased gunk) but door locks operate more smoothly, *unless* there is a significant change in moisture level and extreme cold, which i suspect results in positive pressure air flow from inside pushing moisture out which then freezes in the lock, making things a little stiff.

[zeke79]

It's not that the brass itself changes size, it is the fact that all of the gunk built up in the lock becomes more sludge like. This does in fact affect picking especially if the lock has been lubricated with petroleum based products.

Try taking a very dirty lock, lubricate it then put it in your freezer overnight and pick it the next day. It definately affects the operation of the lock.

A clean lock on the other hand should operate just fine.

[little_john]

try spraying some lock de-icer in there.or isopropel, same stuff

[raimundo]

theres a master 3 on the back gate here, pick it faster than a key in summer, cant open it at all if there was a rain followed by a freeze,
some people say you can't pick locks outside in winter, but I do, i keep the gloves or mittens on, and poke holes in them for the pick an tensor to pass through. so my finger are inside the mitts, and only the working part of the pick is outside. looks like the week ahead will have one of those cold canadian artic snaps, oh well, in feb were ready for it, in october we'd be whining like a floridian at 40 degrees.