Kwickset SmartKey: How to Pick

[dog boy]

yes, it is easier to change their locks but once you do you have to deal with all of the call backs that come with dealing with the poor quality of kwikset. I would much rather put in a lock that I know is going to work for a long time.

[zeke79]

Hello All,

Well, im just a guy who managed to screw up the re-keying process and couldnt use my deadbolt any more. Luckily I stumbled upon this thread and learned quite a lot from you folks. Unfortunately non of you directly showed how to fix this problem, but I was able to figure most of it out from the photos and info you all provided. So I will give some instructions just in case someone like myself finds this thread again.

First off, I dont have my camera with me (at least one that is working), so i'm using Datagram's photos that he posted on this thread for reference, so I hope he doesnt mind.
Instructions:
1. You screwed up your deadbolt programming process and now none of your keys work on it. i.e. you can't turn the deadbolt any more with a key.

2. Take it all apart and remove the cylinder from its metal enclosure. You will have to remove a black "U" type pin which is holding it in place.

3. Insert your key fully that you want to use on this lock. http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq10 ... 4/Pic1.png

4. Now that its all opened up you can see the wafer jacket and side bar. Chances are the sidebar, a spring, and a bearing fell out on you. Don't worry, its easy to put back in.
http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq10 ... 4/Pic2.png

5. You will have to remove the wafer jacket from the cylinder. There is nothing holding it in place, so gently pick it up straight off the cylinder. You may or may not remove some or all of the wafers as they may stick to the wafer jacket. There are 5 wafers in total.
http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq10 ... 4/Pic3.png

6. Now that you have the wafer jacket off, make sure the key you want to use is inserted fully. Now take all the wafers and make sure you place them in the grooves of the wafer jacket such that the wafer "U" notches are aligned with the indented groove along the length of the wafer jacket. This long indented groove will fit directly over the raised lock guide groove of the main cylinder which will allow it to move side to side. I dont have a pic of this unfortunately.

7. Carefully put the wafer jacket back onto the main cylinder with the wafers attached to it. Then carefully replace the side bar and the spring and the bearing and replace the cylinder body on to the main cylinder. When you have the cover 60% of the way back on and the bearing and sidebar are mostly covered turn the key 90 degrees clockwise. Then you will be able to insert the cover the rest of the way.

8. Reassemble the rest of the clips and brackets and your done.

I hope this helps someone in my situation and thanks to everyone in this thread with your info and pics. They saved me a shed load of problems on a Sunday evening.

Andrew

[Wolf2486]

Nice post... yeah, took me a bit to figure out the workings of this thing after taking it apart. So for those who have picked it, any recommended technique? Or is it picked basically like a normal pin tumbler lock. I find I have to use very, very light tension to keep the cylinder from jamming up.

[dougfarre]

Very, very light tension.
Nice pictures!

[datagram]

In case anyone wants them, there are a few additional pictures in the gallery at http://s396.photobucket.com/albums/pp42 ... _smartkey/.

dg

[Wolf2486]

Very, very light tension.

May I ask how you get such light tension? I'm using a feather-touch wrench and I'm still locking up the pins/wafers.

[Wolf2486]

Nevermind, I figured it out: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=43353

[TaylorSPL]

I've picked a couple using a couple different tension wrenches, just whatever I have handy, and a pick gun. Click, click, click, open.

[raimundo]

Feather touch wrenchs are springy, but heres the feather test for tension, pinch your tensor blade between thumb and forfinger, now take a feather and use it to push on the far end, to see and feel how much torsion that feather is able to impart to the lever end of the wrench, if you don't have a feather, try the edge of a piece of paper.

My own belief is that feather touch wrenches dampen feel and feedback. And at the lighter pressures, they make the tensor less useful than a more stiff tensor that is feeding back feel from the cylinder/plug interface.

[maxxed]

I found that a king or queen pick can be effective on these locks, move the pick in the keyway while bouncing the tension wrench. I plan on makeing a few more variations of the picks to increase the odds of success.

[Eyes_Only]

Found out something interesting after talking with a couple other smiths and doing my
own research. Apparently you can take a KW1 key cut to all 3's and that is supposed
to be able to force the lock open.

Took one of these cylinders out of a lever set to study it and it's totally possible. The
main thing keeping these locks from being forced open from what I saw is the wafers
sticking out into it's square holes in the cylinders outer sleeve, which the key cut to all
3's will help retract into the plug and out of the outer sleeve no matter what
combination is used on that lock. If thats out of the way you can easily force the
sidebar in and get the plug to turn. It'll bend the wafers still but a lot less keys to carry
and try than the 32 set or the other 200 something set.

I personally found that cutting a KW1 key to all 3 and a half works better though cos it
pulls the wafers in more flush with the inner plug than just a solid plain 3 cut.

[globallockytoo]

There is a relatively easy method to decode a locked smartlock. Apply tension through the change hole, use pick to feel which pins are rigid and which are not. Those that are rigid are already set as a 1 depth. Those that are loose are at least a 2 or deeper. You have now narrowed down the possible combinations by at least 125.

[jimb]

Found out something interesting after talking with a couple other smiths and doing my
own research. Apparently you can take a KW1 key cut to all 3's and that is supposed
to be able to force the lock open.

I have also been told this will work. Not only that but I was also told the original key will still work, but it won't re-key to a new key.

[zeke79]

I find the 32 key set easy to work with. My intentions were never to have 243 tryout keys, but to group the first 32 that reference a certain set of keys within the 243 key set. This worked by finding the correct closest operating key in the 32 key set, then referencing the proper key in the 243 key set opening the lock with no wafer damage. So as an example, keys 29-32 will refer to group "g" in the 243 key set which may end up being a set of 12 keys to try. One of which opens the lock almost as smoothly as the true operating key due to the tolerances of the lock. So a few minutes with the 32 key set points you to a group of a dozen possible keys in the 243 key set, one of which will open the lock. One can then either access a key locked in the house or in the case of lost keys and the owner does not want a rekey done as they might have to redistribute keys you can progress the working key from the 243 key set to end up with the proper key cut at full cut instead of the half cuts used in the 243 key set. Of course the progression to the proper key takes some blanks and some time, it certainly can be done and may actually be a situation you run into needing to be done so having the info to do this is helpful.

You do not have to progress from the 32 key set to the 243 key set if an opening is all that is required. Finding the proper key in the 32 key set will allow you to force the lock open with less damage to the wafers than the key cut to all 3's or 3.5's. It does still bend the wafers a bit but in my testing (only across 3 or 4 locks as testing gets expensive so a broader test range of locks was not something I had the money for) but the lock will still function with the original key the lock was keyed for prior to forcing the lock with the proper key from the 32 key set. The wafers are too distorted after being forced open with a key cut to all 3's to allow opening with the original working key. Again, these are just my results from a pool of a few locks so the results of others may vary. To me, the time spent finding the proper key from the 32 key set which then points to the proper group in the 243 key set and opening the lock with no damage is faster than forcing it open with a key cut all 3's, disassembling the lock, straightening wafers, reassembling and re-setting the lock. In the end as long as you get the lock open and it is put back together in working order it doesn't really matter how you do it. However you get proficient in doing it is likely the best way to continue. I find as said that if you take the time to group your tryout keys, it is a pretty speedy process that has the bonus of yielding alot of information towards the actual code of the lock which allows you the option of progressing a key. This is handy as stated, if the owner of the lock does not want to redistribute keys to a property and a total rekey is not an option.

In any case, the lock is a neat incarnation of the lynx/rielda locks and one can appreciate the engineering behind the lock even though it could be improved. If the lock was produced with better tolerances using better materials and fixing the weak points then it could be a much better lock. The way it is, to keep costs down kwikset has cut corners that create quite a few vulnerabilities from both non destructive and destructive aspects. In the end, it does what it is advertised to do which is stop bumping.

[Eyes_Only]

They're fun to work with. The best part about it though is watching other so called "professional locksmiths" arrive at a lockout job and get a surprise introduction to these locks, get stumped, frustrated and then break out the drill.