Nothing changes for Ross-Dean Locksmiths over this period Our staff Christmas dinner bowl of Frosties can wait until we get you into your house/car or fix your lock or whatever.
Christmas Eve: Open 24 hours.
Christmas Day: Open 24 hours.
New Years Eve: Open 24 hours.
New Years Day: Open 24 hours.
If you need a locksmith in Ross on Wye, Forest of Dean or surrounding areas over this period do not hesitate to give us a call. It’s cheaper for us to unlock your car than you smash your own window and replace it.
It’s pretty common when called to a broken UPVC door to be told by the customer that they’ve been squirting WD40 into. It’s understandable, but for starters it’s the wrong lubricant for the job. Secondly the difficulty locking is normally because the door is out of alignment. WD40 won’t magically re-align the door.
If you ignore difficulty locking a UPVC door eventually the mechanism is going to break. You could end up with a door jammed shut, or unable to lock. In the photo below a customer had been using WD40 to try to make the door work. No amount of lubricant was going to put all these broken pieces of metal back together. Adjusting the door in time would have prevented this breakage.
It is far cheaper to adjust your door correctly than it is to open a broken UPVC mechanism and replace the parts.
REPLACEMENT LOCK DETAINERS
With most mortise locks that are difficult to lock there are 2 main reasons. Either the door has dropped and the bolt is hitting the keep, or the keys are badly worn / cut. If the bow of the key does not have a manufacturer’s name, (or has an aftermarket brand such as JMA) the key is likely to be a copy. Take a look at the bitting of the key for worn or bent elements. If the key only works one side of the door this is a good indication of a worn key.
Worn keys can be exacerbated having too many keys/junk hanging on the bunch. This additional weight can wear levers or the curtain on one side.
If the keys are too badly worn they may have damaged the levers. It is possible to replace these levers but it’s normally cheaper to replace a complete lock. An exception to this rule is for Chubb (now Union) 3G110 lock. A detainer pack for these locks is cheaper than replacing the entire lock. Some companies do make cheaper locks that will slot straight into the hole but they’re not the same quality as a 3G110.
Renault Koleos handsfree card supplied, cut and programmed. The original key was faulty and would not lock the car. This style of Renault card are renowned for becoming damaged. They might fit nicely in your back pocket, but eventually you’re going to sit on it and break it if you keep putting it there.
UPVC door gearboxes shouldn’t look like this one above. Customer could have just replaced the gearbox but instead decided to cut the faceplate into 3 parts, requiring a complete replacement strip. Most gearboxes fail due to door misalignment (not rust or being cut into bits).
Above is an antique steamer trunk. It had regularly been across the Atlantic. The chest hadn’t been opened in decades and the key could not be found. We opened the lock without damage.
First example is programming of some Renault key cards. Work carried out for a lot cheaper than the rip off price the dealer quoted the customer. Dealer had also insisted the card reader was faulty and needed replacing before the cards could be programmed – that was a blatant lie.
Damaged UPVC door gearbox – and wrong fittings.Damaged gearbox due to somebody taking the lock out without knowing what they were doing.
Next example is a UPVC door that was jammed shut. This occurred due to a misaligned door. Once we got the door open we replaced the damaged parts and aligned the door. Previous repairers had just replaced the cylinder, ignoring the root cause of the problem (misalignment) and also put a wood screw into the gearbox instead of the correct M4 screw.
Last example from this week is a non-destructive entry to a commercial premises. British Standard 5 lever ERA Fortress picked open.
During this hot weather we are attending a lot of doors that cannot be locked. This is normally due to the doors being out of alignment. This most often happens to UPVC doors but can also affect wood and composite doors. If you have to use excessive force to lift the handle then very soon the mechanism is going to break. Your door should not be “knocking” when you shut the door with the handle held down.
Door roller locking point showing wear from door misalignment.
It is far cheaper to get the doors adjusted before the mechanism breaks (possibly locking you in/out).
UPVC door locking point showing wear due to door misalignment.
There is a fairly new housing estate in Coleford where we often go to conduct repairs. There’s also a new estate in Lydney with the same door mechanism. It isn’t the fault of the door mechanism, it’s the fault of the builders / installers who never took the time to line up the doors correctly to begin with.
If your sliding patio door is difficult to move or lock, it could be due to the rollers. Most patio door rollers can be adjusted to account for wear. Sometimes the rollers are so badly worn or collapsed that the aluminium door frame itself is rubbing on the track. Eventually this rubbing can also destroy the track which will add to the expense.
Worn patio door rollers (left). New replacement patio door roller (right).
In the picture above you can see 2 old rollers (left) which we removed from a door in Forest of Dean today. They are pictured with a new roller for comparison. The old rollers are completely worn away ( the only bit left is the bearing). No wonder the door didn’t want to open and couldn’t be locked.
What maintenance should you do for your sliding patio door? Keep the track clean and free dirt and grit. Do NOT lubricate the track. Lubricant on the track will attract grit and encourage the rollers to skid and flat spot. You want your rollers to grip the track and rotate correctly around the bearing. It’s the same as you don’t want your car tyres skidding on oil or ice – you want them gripping the road surface and rotating around the bearing.
This style of Garador lock and handle stopped being made around 1984. They can still be found on old metal garage doors. This type of lock barrel are also found on lockers in changing rooms.
In this example below the keys had been missing for months. We were asked to gain entry and fit a new lock. It is often possible to cut a new key for the lock but the original lock was so old and corroded it was worth fitting a new one.
The garage was one giant cobweb – it needed beating down with a stick to be able to enter!
Car remotes can stop working for several reasons. First thing to check is the battery. These can almost always be easily DIY replaced by popping the back off and swapping the battery out. If that doesn’t work then car key repair may be an option.
Some vehicles (particularly BMW/Land Rover and the blue Transit remotes) can have a rechargeable battery soldered to the circuit board. These are not quickly replaced. Like all re-chargeable batteries they have a limited lifespan and will eventually stop charging. We can replace these batteries when the time comes. For the blue Transit remotes it may be better to replace the remote for a newer type where the battery can be swapped out in seconds.
If the remote won’t work on all the buttons it’s probable that one of them is damaged or the solder joint has cracked. The flat Renault key cards are particularly prone to damage because the fit nicely in the back pocket and they get sat on. Replacing faulty or missing buttons can normally be achieved by anybody who can use a soldering iron. Old perished rubber centre buttons can be upgraded with ceramic buttons.
Land rover remote battery replacement. Checking operating frequency.
Even if your remote is working – check that your key actually works in the door locks. Sometimes remotes go flat but customers still can’t open the car because the locks have been changed or are faulty. If you don’t have the correct key for the lock you could be locked out if the remote or vehicle battery go flat.
VW Passat remote in for repair. Button had failed, was loose and rattling around in the case.
The battery in this Freelander 2 remote is a rechargeable type that is soldered to the circuit board. It should charge automatically from the vehicle. Like most rechargeable batteries it has a limited lifespan and will eventually fail and stop working. The blue Ford Transit remote batteries and many BMW remote batteries stop charging after a few years too.
It is not beyond anyone competent with a soldering iron to replace the battery themselves. The remote below is one that we repaired for a customer who preferred not to DIY.
New battery soldered onto Freelander 2 remote.
Remote tested and correctly transmitting.
Below is a double glazed unit that we replaced recently. That is water sloshing around but it is not a fish tank – it was a customer’s window. Not only is this unsightly but the insulation properties of the glass are severely reduced.
If you need your double glazed doors are windows repairing anywhere near Forest of Dean or Ross on Wye then give us a call for a quote.
Non destructively opened padlocks near Ross on Wye. Shutter style padlock (left) with covered shackle and drill protection. Discus style padlock (right) with boron shackle and drill protection.
The keys to the above steel ISO storage container had been mislaid. We opened both locks without damaging them. This means when the keys are found the locks can continue to be used. If the keys had been lost permanently it can be quicker just to cut the locks off.
If you’ve lost keys to cheap padlocks it may be easy enough for you to cut or twist the locks off yourself. A good padlock like those pictured here will be too strong or located in a position that household tools may not be able to cut them off. In both the padlocks above and the puck lock below the shackle is completely enclosed when fitted correctly. This prevents bolt croppers or a saw being used to easily cut the lock off.
Puck style padlock we opened on an industrial storage container near Ross on Wye.
Below is a link to another padlock job – this time there was no option to NDE (non destructive entry).
