Bottom pin colors mean anything ?

[ragav]

Hi Folks,
I'm new here and very new to lockpicking.
I bought a kwikset deadbolt and working through db's pyramid learning guide. I've repinned this many times and am getting comfortable picking this.

I've noticed that each bottom pin on the lock is colored differently ( I see green, pink . yellow ..). Do these colors mean anything significant? ( for e.g. i was wondering if inserting them is some colored order reset the stack to factory order ?)

[UWSDWF]

they were pinned with a colour coded set

[Schuyler]

Did you buy this new? I thought only universals were color coded. / Haven't seen a lock with color coded pins out of the box.

[2octops]

Kwikcrap went to colored pins about a year ago.


Most universal .003 and .005 pin kits have color coded pins. They are colored to make them easier to tell the difference between them if a pin falls or gets pushed into the wrong spot in the kit. The colors mean absolutely nothing.

[Chucklz]

You might get a colored pin lock out of the box if you buy from a hardware store/locksmith as a leftover from some customer's order. Are the bottom pins flat on both ends, or is one end pointed?

If the pins were on their side would it be
this
[ ]

or

[ >

[ragav]

Thanks for replies.

Schuyler: I bought this new at Home Depot ( the packaging claims 'pick resistant 5 pin system )

Chucklz: The pins are are neither completely flat nor pointed .. kinda bevelled on both ends. [ )

The paint on the pins easily comes off .. handling it a couple of times, rubs off on your fingers.

[Schuyler]

yeah, beveled is pointed. Just means they are "key pins" and not "driver pins" those terms make life a little easier than "bottom" and "top" as bottom and top are different in different parts of the world.

[Chucklz]

I ask because the kwikset "original" pins I've seen/own are slightly beveled on each end, while the lab bottom pins have a definate point.

[jimmysmith]

I agree, colored pins are from a.....re-pin kit type thing..

At ace hardwear store you can buylittle $10.00 pin kits for specific locks. it comes with 4 keys and enough pins to repin 6 locks to that key. I bought one years ago. when i told my locksmith buddies what i bought.. they where pissed that ace sold that kit. or any repin kit for that matter.,

[ragav]

Thanks Schuyler

I'll call them "key" and "driver pins" henceforth .. seems clearer .. I was going by the terminology at viewtopic.php?t=1069 where the key pins are called "bottom pins"

[Eyes_Only]

Schalge discourages using color coded pins in thier IC lock system due to security reasons, so sometimes it means something I believe.

[maxxed]

It means that there is a concern about someone looking down the key way and decoding the lock by the color of the pins

[digital_blue]

Thanks Schuyler

I'll call them "key" and "driver pins" henceforth .. seems clearer .. I was going by the terminology at viewtopic.php?t=1069 where the key pins are called "bottom pins"

Corrected. Thanks for pointing it out.

It is common to refer to the pins as top pins and bottom pins, but Schuyler is correct in that it can be misleading because in different parts of the world, lock orientation can vary.

As for the security risk of color coded pins... it is reasonably plausible that one could decode the lock based on the pin colors, though my thinking on the matter is if you feel that you are at serious risk of being victim to that level of crime, you probably should not have Kwiksets or common Schlages on your door. That would be a pretty advanced method of entry by any criminal standards.

db

[WOT]

It's like writing your password under your keyboard, not in plain text, but in easily deciphered codes.

[linty]

not exactly since there are about 50 pin lengths in a .005 kit, maybe 65 or so in a .003 kit, and only 5 different colors they use. There is a fair bit of ambiguity right there, but consider the fact that you don't even know if it's been pinned to the recommended pin numbers (maybe pinned to compensate for key wear) and that you don't know if it's got .005 pins or .003 pins using the colors you could probably narrow the pins value down to about 25 possibilities...