What if the lock turns, but doesn't open...?

[cenhfan]

Hey lockpickers,

I've got a 'meister 45 mm' lock but I haven't opened it yet. Last time I tried it i think i got all the pins set and the lock turned a bit because of the tension I applied.. But it didn't open and I couldn't find any pins that hadn't set. Then I realized that maybe one or more pins had set wrong so i released the tension slightly but then the cilinder also turned back! I had to start over again... Then suddenly my pick broke. I made that pick myself, with a file. Now I have to make a new one... That would be my 4th! But o well...

Greetings,
Timo

[Varjeal]

I'm not sure how far "a bit" is, but if it's not more than an 1/8th of a turn, chances are your padlock has some mushroom or spool driver pins, and you've caught one or more of them crossing the shear line and they weren't picked like you thought they were.

If the lock did move more than the 1/8th...you just needed to apply more pressure (perhaps a small flat screwdriver would help).

Keep us posted on your progress.

[cenhfan]

I guess it turned only a few milimeters, less than 1/8 of a turn. I don't like the idea of the mushrooms and spool drivers, but on the other hand, it makes picking the lock more challenging. So I suspect there are some mushrooms/ spool drivers in my Meister padlock.. Can anybody tell if there are mushrooms/ spool drivers in a Meister 45 mm padlock?
Either way, can you give me some advice on picking the padlock in case there are mushrooms or spool drivers in it?
Thanks very much!

Greetings,
Timo

[Varjeal]

Here's some advice.

1. If the lock is brand new or old and rusted/dirty, flush it out with a good quality silicon or teflon based lubricant. NOT WD-40, oil, or graphite.

2. If you were raking this lock before, try single-picking it.

3. Use very light-tension, and alternate where you start picking from. Be patient. If you find that you can't find the right amount of tension, switch tension wrenches until you find one that works.

I'm not familiar with that particular brand of lock, so someone else will hopefully help you out with that.

Keep us posted on your progress.

[att2785]

I have an american pin tumbler lock that turned after I picked it, but didn't open. Took me 3 days to figure out the thing was too rusted to pop open. I just needed to pull it open manually while my tension wrench was still in there.

Doesn't sound like this is your problem, but thought i might add it incase someone came looking for this answer.

[cenhfan]

Here's some advice.

1. If the lock is brand new or old and rusted/dirty, flush it out with a good quality silicon or teflon based lubricant. NOT WD-40, oil, or graphite.

2. If you were raking this lock before, try single-picking it.

3. Use very light-tension, and alternate where you start picking from. Be patient. If you find that you can't find the right amount of tension, switch tension wrenches until you find one that works.

I'm not familiar with that particular brand of lock, so someone else will hopefully help you out with that.

Keep us posted on your progress.

First of all, thanks for the advice. I used some silicon and I'm trying single picking the lock for a while but every time i think i picked it (when all of a sudden the plug turns almost 1/8 ) but then the lock doesn't open like i was hoping and i can't turn the plug any further. I also tried pulling the shackle but that doesn't work either.
Shall i keep trying, applying less tension?

Greetings,
Timo

[Grudge]

It really sounds like you got some spool or mushroom drivers in that lock. Sometimes the cylinder can move quite a bit, depending on how 'loose' the lock is.

Try this, after the lock cylinder has turned, lighten up on your tension wrench so you are just firmly holding the turned position. Use your favorite pin pick to lift each pin individually. If when you lift a pin it wants to pull the cylinder back towards 'straight' it is probably a spool or mushroom. Push the pin up until you get another 'click' and reach the real sheer line. Continue doing this test for each pin in the lock. You may have to re-pick some pins that fall back when you reset the spool/mushroom pins.

Good Luck!

[cenhfan]

Grudge, thanks for your help!
I'm going to try what you said. I will keep you guys updated on my progress. By the way, I remember a few times the lock indeed wanted to turn back to straight when I was pushing certain pins... So these should be mushroom or spool pins. Again, thanks.
Greetings,

Timo

PS: This forum is great, it's almost as great as the aquaforum People are also willing to help you here, that's nice.

[cenhfan]

Hey there lockpick-freaks,

Ok maybe I was starting to lose my patience a little bit, when I started wriggling the pick in my not-yet-picked padlock. Maybe that's also because the phone rang twice withing one hour of trying to pick that lock... Suddenly it broke, so I'm not very happy considering the hours I've spend making that pick with a file and saw...
(I think I'm going to buy a real lockpick set, maybe the 24.95 one that's in the lockpick shop)
To my surprise, as I desperately tried picking the lock with the top of the pick, it moved that 1/8 again
Now I'm trying to find those mushrooms (i think i already set one of them) so wish me luck ...Now I'm using 2 pick-tops and a penclip.

greetings,
Timo