Locksmithing Blog

The new British Standards require you to have higher security on your doors of your home for your insurance to be valid, as the bolt throw increased from 14mm to 20mm a few years ago, and with the recent economic downturn and subsequently increased burglary rate, especially of commercial property, many locksmiths are reporting a surge in work.

Things like good locks and having the keys for your window locks add to your peace of mind. On commercial property, things such as steel grilles over windows and steel plates over doors are frequently a requirement, as are anti-ram bollards.

Please call us to arrange a security survey, with no obligation. A professional eye will help ensure that you are as safe as you feel you should be.

I helped in the execution of a warrant yesterday, one where the previous attempt to get in had left the lock butchered and inoperable after about 2 hours without access being gained, and two pretty big holes through it. I spent some time working on this one to open it and sort it out, before replacing the lock and fixing the handle. (Click the images for the larger versions.)

Once inside the alarm tripped. And that brings me to the real subject of this post.

I silenced the alarm within 20 seconds. I used most of the time the trigger gave the normal user to punch in the code to insert my ear plugs, and still had it quiet within 10 seconds of the sounders going off. It wasn’t some amazing magic trick, nor anything destructive. Take a look at the alarm panel, and see if you, too, can work out the code digits. (Again, you can click on the image for a larger version, but you might not need to!)

I figured that 4, 6 and 0 figured in the code, and since most codes are 4 digits, the fourth try turned it off. Not really rocket science on this one!

If you get into the habit of changing your alarm code every time you notice the digits you are using are starting to wear or get dirty, then you will effectively stop this trick cold. And, if you have an alarm or safe that are insurance rated, you should get your codes changed every 6 months regardless, to comply with the insurance requirements.

Discreet Security Solutions offers this service, along with many other locksmithing and security related services. We will probably find security issues you weren’t even aware of, but that could be exploited to leave you and your business or home in a far worse state than when you locked the door and went on your way. And, normally, there are low-tech, low-cost solutions to your security problem. Give us a call on 0845 355 0945 or drop us a line today.

New regulations to clamp down on unfair trading

This is great news, and will help put a lot of the rogue traders out of business. And there are few places with more cowboys than the “Driller Killer” locksmiths, whose work I am so frequently seeing. Even some of the large locksmithing organisations support drilling as the first resort, as they see the profits of their members as being more important than offering value for money. The ICL are different - we replace your lock for free if we destroy it (as long as it was working beforehand) so that quote won’t suddenly be “and another £40 for the new lock”.

Details:

On 26 May, new regulations affecting all UK businesses that trade with consumers are set to come into force, if they are approved by Parliament.
The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations will protect honest businesses by targeting the underhand practices of ‘rogue traders’.
The new regulations will ban 31 types of unfair commercial practices outright. They will also establish a general principle not to trade unfairly, use aggressive selling techniques or mislead consumers, helping to close loopholes that have previously been exploited.
For more information on the new Consumer Protection Regulations, please visit the following website:
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/unfairtrading

If you haven’t heard of the line of keysafes from Supra™ then click on the link just there.

Seriously, Discreet Security Solutions is now an accredited installer for Supra keysafes, a task which we fulfil with our high levels of care and no little pride. Over one and a half million of these keysafes have been sold in the UK since they were introduced, and they keep safe hundreds of thousands of people’s keys. In the event of an emergency, say a fall or a fire, those attending can quickly gain entry without damage.

Of course, even if you are not a typically vulnerable person, one of these mini-safes will save you the cost of a call-out should you lose your keys. We don’t charge quite as much for a call-out as one of these safes costs, but then it won’t take you as long as it takes us to get to the scene and help you get in! And, of course, should you call some other locksmith, who can say how high your bill might turn out to be?

If you live in the Discreet Security catchment area, give Supra a ring, and just a few days later you get to meet me (most likely) and we will get your spare keys locked up securely, somewhere more useful and more secure than your bedside or kitchen drawer!

Regards,

Nigel the locksmith

A site I frequent, Lockpicking101.com, recently had a small competition, wherein one member challenged the rest to find out his first name, for prizes based on the time it took. He doesn’t use his firstname, and goes by his second name at all times, even on legal stuff.

So a lot of people started trawlling through the 1500+ posts he had made on the board, and the like. However, the challenge post included his place of work. But you could hardly just call him up and ask him his first name, though, could you? The challenge was only 2 hours old, and he’d never fall for that.

You could. Listen to this.

As I said last time, it is important when you live right on the coast to look after anything that is made of metal. Salt and sand will corrode and abrade, and locks that would last 30 years inland will fail within 5 years in a place like Blackpool.

The easiest way to stop your locks from rotting is simply to use a smear of white grease or vaseline on the exposed metal inside the keyhole. Don’t use a lot, or things will stick to it. Just use a very small amount, then wipe it over with a cloth. This will help repel the water and keep things smoothly working.
You could also use a furniture polish on any external metal, as this too will repel and protect, while not being transferable to you and yours. Your brass will stay shiny.

For lever locks, make sure you have an escutheon fitted. These are the little flaps that drop back over the keyhole, keeping things out.

Almost every time I go to Blackpool, Thornton, even Morecambe, I am amazed by the effect the sea salt has on the locks in the area. Even relatively new locks on high use doors are frequently worn out due to the corrosive effect of the sand and salt driven into every crevice by the often biting sea breeze. Preston locks don’t have this issue with jamming due to sand.

So, how can we protect our locks? Firstly, *don’t* use WD-40, especially if you have a wooden door. Penetrating oils are great at freeing things up, but they either leave a sticky residue that leads to clogging as sand, spiders and leaves get stuck in there, or they flush away all the grease that was still protecting the lock internals, especially the bearing surfaces.

Cast zinc and brass are both very good materials for resisting wear, as they are slightly self-lubricating. Steel, as we all know, rusts. For this reason, you rarely see much bare steel,  with paints and zinc coatings being used to protect it. Normally, this lasts for years. In a salty environ, however, the salt reacts with the zinc, and forms a white oxide powder, which is called “blooming”. Alone, this still protects the metalunderneath, but, on a moving part, the oxide gets worn away rapidly, and the process happens again and again, until there is no metal left!

Lock curtains wear out in short time, and you start to need to jiggle the keys to get the lock to open. Pins and levers jam a little, and more jiggling is needed.

Tune in next time, for how to protect your locks from rust and decay!