Electric Pick Sound Volume?

by **serpentmage** » 27 Jul 2004 23:30

Hi,

I'm considering buying a southord 3-volt electric. Anyone have one of those can please give me an idea of how loud it is while in use? Maybe compare it to the sound of a manual pick gun or a screwdriver hitting the ground? (from about chest height)

Thanks

by **Grudge** » 28 Jul 2004 0:03

I have the larger (4.5 volts) Southord. Assuming it is about the same as the 3 volt, all I can say is it is NOT quiet. Basically these things move a steel 'pin' up and down very rapidly and are not built for stealth (well not the Southord, there are some very expensive models meant for people who work for 3 letter agencies that ARE designed for minimal noise). Basically think of running a blender, that should give you some idea of the noise level.

I must point out that most legitimate users of a pick gun don't care about the noise they make, and LP101 is not about non-legitimate lockpicking.

by **Romstar** » 28 Jul 2004 0:08

Grudge wrote:I must point out that most legitimate users of a pick gun don't care about the noise they make, and LP101 is not about non-legitimate lockpicking.

You're right, it's not about non-legitimate lock picking. Although, I think a lot of parents might be upset if you had the equivilent of a small drink blender running for those late night picking sessions.

I should know, it used to drive my grandfather absolutely crazy.

I had a printer back in the day that could wake the dead, and my grandfather was forced to build a sound cabinet for the thing. I had a horrible habit of being awake at 3 am and doing things most people do in the day time. :oops:

Romstar

by **WhiteHat** » 28 Jul 2004 1:23

you still have a habit of being awake at 3 am and doing things most people do in the day time.....

I just had a thought....

what about rubber electric pick needle.... or hard plastic of some kind - probably would wear out quicker, but it wouldn't wear the pins out as much and would potentially cause less noise.

by **mcm757207** » 28 Jul 2004 1:42

Is it the actual motor making the noise or the act of the pins shooting up and down?

by **mbell** » 28 Jul 2004 5:54

What makes most of the noise in mine is the internal up-down movement bashing against the side of the pick/the grub screw.

I've taken my Southord pick to pieces on more than one occasion. I never tried doing this, but you could place a piece or rubber or plastic between the bit that hits the side of the pick or more accurately the end of the screw which you adjust the up-down motion with, then the sound SHOULD be reduced quite a bit.

by **serpentmage** » 28 Jul 2004 8:47

About as loud as running a blender eh? That's a good reference point. Thanks for the swift reply mates.

by **serpentmage** » 28 Jul 2004 11:31

In your experience, when the electric Does work, how long do you find it takes to compromise a lock?

(apologies for double post, no edit feature here)

by **mgaidica** » 28 Jul 2004 22:43

VERY, very quickly..... dependent on qulity, but for your standard padlock and house locks- no more than a minute...

by **Romstar** » 28 Jul 2004 23:14

I've seen manual pick guns work on one to three pulls. Electric pick guns on less than 5 seconds.

Other times, on difficult locks, they can take upwards of a minute to five minutes.

It depends completely on the lock, and the knowledge of the user.

Romstar

by **serpentmage** » 29 Jul 2004 15:17

Interesting....Thank you gents

by **monkeE** » 7 Aug 2004 3:11

A minute to pick with an electric? WOAH! When I tried it, it was less than 5 seconds... But then again, that was a kwikset... Well, I guess I don't have a point here, and everyone will make fun of me... but a minute sounds kinda long...

BTW... Any electrical engineers out there? I'm thinking about building a solenoid driven home built electric pick/snap gun and was wondering if anyone else had tried this... Does it have enough power? And could a standard astable 555 IC drive this thing? Thanks

monkeE

by **Romstar** » 9 Aug 2004 18:50

Yes, and yes.

The solenoid power is dependant on the windings and the power fed to it.
The 555 will run it, just make sure you don't have any current back feed into the timing circuit. It could blow it.

Romstar

by **toomush2drink** » 10 Aug 2004 15:46

jeez romstar you never cease to amaze me with your far reaching knowledge of things, the post on metals and colours when heated was a bit of a gem but now your onto solenoids. Have you learnt this stuff at college or through lifes education ?

by **Romstar** » 10 Aug 2004 17:25

toomush2drink wrote:jeez romstar you never cease to amaze me with your far reaching knowledge of things, the post on metals and colours when heated was a bit of a gem but now your onto solenoids. Have you learnt this stuff at college or through lifes education ?

Well, I never did know what I wanted to do.

My grandfather taught me a lot of stuff, auto mechanics, auto body, machining. Then there was electrical and plumbing and cabinetry.

When I went off to school, I kept changing the things I was taking. Finally ended up doing computers, and when the bottom fell out of that, I went back to security.

My grandfather was the one who got me into electronics. He was a radio hobbiest, and that sort of lead into computers in the early eighties.

Only big companies can make money at computers any more. At least around here. Nobody wants to pay your wage. They all want somthing for nothing.

So, back to locksmithing and security I went.

Romstar

Electric Pick Sound Volume?

Electric Pick Sound Volume?

Who is online