combination lock

[weekly]

hello all i just got a great deal on a suitcase, just one problem. i bet you can guess. so i started going through the numbers 001 002 003.. up to 050. there has to be a better way. i have some experience picking key locks but have no idea how to go about this (other than previously mention method). any suggestions? if i comes to destroying the lock what would be the best way without damaging the suitcase?

thanks
mark

[weekly]

well i got it. a cramped hand and 500 or so turns later.

[P1mpF0x]

well i got it. a cramped hand and 500 or so turns later.

Heh i love it when people talk to themselves.

[Luke]

good effort their weekly, i would have ripped it open after 20 turns

[Sabin37]

It's good that it's only a 3 number combination lock. 4 numbers would have taken a lot longer and requires much more patience. (I did it once using this same method. It only took me an hour though, I got lucky )

[benzy2]

I had a 4 wheel lock that i lost the combination to. This was before i had a clue on picking and it took me until around 2200 before it opened. I had to sit down for an hour or two every night for three nights before it opened. Ive never forgot the combo again.

[Mr Ules]

If you want to go through all the numbers like that, drive yourself nuts, but I wouldn't. I once spent an entire day trying to unscrammble radio frequency codes using the same process. But that was the end of that.

[MrB]

Since nobody mentioned it, you can often decode that kind of lock using a thin metal shim that fits between the wheels. Do a bit of Googling and you should be able to find out how.

[benzy2]

Oh if i understood how to decode then i wouldnt have done it the hard way. But i had no clue on what to do other than go through the numbers. I was only 15 and had nothing better to do. It did teach me to write the combo down even if it is a number that means something to you.

[digital_blue]

I have found that in most of these 3 or 4 wheel combination locks can be opened *way* simpler than trying every possible combination. The following technique will require some adaptation from lock to lock, but the principle works. I'll describe how I open a 3 wheel Master padlock.

Apply medium pressure on the bolt and begin turning any one of the wheels. You will notice that the amount of tension you feel will vary as you turn the dial. If the variation in tension isn't very noticable, try a different wheel. Stop on the number that offers the least amount of resistance (ie: has the most play), then move on to the second wheel and repeat. For the 3rd wheel, just spin it slowly through one full rotation or until the lock pops open. If it does not, go back and check your first two because either or both are wrong.

I have used this technique to open many 3 and 4 wheel combination locks. It works for much the same reason as picking a tumbler lock works. Small imperfections in the locking mechanism cause the bulk of the force (from pulling on the bolt) to be applied to one wheel of the combination. When you hit the wheel gate on that wheel, the pressure is released from that wheel and transfered to another wheel.

I have not been defeated yet with this method, though admittedly, I have only tried it on less than a dozen locks and none of them are what I would call "high security".

I'm still exploring this method and I'm sure somebody else out there has more experience with it than I do, so any further ideas are certainly welcome.

db

[benzy2]

I tryed it on the 4 wheel lock that i forgot the combo on and without looking at the entire thing i could get the combination in under a minute. I think i may need to go out and see if i can get another lock like this. Oh and the lock that i have says hampton on it if that helps any.

[digital_blue]

I had to laugh the other day. I was in a Zellers store with my wife and (of course) I was in the hardware section looking at the locks they had available. They had a Master 4 wheel combination lock on a braided steel wire selling for about $30. Just for kicks I picked it up and started playing with it. It took me less than 30 seconds using the method I mentioned above. So much for security. So the question is, how much do you have to spend on a lock to safely protect a $200 bike?

[raimundo]

if its four numbers, try all 0's first of course, then try the other 9 numbers in turn with all of them, next if you are going to brute force it , start around 1950 and work forward or at 2005 and work backward for about 60 trys. then use historic numbers, wars, magna carta things like that.
if its only 3 numbers, put a finger accross all the numbers, and then apply tension to the open button (bolt) pull the bolt, feel which wheels hit harder, move one wheel away from the direction of the bolt pull one number, pull the bolt again, move the wheel again, in less than ten tries, you should find a place where the wheel and the bolt disconnect. leave it there and work the other wheels the same way. Also try the pressure while rolling the wheels method mentioned above.

[Pickermeapie]

I believe you can use a sesamee decoder on those breifcase locks. I dont believe its that difficult either, just look for the flats.
-Pickermeapie

[raimundo]

many of the three wheel briefcase locks can be easily opened by manipulation if you start by putting pressure on the slider that opens the latch, then rolling the wheels, leaving any wheel that sticks where it is, and moving on to any wheel that moves, This is such a feel method that it can be done in the dark.