Aha moment - lubrication

[Hachronn]

I'm new to all this, so as newbies tend to do, I haven't been lubricating my practice locks. That wasn't much of a problem until I moved on to an old misused deadbolt that also happened to contain a spool. I strugled with the lock until I eventually got around to squirting it with a little silicone, at that point picking the lock became less of a challenge. That got me wondering about what else I might be missing that should be obvious.

So old timers, if you can remember that far back, what was your aha moment that we newbies might benefit from?

[fgarci03]

I haven't been lubricating

That's what SHE said!


Onto serious stuff!
First, silicone isn't a good choice for lubricating a lock. It will attrack dirt and practically anything that will enter the keyway.
The best lubricants for locks are dry lubricants, because they don't leave a sticky goo on the lock, attracting small particules.
Silicone may do at the short hand, but will cause you more trouble than good.

Usually, best lock lubricants are graphite dust. Here's a pic of my small can (fits on my lockpicking set too!):


It's about 9cm (3,5 inches) so I carry it everywhere I take my picks.
To be honest, I haven't felt the need to use it, so I can't talk about this lubricant particular quality, but you get the picture.


About aha moments, my biggest one was after trying to pick without success a lock for more than an hour, I tensioned it to the other side (CW vs. CCW) and picked it in about 10 seconds... Flat.

[cledry]

I hate graphite with a passion. Used sparingly in a new lock it is OK. However I have seen locks with so much graphite in them that the key won't enter the lock all the way. It is messy and doesn't really help a dirty corroded lock.

[fgarci03]

Indeed cledry!
And since you jumped in, correct my view of this...

I think of graphite as a lubricant, not a cleaner. First, one should clean the lock. The only time i would use it without cleaning was on a picking in the wild where i would need fast lubbing. And even then, maybe wd40 would be better for that specific scenario. Do you agree?

[dll932]

WD40 is OK, Tri-Flow is better. Medeco and Best recommend Poxylube. Silicone is not so good. I use brake and electric motor cleaner to clean gummed up locks out. I don't like graphite.

[maintenanceguy]

Oil is bad for locks because it gums up the small parts (pins) when dirt gets into the lock. Graphite isn't sticky so this doesn't happen with graphite.

Bur for a practice lock, who cares if it gets gummed up in 5 years. You can just flush it out and it's good as new.

WD40 or any light oil such as 3 in 1 will work fine. And a little goes a long way. No need to over think a couple of drops of oil.

[cledry]

Indeed cledry!
And since you jumped in, correct my view of this...

I think of graphite as a lubricant, not a cleaner. First, one should clean the lock. The only time i would use it without cleaning was on a picking in the wild where i would need fast lubbing. And even then, maybe wd40 would be better for that specific scenario. Do you agree?

True, graphite isn't a cleaner and that is what is needed first in the field. WD40 in the field to free up a corroded cylinder is a good option, however it will need to be flushed out if you ever want to impression your way in. I carry, WD40, I carry brake cleaner and I carry T9. WD40 because it is cheap, brake cleaner to flush WD40 out, and T9 as a final lubricant.

[ARF-GEF]

Cledry: I was wondering about break cleaner too.
But I've been told that it's too corrosive for locks.
Did you had any bad experience with it? Since you said that you are a locksmith of over 25 years of experience I would imagine the long term side effects would have became obvious in such long time. And yet you still use it so they can't be too harsh.
Or did you had bad experience with it too?
(I'm too young to see any long term side effects of anything not just brake cleaner )

[Hachronn]

Great points guys. I guess I should have started out by asking for alternatives to silicone. I clearly hadn't thought about the consequences of not using a dry lubricant.

About aha moments, my biggest one was after trying to pick without success a lock for more than an hour, I tensioned it to the other side (CW vs. CCW) and picked it in about 10 seconds... Flat.

CW vs. CCW was one of my earlier "aha moments". Initially I practiced picking all of my locks CW because it was easier for me to apply the right amount of tension. The problem is that I was practicing opening deadbolts CW in my hand that would only open CCW when installed on a typical door.

Cledry: I was wondering about break cleaner too.
But I've been told that it's too corrosive for locks.

ARF-GEF: I understand that brake cleaner is corrosive, but I wonder if the exposure to the lock would be sufficient to cause damage before it evaporated.

[ARF-GEF]

Many locks have platic parts. It is definitely damaging to those.
I too wonder if it is actually harmful. I don't imagine that damage as very big. I mean sure it wont liquefy the plug in one use. But it might hurt precisely made locks.
I'm not sure.
Maybe repeated use has long term "side effects".
We will see when cledry answers

[Hachronn]

Many locks have platic parts. It is definitely damaging to those.

Good point.

[phrygianradar]

I came to really love brake cleaner for the old gummed up locks, like cledry wrote, or WD40. I had been trying to pick (to control position) an old SFIC lock; a 7 pin Best. All I could get it to do was spin the plug, and I had tried different combos each only operating the plug and not moving the control lug. So I sprayed some brake cleaner in there and let it sit and drain out a bit. The feel of the lock after that was like night and day. I got it to pick to the control shear in a little bit after that. My theory on it after taking the pins out with my Lab Annex tool, is that it had so many build up pins in it they were all stuck together and would make it pick to the operating positions really easy because those were the keys mainly used on it. After getting the pins to loosen up and separate it was much easier to find different combos of pin heights, and eventually the elusive control position! After that discovery I always give a new (old) lock a quick spritz of something and then rake it for a minute. I have actually had cores come flying out that way a few times! Not that often though...

[cledry]

Cledry: I was wondering about break cleaner too.
But I've been told that it's too corrosive for locks.
Did you had any bad experience with it? Since you said that you are a locksmith of over 25 years of experience I would imagine the long term side effects would have became obvious in such long time. And yet you still use it so they can't be too harsh.
Or did you had bad experience with it too?
(I'm too young to see any long term side effects of anything not just brake cleaner )

It evaporates almost instantly and is then displaced by the T9. I haven't found brake cleaner to be a problem except if you get it on your skin or sometimes a lacquer finish.

[cledry]

Many locks have platic parts. It is definitely damaging to those.
I too wonder if it is actually harmful. I don't imagine that damage as very big. I mean sure it wont liquefy the plug in one use. But it might hurt precisely made locks.
I'm not sure.
Maybe repeated use has long term "side effects".
We will see when cledry answers

In my line of commercial locksmithing there is plastic in only a few desk locks, but they are indoors and not exposed to the elements. Cannot think of a single commercial lock that has plastic in the cylinder. The only residential ones were the old Weiser and I think a Harloc model. There are perhaps others in Europe that use plastic.

[i_b_larry]

I hate graphite with a passion. Used sparingly in a new lock it is OK. However I have seen locks with so much graphite in them that the key won't enter the lock all the way. It is messy and doesn't really help a dirty corroded lock.

Earlier this year I bought a dozen old Best padlocks that must have been used outdoors. I would guess the locks were from the 1940's or 50's and had never been serviced.

While I had an operating key I had no control key. The cores seemed to show a lot of wear and I had no desire to pick 12 locks to the control line so I drilled the cores out one at a time. Even though I could retract the control lugs, several cores would not come out without force. I found that these locks had been lubricated with dry graphite and over the years it had caked around the cores cementing them into place.

After disassembling the locks I purchased one of those carburetor-cleaning-basket-in-a-can-of-chemicals and soaked the parts to remove as much of the dirt and graphite as I could. The locks are all-brass and I saw no ill effect from the chemical except for some discoloration that came off with a treatment of Brasso.

Prior to this experience, I only disliked graphite. After seeing what graphite does when used for decades, I now hate it with a passion.