False set due to bad spring?

[WolfSpring]

Not sure if this goes here or not, but I have two locks, both American that I believe are getting false sets due to bad springs. One is an SL10 which I found, I've picked 5 or 6 before, both new and found in the sand and cleaned up, the other is an SL40 which I have picked this same lock many times as a practice. The SL40 was getting easy to pick, and now I can't. Pin 5 and 4 set, and I can't feel 3 where it should be leading me to believe a bad spring, i turn it upside down and it doesn't come back down so I think it's setting, I know I probably need to pick it with the pins up. And the SL10 I can get to what feels like false set, but I can never get pin 4 to move at all unless there is no tension, if i try to set it with the bare minium tension, pin 3 is doing the same thing as the other lock. Any insight on this is appreciated.

[Eyes_Only]

That is kinda weird. But I doubt a bad spring would cause such a problem, although I could be wrong.

My only guess is maybe too much tension was applied that the top driver of the offending pin stack and was deformed and jammed somehow, cos if it was just the spring then the pin stack should drop down when you hold the padlock in the "upright" position when picking.

These locks use real tiny spool and serrated pins so its possible they were bent out of shape.

[djslacker]

Where do you live where you're randomly finding locks in sand? Also, it sounds like it might apply to your situation, but here's a trick that I just heard from a co-worker. Lube the keyway and lock up really good and then take a blank key and run it in and out of the lock. After a while of normal use, the small amounts of dust and dirt and crap work their way up the pin holes and create a barrier at the highest point that a pin gets. After the crap hardens, it creates a false ceiling and if you push hard enough, the pin will get mildly trapped in the crap. Lubing and running a blank key through would break that crap free and allow the pins to move a lit better.

[Eyes_Only]

Another thing I remembered seeing before is when I serviced one of those Kwikset/Defiant knockoff deadbolts for a customer at her house. Her key had difficulty being inserted fully and she couldn't open her front door.

Luckily she had a backdoor to get in and once I got the faulty deadbolt on the front door off and disassembled I found the bottom of one of the springs had somehow un-coiled itself and got wedged in between the side of the top pin and the shell. I just replaced the spring with a new one along with a new top driver pin and the problem was solved. So that could also be a possibility.

But I would definitely give what djslacker suggested a try as well. As long as its just a practice lock I'd use like PB Blast or something similar in penetrating strength.

[WolfSpring]

I'm currently stationed in Kuwait we have a container yard with hundreds of Milvan/Conex containers and they cut locks all the time and throw them on the ground. Once a week I pick a few rows to walk and pick up what I can find, clean them up and pick them. Though I have come to the conclusion some of the Master DGs are not repairable, but the spring one is either lack of experience, or a messed up lock. Either way I put it to the side and am practicing on ones I know I can pick and moving the pins around on them. Thanks for the Key idea, funny thing is I have an uncut blank that I use to do just that.

[djslacker]

It probably would do more bad than good, but you should let someone know that you can pick locks, then maybe you could get some usable locks out of it instead of them just cutting them off. Talk about a waste.

[WolfSpring]

My unit knows I can pick most of the kind we use and I have gotten with all of our key control guys to let them know to give me 10 mins on any lock before they cut it, that and it takes 10 mins to track down the bolt cutters anyways. Other then that there are a lot of units out here, and the DAs get locks cut on accident and stuff gets stolen, if I volunteer my services to much and something comes up missing I'm automatically gonna be a suspect. So far all I've been used for is opening office cabinet and drawers, 3 second rake jobs, but it's better then nothing and I'm helpful.