Multi Lock Mechanism Failure?

[crusaderman]

My question is this!

How do you open a upvc door when the key operates the lock fully but the handle can't be pulled downwards to release the hooks or rollers?

Can't see any other way of opening this door without taking it off it's hinges.

Any advice would be appreciated.

p.s. this was a job for a customer that unfortunately I had to leave be. The spindle just wouldn't rotate in the unlocked position.

[horsefeathers]

you really have to be able to identify the mech/gearbox as they all have their little secrets.

i presume the customer wasnt locked out! So therefore i also assume that you could get to both sides - if you remove handles then that may allow you to identify the gearbox brand thru the handles screw holes and/or the follower pattern. Also sometimes identifying just the handles can determine which gearbox it is as some are unique to a certain brand.

so without knowing which brand its difficult to say in your case as some use force to open them (once unlocked with key), some have drill points under the handle to manipulate the unit. Some you even have to sacrifice the cylinder to use special bent tools to manipulate the workings.

anyway i guess at GU/ferco old style - a 3 second opening

[crusaderman]

You're correct, the owner of the flat (in this case) wasn't locked out, but the flat was on the first floor and the only way to reach the other side of the door was by a ladder! Last year I had a similar problem and managed to wreck the gearing in the central mechanism by applying too much downward force on the handle! And so I was a bit reluctant to repeat this method.

I was also aware that if I snapped the existing lock to remove it there was no guarantee I could get the door open and this might leave the owner of the flat with just a hole where the lock had been. (If you recall from my first post, the cylinder appeared to be operating the latch. I could tell from the resistance that the latch / bolt was moving back and forth with the key).

By the way, the flat owner wasn't the person who called me! It was the boss of a decorating firm whose needed access to paint the outside safety railings. So he had to get permission from his client who owned the block of flats to employ me!

In many cases I give the customer an assessment of the job as I go along so that they know possible outcome (if I think there could be a problem), but as the guy in the flat wasn't responsible for paying me, I reported it back to "Boss", and when I said I couldn't guarantee opening the door, he told me to leave it!

I guess a general lack of experience and confidence to complete the job was my undoing. I don't believe in charging when a job isn't completed, so in this instant I had to take a "fall".