Ace II

[Raymond]

I usually have no trouble opening most locks but just can not seem to pick an Ace II. Can anyone tell me what the difference is from all the previous Ace or Ace type locks?

[freakparade3]

http://www.locksmiths101.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=193

[Eyes_Only]

Not all of the pin stack position in an Ace II uses the same springs. Some are stronger, some are weaker so the SO type tubular pick cant open the lock by impressioning it. You would have to pick each pin one by one. You can use a stiff wire to push each pin and a small allan wrench filed down on each side as a tension wrench. Or whats even better is the Peterson Pro tubular pick tool shown here, http://www.lockpicks.com/index.asp?Page ... &ProdID=46. But it is very expensive. I plan on getting one one day as soon as I finish some of my other projects.

[hesevil]

I have actually been able to open a few Ace IIs with the SO style pick via the impressioning method with a little improvisation. They had all been used previously and were the vending cylindtrical style lock.

I bought several new Ace II cam-locks and I am unable to the same with them. I finally got one open last night using the SO pick in a 'manual' fashion, single pin picking it. Slide all the feelers back, light tension, sliding feeler by feeler until you feel a pin set.

Ace IIs are definitely fun. I still can't do them consistently, but once I mount them on a board I'm sure they will become easier.

-Matt

[Eyes_Only]

I've tried the the manual picking method with the SO pick and my god it is a lot of trouble. I hope SO will come up with a more affordable tubular pick soon that can handle the Ace II but this may never happen since they haven't really released any new tools in a long time.

[Kaotik]

First post about an Ace II?!

[Eyes_Only]

Eh?

[raimundo]

not every person who joins the site is unfamiliar with picking, some come here with previous experience. the OP identifies himself as someone who has had an interest in picking for years, and apparently has no trouble with the common ace. (not called aceI) so the fact that its his first post is insignificant. there are probably a lot of pickers who are not even on the internet or even own a computer, certainly this includes a lot of locksmiths.

[Kaotik]

raimundo, I am very well aware of that. Raymond has only posted twice and the other post shows some significant knowledge in locks. However, majority of us know that Ace and AceII are on some type of vending machine.

I may have crossed the line with that statement, but it was just to find the intention on use of the knowledge he gained from his question. If I went to far I appologize to you Raymond.

[hesevil]

raimundo, I am very well aware of that. Raymond has only posted twice and the other post shows some significant knowledge in locks. However, majority of us know that Ace and AceII are on some type of vending machine.

I may have crossed the line with that statement, but it was just to find the intention on use of the knowledge he gained from his question. If I went to far I appologize to you Raymond.

I wouldn't even have thought of the vending machine angle on that. I'm still relatively new to lock picking but am currently opening every Ace and some Ace IIs.

Even though I bought the locks as 'vending machine locks', I never put 2 and 2 together, I just like working on tubulars. I suppose it's difficult to decide where to draw the line when it come to things like this.

-Matt

[raimundo]

ace locks in the area where I am are not used on vending machines any more, modern vending machines use the tubar, or abloy or an illionis duo variation such as the one by greenleaf, but in some old laundrymats, you do still see the ace lock. Mostly the use of ace locks on vending machines is becoming a distant memory.

[LockNewbie21]

same here ray, medeco 5 pin systems seem to be popular.


FOr the Ace 2's I pick them and get the 15 or so rotation and impression before it relocks, and bam get it everytime.

How ever, I only own own ace two I bought it at a lockie shop with my Abus discus lock a lonng time ago, There decent locks, jsut with the tools available, makes them obsolete.

[hesevil]

same here ray, medeco 5 pin systems seem to be popular.


FOr the Ace 2's I pick them and get the 15 or so rotation and impression before it relocks, and bam get it everytime.

How ever, I only own own ace two I bought it at a lockie shop with my Abus discus lock a lonng time ago, There decent locks, jsut with the tools available, makes them obsolete.

You're absolutely right about the obsolete part. They were so prevalent because they were a newer design and hadn't been picked widely. When that changed (especially after Kryptonite and BIC pens), people were off to bigger and better things.

[Kaotik]

ace locks in the area where I am are not used on vending machines any more, modern vending machines use the tubar, or abloy or an illionis duo variation such as the one by greenleaf, but in some old laundrymats, you do still see the ace lock. Mostly the use of ace locks on vending machines is becoming a distant memory.

You might want to take into consideration that just because they are becoming a distant memory doesn't mean they are still not used outside your box, area or state of residence.

They are still being used in other areas in respect to vending and will probably continue to do so. Just like cheap wafer locks, just because there is bigger, better and tougher locks being introduced into the market dosn't mean they will stop using them.

[hesevil]

I can SPP all the Ace IIs I have come across. Like LockNewbie said he does. I can pick them until unlocked, rotate a few degrees (before it locks again), and impression them with my tubular to finish the rotation; however, I have 3 Ace IIs that I cannot do this on for some reason. When I take the impression, it will not allow rotation either from that point or from the locked position.

I compared the pins (while set) to the key to the tubular pick, and it looks like there is 1 pin that is off. It looks like this 1 pin is setting deeper when done SPP than the key bitting shows.

At first, I thought it might have been master keyed since I bought it as a set of vending locks. If it was master keyed, this would explain why it would open while the pin was set different from the key. What it won't explain though, is why it still won't open when impressioned from this point.

Any ideas anyone?

-Matt