Lock filled with putty or foam?

[calvin]

someone jammed either putty or expanding foam into an abloy lock on my soda machine.

how in the WORLD am I going to get this out???

[TOWCH]

Propane Torch.

[maintenanceguy]

I work for a school district. Two years ago, somebody put gorilla glue in all the outside locks of the high school the first day of school.

This stuff looks kind of like expanding foam, yellow and foamy but hardens really hard. It only took a few minutes to get in another way and were able to open the school on time but I had dozens of lock cylinders that needed to be changed. I was was hoping I could soak them in some solvent to clean them and reuse them. I called the manufacturer to see what solvent would work, they told me that once urethane glue sets, no solvent will dissolve it. I don't know if that's true but I experimented with paint thinner, naptha, acetone, and MEK. None of them worked.

The manufacturer also told me that I wasn't he first school to call that day.

[Phatphish]

If the lock has been filled with polyurethane expanding foam then this may be of help.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5183514.html

A polyurethane foam may be dissolved, or removed from a substrate, by contacting the polyurethane foam with 1,2-dialkyl imidazole, alone or as a co-solvent.

Good luck.

[Engineer]

Maintenanceguy is right, if it is gorilla glue, then probably replacing the lock is all you can do. Even if it did turn out to be expanding foam, then any chemical that could attack the foam, is probably not the sort of stuff you should be using outside of a lab. Not only that, but any foam left will set again once the solvent had evaporated and probably stick a pin in the lock.

If you can get in without damaging the lock, then you might be able to remove the lock and disassemble it back at base and pick the glue off bit by bit to salvage the lock that way, but for the amount of time it would take, would you want to?

If it's putty (as in glazing putty) then you might get it out by soaking the lock in linseed oil, and picking it out bit by bit - Possibly use a fine drill in your fingers to "drill" out some of the stuff and hopefully it won't have been pressed too deep into the lock? If you do use linseed oil though, please remember that rags soaked in it can spontaneously combust and so should be soaked in water before disposal, follow all the safety instructions. Again though, you would need to get inside the machine first, to get the lock off.

I work for a school district. Two years ago, somebody put gorilla glue in all the outside locks of the high school the first day of school.

This stuff looks kind of like expanding foam, yellow and foamy but hardens really hard. It only took a few minutes to get in another way and were able to open the school on time but I had dozens of lock cylinders that needed to be changed. I was was hoping I could soak them in some solvent to clean them and reuse them. I called the manufacturer to see what solvent would work, they told me that once urethane glue sets, no solvent will dissolve it. I don't know if that's true but I experimented with paint thinner, naptha, acetone, and MEK. None of them worked.

The manufacturer also told me that I wasn't he first school to call that day.

[Squelchtone]

you guys need vandal proof Geminy Shields

https://securitysnobs.com/Guards-Tools/

http://www.blackbag.nl/?p=12


I want one of these so bad =)

Squelchtone

[unjust]

i'd start with acetone, it dissolves an awful lot of foams and is readily available. then progress up the solvents into more exciting and fragrant hydrocarbons.

if you cna chip off a bit, bring it to the chemistry teacher adn ask em for a solvent that won't eat the metal of th elock.

[unjust]

gorilla glue is a urathane foam, but i think it's a hybrid, so you need a cocktail of a few solvents to do it, which is not necessarily something to take lightly. some of them get excited by each other.

[Jeckel]

Your best bet will to replace the key way, and put up a sign that say "24 surveillance if this is outside"

[calvin]

But how am I even going to get my machine open to get the lock out to work on it? If the keyway is filled, I can't remove the lock plug. This is an abloy pro-tec

[jpb06080]

you'll have to drill it out. I have no idea how much of the lock will need to be drilled before it opens. I'd call a locksmith for sure.

[TOWCH]

But how am I even going to get my machine open to get the lock out to work on it? If the keyway is filled, I can't remove the lock plug. This is an abloy pro-tec

You need to either call a locksmith, or study the lock and reproduce the effect of the tool on multipick-service.cc

[TOWCH]

You're better off calling a locksmith than damaging your machine. It'll cost less.

[rickola]

I'm newly fresh here today and decided to do a bit of reading before I post my first question elsewhere. My solution to this all too common problem and yes, I experienced this same situation with a few of my exterior locks on my workshop. Expanding foam insulation in-a-can and anything else like this, can be removed with a paint thinner called Xylene/Xylol.

Quite a serious solvent, any paint store that does carry it (it's often used for quick-dry paints or industrial coatings) has it hidden because of its "sniff capability" ie: it will actually kill a person who soaks a rag in this and inhales long enough in one sitting-not so for other sniffables, they take longer.

So, if you need some of this, explain why you need, it to the paint guy because they will be curious. As well, it's sold in metal 4-litre rectangular shaped cans like we used to have here in the 70's, it will not damage the inner workings of metal locks.

I used this thinner with the compatible paint one time and experimented with a number of plastic containers to see which ones it chewed up: red gas cans are really thick and built very well, it ate through in under 30 seconds and you all know how strong gasoline is? Well, this stuff is BAD! I also tried some inner springs, pins, wafers etc. from locks and soaked them in the stuff and nothing happened by way of damage.

Worked on my locks though and I keep it handy just in case. Pinhole into the wad of foam in the keyway to break the crusty surface or just dab a rag of the liquid onto the keyway place as the lock is obviously installed somewhere. I took a small metal funnel and held it there while the zylene sat and trickled into the upside down lock. If you have limited area to flip lock upside down, just fill an old soup tin full and hang it off the lock like a horse & feedbag setup. Yellow foam ran out like honey and I was able to insert a key while there was a lot of chemical in there, opened the lock(s) and drew out the key a number of times. These locks are $28.00 where I live so I didn't feel like chopping them up, 3-foot bolt cutters won't work on these but my torch or grinder would have.

Lastly, I've had the same experiences with idiots putting toothpicks or matchstick papers in my locks but I know how to remove those too-add this zylol/zylene and just bake the lock and aim a micro torch in there a few times to turn the wood into broken-down ash. It's more flammable than gasoline and will stay inside the lock longer while burning

-now off to my questions, I have a broken key dilemna.

[rickola]

-a p.s to gunk in a lock and say, something like a vending machine where you can't heat the heck out of it with a torch etc.? Dunk a rag into zylol and while holding it against the lock mech. trickle a bit more into rag and it WILL find its way into the workings, soften it up enough so there's little resistance to the key and at least you'll get the lock open. May have to get a new cylinder depending on your skill level in cleaning out the rest but oh well. Incidentally, I helped a local service station owner with the same problem because vandals thought it was funny to nail him I guess.