rekeyed Schlage F keyed entry no longer locks immediately

[rc17]

After rekeying a Schlage F series keyed entry (bought/installed circa 1999), the exterior handle will still turn - once only, and in one direction only - even after I turn the inside button to the locked position. After the inside button is turned to the locked position, if I then turn the exterior handle one time in the "allowed" direction, as it turns back to neutral I can hear something click into the locked position, and then the exterior knob will no longer turn in either direction (expected behavior with button in locked position). But the fact that the exterior handle does still turn once after I have put the button in the locked position is a real problem. Why would it do this? The rekeying of the cylinder itself went smoothly, and the key works fine, so I'm guessing it has something to do with how I disassembled and reassembled the handle/key cylinder, which was as follows:

Disassemble: insert old key, turn key 1/4 turn to right, push down spring on left through small hole, pull off exterior handle. Note: I don't know what position I had the locking button on the inside in when I started.
(.... remove key cylinder and rekey ...)
Reassemble: insert new key, turn key 1/4 turn to right, push exterior handle over springs, turn key back to upright position, remove key. Note: I don't know what position I had the locking button on the inside in when I did this the first time. After realizing there was a problem with the exterior handle not locking immediately, I pulled off the exterior handle again and reinstalled it twice, once with the button in the unlocked position, and once with it in the locked position. The result did not change.

I never removed the inside handle or the latch in this process.

What is the most likely problem? Thanks so much for any ideas.

[rc17]

In case anybody is puzzled and curious about this -- I called Schlage, and their customer service rep said he'd never run across this problem before and had no idea what could be causing the problem. The good news is that Schlage customer service is fabulous - they are sending me two replacement keyed entry sets as warranty replacements, free of charge. Kudos to Schlage, a company that truly stands behind their lifetime warranties!

[Squelchtone]

In case anybody is puzzled and curious about this -- I called Schlage, and their customer service rep said he'd never run across this problem before and had no idea what could be causing the problem. The good news is that Schlage customer service is fabulous - they are sending me two replacement keyed entry sets as warranty replacements, free of charge. Kudos to Schlage, a company that truly stands behind their lifetime warranties!

Here is the service manual for your lock, it shows a knob, but instructions for a lever set is the same, see page 10 http://consumer.schlage.com/project%20d ... 13-325.pdf

It could be that something got reassembled out of phase, have you tried to remove the lever handle again and put it back on again and see if that helps? maybe twist the tail piece 90 or 180 degrees the other way before putting the lever back onto the door? I don't know the lever handle mechanisms well enough, but I seem to recall there is a piece that allows the lever handle to break free in case someone is pushing down on it really hard.. .. I think it's called a free wheeling clutch. Maybe you have that part and it's broken or not assembled correctly.

Thank you for the update so far, hope the replacement parts work out for you!
Squelchtone

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[rc17]

Squelchtone, thanks for your suggestions. Yes, the instructions on page 10 of that manual are how I reassembled the exterior knob onto the door after I rekeyed. I did not try removing and reinserting the interior knob yet.

BTW for anybody who is raising an eye at Schlage sending me two replacements when I only mentioned one set that had this problem -- the problem is actually happening on two different keyed entry sets after rekeying and reassembling them. I only mentioned one above to make things simple, but the problem is happening on both. On the worst one, the problem happens 100% of the time; on the other it happens about 25% of the time (the other 75% of the time the exterior knob locks immediately after I turn the lock button, like it should). Come to think of it now, the fact that on one of the sets the problem only happens about 1 out of 4 times implies that it is probably some kind of marginality/wear issue, rather than a completely wrong assembly where something is in the "wrong" position... right?? Because if it were a black and white "wrong position" issue, it would have to happen 100% of the time on both locks.

[cledry]

If they worked before you rekeyed them then it is in your reassembly more than likely.

[jimu57]

Did you remove the spring cap? Did you use the same springs and T pins?

[rc17]

cledry and jimu57, thank you both for your inputs.

Yes, both locks worked perfectly before I disassembled/rekeyed/reassembled them. I agree, it's probably something to do with the reassembly, but so far I can't figure out what.

I did not remove the spring cap while rekeying. I used a follower bar and didn't touch the springs or top pins.

[jimu57]

Odd. I installed 6 new ones recently. They had to be mastered keyed. They work perfect. Do you know if yours part numbers begin with F51 or F54? I think the F54 was created to not have emergency egress function. You have to unlock it to open the door from inside which is not a good idea.

[rc17]

These were Schlage keyed entry lockets from around 1999. I don't know the exact model number, but they are equivalent in function and external form to today's F51 keyed entry lockets.

I had a friend come over last night and try to help me figure out the problem. We worked on the worse of the two locksets, the one that was failing to lock immediately 100% of the time. He took off the exterior handle and reassembled it back onto the door a couple of times. He did get it to where it was only failing 50% of the time instead of 100% of the time, but obviously that's still not good enough. After that we gave up fixing it and installed a brand new Schlage F51 keyed entry set. The new one works perfectly. As soon as I turn the interior button to the locked position, the exterior handle is locked, as it should be. And... after we installed the new lockset, we noticed that the new handle has almost no "play" when you turn the exterior knob, before you engage the turning mechanism... whereas the old one had a LOT of play. It's a totally different feel now. So I think the old one really had worn out from 18 years of use, and disassembling/reassembling it was the last straw that did it in.

I have a second brand new F51 lockset that I want to replace the other keyed entry lockset with - the one that's been failing 25% of the time - but I need to rekey it first, and I'm utterly failing at removing the key cylinder from the handle. It's very aggravating. In the older Schlage keyed entry sets that I rekeyed, the key cylinder was easily accessible once you took off the handle. But on this one in order to get to the key cylinder, you're supposed to push it out the back of the handle in some special alignment that I can't figure out - steps 2A and 2B on page 7 of http://consumer.schlage.com/project%20d ... 13-325.pdf. Can anybody give me any hints?? Is there a way to see the proper alignment when looking from the back? I've pushed and tilted and pushed and rotated and pushed til my thumb is sore, and I can't get it out. (Should I start another thread for this question?)

Thanks in advance for any help!

[jimu57]

The spring cap is compressible. You should be able to get it in position to push it out. Not sure if the back of the knob has a removable trim ring or there is a notch that the bible of the cylinder fits thru.

[rc17]

On the latest F51, there is no removable trim ring on the back of the knob. The knob is one solid piece. And I can't find a notch to let the cylinder bible through. I can see the spring cap that is supposed to compress, but I can't get it to do so.

Is it possible that I took the key out while in the wrong position, and so the cylinder is in some weird/wrong configuration for exiting the handle? Or is there only one position where the key will come out? I did have a very difficult time getting the key out after I took the handle-with-key-cylinder off the shank.

[jimu57]

I think you need to get the face of the cylinder back into the hole in the knob first. Then remove the cylinder in a straight motion out the back of the knob. If the cylinder dips down, I think it binds. Not much clearance to remove it.

[tjohn]

You will see a cutout inside the knob which is in line with the cylinder when in normal position. Typically when you push the cylinder from the front you can see a slight ramp on the cap of the cylinder. As they notated ^ that cap is compressible and will squish down alllwung cylinder to slide out. Yes it does have to travel perfectly level to slip out. Sometimes you have to reach in and push down on the silver cap to make it start to slide out.

[cledry]

I use an old worn out pick and slide it up on top of the cap, then as I push the cylinder from the front I remove the pick as soon as the cap starts to cup out. It is hard to explain but easy to do. To be honest I won't sell these unless a customer is really set on a particular style. I find the cheap import grade 3 locks to be better.

[jimu57]

I use an old worn out pick and slide it up on top of the cap, then as I push the cylinder from the front I remove the pick as soon as the cap starts to cup out. It is hard to explain but easy to do. To be honest I won't sell these unless a customer is really set on a particular style. I find the cheap import grade 3 locks to be better.

I agree. I installed some for a guy that bought these from Lowes at $55 each. These are made in Mexico. I have bought several different import leversets that are really good.