era 5 lever mortice lock

[david guckion]

not quiet sure where to start. im going to take one of these locks apart have a look. then going to try picking it. would be gratefull for any pointers. still very new to lock picking, but i like to think drilling is a last resort. thanks

[pinky]

the best way to pick this is with the curtain wheel pick, you will find my earlier post on picking this lock with this tool

[sidpick]

Hi, is this a 5g ERA or 7g? invincible, profit or endurance or even wickes?
Not yet got a tool for the 5g invincible. It can be decoded with the right tool - safe ventures do a tool which takes minutes to open it on their site its the one in the new products, I have seen it in action and its clever!
as for the 7g profit or viscount, take a reading from the back of the levers (locking direction) with a plasticine make up key and you should get a pretty good idea of the key as it marks the key pattern directly, then a small file on site to make a new key or if you keep old keys from jobs find the closest one and file to suit. I used to carry a key bunch from the shop which had 20 ERA keys on pin was filed on all so they had more movement, bit like jigglers, if time was not a problem this was mostly effective - and flukey! Personally not had any joy with a curtain pick
Have fun!

[tri-city]

you could try impressioning the levers from the front with a half filed key with plastcine on it . the era has 2 types of levers well the bs invin. does high and low the low ones will leave a long mark on the key the high ones a short mark. low is 6,7 or 8 lever with a low gate and an anti pick gate above and the this will leave a long mark on the ket and the short mark is the high levers 1,2,3,4 and 5 which in most cases will have anti pick gates below the true gate.

[pinky]

this thread had drifted off of topic and has been edited to include only relevent posts to the thread, with all mention of any makers curtain picks has been removed, to try and end the bickering.

[32768]

I'm a bit hesitant to reply since I have very limited experience with lever locks. I do, however, have an ERA 5 lever and I've played with it a fair amount. Hopefully someone can enlighten me as to which version this is- I'd guess it's the bottom of the line. It was certainly cheap enough.

I've found that I can tension the bolt with a screwdriver and then there's enough room around the curtain to get in there with a wire and move the levers. Here's a pic showing how it's bent to fit in there:
http://tinypic.com/2jfrxj

The photo also shows the slot in the case that the bolt slides in. I found that this works as a convenient cutaway to see the levers so you can cheat while you're trying to pick it. I've only been able to open it by cheating like this, but then this is the first lever lock I've tried to pick.

In mine there's antipick notches on the first (closest to the side with the screws) lever only. This certainly isn't the easiest way to open it, but it's probably the cheapest.

[pinky]

you have the old brown Non BS ERA Viscount at a glance at photo, still found in doors now, a fairly reliable lock mechanism, though a little easier to pick than the newer one, and yes the lower end of the range, but still an awkward pick.

the new version of this lock is silver grey in colour with 2 dimples, one either side of keyway .

you can pick most curtain locks with 2 wires, with a little luck and alot of practice, 1 wire to tension the curtain and another to lift the levers.

good luck picking it , without cheating, it will happen.