Everest lock Fix

In the lock business, each manufacture would use its own design for a lock or cylinder. Although most types of residential locks would seem to be the same, the internal design would be different. For the average locksmith technician most types of residential locks are serviced in the same way regardless of the manufacturer, but it would mostly depend on the type of line. For a standard line of locks such as the type that could be found in an apartment complex property, the design would be very similar between a Schlage and a Kwikset type of lock. However, for the average locksmith technician, the problem in servicing a particular type of lock will begin when the lock is unique and uncommon which most likely will require a special care.

I got a call the other day from a customer who just came back to his home but was having trouble getting his key inside the lock in order to unlock the door. The customer seem pretty certain he was using the right key, so I figured that either the key was bad or the lock was badly contaminated. Either way, talking to the customer on the phone, it didn't seem it would be too difficult of an issue to resolve.

Once I got to the customer's home I wanted to see first what type of lock the customer had and looked like it was a Schlage Everest which was not very common and my first ever to work on. I then took a look at the key and it didn't seem to be worn out which made me believe the lock may be contaminated. After spraying some lock lubrication inside the lock, I made an attempt to insert the key inside the lock but still without any success.

I called a Spokane locksmith co-worker of mine to see if he had any info regarding that particular lock and according to him, it was a common issue. The key-way on these locks get easily damaged from inserting the key in the wrong way repeatedly. The solution was very simple. All I needed to do was take a proper Everest blank and use it like a "bump key" until it will reform the distorted area allowing the key to be inserted smoothly again.

Automotive Re-key Service

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Schlage Double Cylinder Deadbolt

As a locksmith technician, I feel there is a big difference between servicing a residential type lock and a commercial type one. Usually, commercial grade locks will be much more heavy duty than residential type ones even though they may look similar at times. Most beginner locksmith technicians normally do not provide much services for commercial grade locks as these type require a little more skills, knowledge and special tools. However, sometimes, even the experienced locksmith technician will run into a particular commercial type lock that will puzzle him to find a solution.

I got a call recently from a local restaurant where the manager wanted to re-key all the locks in the restaurant to match one key. Normally, most restaurants are equipped with commercial grade standard locks and since I had enough experience servicing these types of locks, I didn't hesitate much to take the job. However, I did realize that it might be a few hours gig since the restaurant manager mentioned that there were about 6 doors with locks to re-key.

Once I got to the restaurant, the first thing I checked was the type of locks that doors had installed on. By what I've seen, all the door were equipped with a standard commercial grade Schlage lever handle and a deadbolt. I started taking apart all the locks to prepare them for a re-key. It took me few hours to complete the re-key and put all the locks back together, but when I was done, the manager said I forgot one door which was the door to his office.

The door to his office had a type of Schlage double cylinder deadbolt that I was not familiar with and probably was more high security than the other locks I re-keyed. When I asked why did he had a double cylinder deadbolt installed, he said that it was because of the safe in his office. As I examined the lock, I couldn't find any way that I could remove it in order to do a re-key on the cylinder.There was no retainer screw that I could find holding the cylinders together. I then called a Spokane locksmith co worker of mine to see if he had any experience with this type of lock before and luckily he did. Apparently, the inside cylinder had a plate over the retaining screws which explained why I could not locate them. All I needed to do was removing the plate to access the screws. Once I did that, it didn't take very long to finish re-keying that lock as well.

Commercial Lockout Services

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Jaguar Trunk Lockout

As a locksmith technician, I find that vehicles from different years and different manufacturers all have different kind of tricks to deal with when servicing them. For the average locksmith technician, automotive services is a significant part of the job. It is very difficult to learn all the different tricks and methods to do multiple services on different vehicles year make and model such as lockouts, ignition work, or making a key. Luckily, there are many manuals available to help the average locksmith technician to provide those services. However, what will happen if the answer a technician need will not be in the manual?

I remember few years ago I got a call from a customer who locked his keys inside the trunk of his 86 Jaguar XJ6. After doing a quick review in the manual regarding the best way to approach the problem, I came to determine that the best way would be to make a a new key. The problem with this old model was that it didn't have any trunk release to pop the trunk, and picking it was almost impossible. After closing with the customer regarding the possible solution and cost, I was heading his way.

Once I got to the customer's location, before going through the process of making a key, I tried picking the trunk lock, but without any success. Something just didn't feel right with the cylinder, but I figured it was because I was trying to pick it and not because it had an issue. I then started going through the process of disassembling the door lock in order to read the stamped code. After I had the code, I was able to cut the key. However, as I was trying to unlock the trunk lock, I felt something was loose which prevented me from unlocking the trunk.

Since using a key was the only possible way to unlock the trunk, I had to think outside the box to solve this one. I called a Spokane locksmith co worker of mine to see if he had any previous experience with that type of vehicle. According to him, there was another way to pop the trunk open which did not involve much for the process. What I needed to do was removing the license plate and remove the rubber strips that were separating between the plate and the bumper. Once they were off, I detected a hole that gave me a direct access with a long screwdriver to the trunk latch. After accessing the latch with the screw driver, I was able to unlock the trunk.

Residential Lock Re-key

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Ford Ignition Cylinder Solution

As a locksmith technician with many years of experience in the field there were many times I ran into common issues with certain vehicle makes and models. The issues will mostly be related to the ignition system of the vehicle. Whether if its the switch, cylinder, key, or all 3, I found that there is a solution around for most issues. However, many times, these types of issues can throw the beginner locksmith technician off track chasing solutions that not only will add the cost to the service, but also most likely wont solve anything.

One time I remember getting a call from a customer who had some issues with getting the key to work the ignition switch of his 98 Ford F-150. According to him he recently had a hard time removing and inserting the key to the ignition switch. Back then, I did not have much experience working with vehicles' ignition switches, but for me it didn't seem such a big deal, I figured that the cylinder probably just needed cleaning inside it.

The first thing I did once I got to the customer's location was grabbing a bottle of WD-40 and a key blank to assist me with the cleaning process of the cylinder. After I finished the cleaning process, I noticed that there was no improvement in the function of the key with the ignition cylinders. Before making other conclusions, I decided to call a Spokane locksmith co-worker of mine to see if he had any insights regarding the issue at hand.

According to my co-worker, this type of issue was very common with Ford 10 cut ignitions. Apparently the ears on the switch tend to become loose from constant force being applied using the key when operating the ignition. He mentioned that there was no official fix for this type of problem, so the plug would need to be replaced with a new unit which meant I had to go to the dealer and see if they had one in stock. Unfortunately they didn't have the part I needed in stock and since the customer could not wait few days for the part to arrive, I went with an aftermarket cylinder plug which tuned out to be more rigid and according to the customer the issue did not came back.