Lock failed - curtain dropped down?

Removing a lock from a door and bringing it to someone who is not allowed to see the enviornment in which it operates will usually lead to another failure of some kind... To fix the problem permenantly the locksmith will need to see the door, the frame, the hinges, and whatever devices are getting entangled with the lock (i.e. curtains)... First thing comes to mind here is GET RID OF THE CURTAINS or attach them in some way to keep them out of the workings of the lock...

Evan the Maintenance Man

Just a guess: Is this a rim lock (with the body of the lock mounted to the surface of the door rather than installed into a space within the door)?

If so: Some rim locks try to protect themselves against certain kinds of brute-force tampering by incorporating a spring-loaded metal plate which drops into place and latches there, preventing access to the lock mechanism. If this was being released inappropriately, it could be interfering with the tailpiece. (I'd be slightly surprised if it caused a lockout, but stranger things have happened.)

Fixing this _can_ be as simple as tightening a few screws, so if that's what's going on it may be premature to assume it will happen again.

As others have noted, if it happens again the easiest solution is to go in another way, dismount the lock from inside, and get it fixed properly (if you carry it to the locksmith he won't hit you with a trip charge) or replace it with a new one.

A "turned curtain" is a known issue in the UK. It happens on mortice locks with a lever-lock-type key, sorry for the childish drawing of the key. O----nn "" The upper part of the keyhole is covered with a swiveling ring, that has an opening just where the blade of the key goes into the keyhole. When that ring accidentally swivels, the opening will move out of line with the keyhole, preventing the key from going in. It needs a screwdriver to swivel the ring back into the right position, and bingo. It is not necessarily a sign of a technical failure of the lock, here it happens a lot to old people, after intense fumbling with the key, when it goes in or out of the lock.

Regards,

Dino

Perhaps the locksmith could be consulted and he might be able to make you a tool that you could keep on your key ring to reset the curtain if it should get out of alignment again.

Ahhh. If I'm visualizing it right, you don't even necessarily need a screwdriver; you should be able to just turn it back with the tip of the key. Right? Or am I misunderstanding?

(I still can't get "dropped curtain" from there, though... unless it's just another way of saying that the piece has rotated out of alignment.)

Unfortunately, I don't think it can be removed from the inside from memory last time I looked at it.

We'll need it :-)

Rob.

Yes - I think this is more along the lines of what's happened here. I've take along my big torch and screwdriver set and have a fiddle.

Beverley will not like you for saying that :-)

Thanks, Rob.

A new lock I think it's a better long-term solution.

Regards, Rob

That could be my bad description of the problem. I didn't watch the locksmith last time he released the door so I'm going from a two line discussion held nearly six months ago.

Cheers, Rob.

The very end bit of these mortice keys is a continutaion of the round stem, from which the blade with the notches hangs off. That stem end will go into the top part of the keyhole, and will stop going in, when the blade hits the misaligned ring. The stem alone won't rotate the the ring back into its right place. It needs a screwdriver, the conically shaped sides of the screw-driver's head will grind into the inner surface of the misaligned ring, allowing you to wrench it back.

I agree with your "dropped curtain" remark, and yet "something dropped down in the keyhole" is a commonly used description by callers with this problem.

Cheerio,

Dino

"Next year will definitely be better. Than the year after that."

Thanks - this did the trick! 30 seconds with torch and small screwdriver and the ring is swivelled back out of the way. Probably won't replace the lock just yet (tempting fate) if this is all that's needed to fix it. It's only the back door.

Cheers, Rob.

Wowps! I hope this is British usage (torch = flashlight) rather than US usage (torch = serious heat producing flame, as in "oxy-acetylene torch".) :-)

Attacking this lock with an oxy-acetylene torch + screwdrive would be "overkill"!

Seems tha British have always had a slight problem with the english language. <g> (Go ahead - I'm wearing my flame retardant underwear!)

Mike Thomas Lock & Key For an email list discussion of locksmith related marketing concepts join us:

The US and the UK: Two countries divided by their common language.

(Recently visited the UK for the first time. Nice place, nice people; I'll be back at some point.)