About Cylinder Locks

The most common type of locks that residential homes will have where a key is required to gain entry would be a cylinder lock. However, most cylinder designs are flawed in a way that many intruders nowadays came up with various methods for defeating them such as a bump key for example. This type of special key was meant to be used only by professional locksmith technicians and companies in order to assist customers in an emergency lockout type of situation. However, with the ease of access in today's world, many intruders have adopted this type of method to break-in to homes.

There are many ways to avoid these types of situations by choosing the right cylinder type lock. A strong lock-set is a good way to start in order to prevent from intruders breaking in to your home. It has been proven that a strong lock which may cost significantly more than the average type of lock would be able to defeat bump keys or at least make the intruder's life much more difficult that he would give up on the lock much sooner.

There are many types of strong locks in the market and normally they can be identified by the following qualities. Deadbolt locks for example who are equipped with steel chips can get the job done! Not only a deadbolt lock is considered as an added security measure by itself, but the ones that come with steel chips would be able to resist drilling which is one of the more popular break-in method intruders like to use.

Another type of deadbolt is the one equipped with a one inch throw. The throw is in fact the piece that extends from the lock all the way inside the door from. This type of deadbolt will come in handy in a situation where an intruder would try to force the door open. Because of the extended length of the deadbolt's throw, the chances of him to succeed would be very minimal.

Another way to go is with a double cylinder deadbolt which require a key from both sides. This type of lock would help in a scenario where an intruder would try to break a window close to or part of the door in order to reach in for the knob and unlock it from the inside. With a double cylinder deadbolt, this will not be possible.

Last but not least, key-less entry and digital type locks. The latest technology in home security which allow the user to enter his home by using a keypad entering a unique code. This will eliminate the use of keys and most of these locks are available without a cylinder, so an intruder would not be able to use the traditional methods for breaking in to a home.

For more information, give us a call or visit Premier NW Locksmith Reno.

Automotive Lockout Service

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Yale key Fitment

Sometimes as a mobile locksmith technician it is hard keeping track of inventory, especially for those who offer multiple residential, commercial, and automotive services. Normally, most mobile locksmith technicians will have in their service vehicle the most common items such as Schlage and Kwikset locks, keys including from other common manufacturers, deadbolts, automotive keys for most common vehicles, and more> Not only there is so much you can fit in a medium size service van, but keeping track on everything is the tricky part. There will be many times in such cases where a mobile technician will have to improvise due to missing items.

Recently I got a call from a bank manager who needed a key made to one of the locks on a door inside the bank. The manager could not tell me the exact type of lock, but according to his description, it did not seem to be a lock I wouldn't have the key for. In this case I did not even though about the idea of passing through the lock shop to re-stock my van with some items since I figure I won't have any issue .

It was a risk going to do the job in the bank without the awareness of the type of lock they needed a key for since it was in a decent distant from the nearest lock shop. Unfortunately for me, the risk didn't paid off. As I got to the bank and examined the lock, I saw it was a Yale lock with a sectional rim cylinder GC key-way. Without checking, I knew I didn't have a blank for it in my van. In fact, I did not recall having to need one in any previous jobs I did.

I called a Reno locksmith coworker of mine to see if he was in the area and by chance had the correct blank for the cylinder. Unfortunately for me he wasn't, but he did gave me an interesting tip which may have saved me a 60 mile trip back and forth from the lock shop. Apparently, a Kwikset blank could potentially fit that type of cylinder with a little modification. After following the process of modifying the Kwikset key blank to fit the cylinder, I was able to cut the key and test it successfully. To not take any chances, couple of days after when I was in the bank area again, I provided the bank with the proper key for the cylinder with no extra charge.

Office Application Mortise Lock

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Wrangler Lockout Tip

Unlocking a vehicle is one of the most common services a locksmith technician will do during his time as a technician. There are many methods for unlocking a vehicle where each one is used depending on the make and model of the vehicle. Most locksmith technicians will use an across the window tool in order to unlock most types of vehicles. This method proven to be one of the most effective way to unlock a vehicle in a timely manner without damaging the vehicle. However, some vehicles will make it very hard to open with this type of tool.

I remember few years ago I got a call to unlock a 96 Jeep Wrangler. The customer accidentally left the keys inside the vehicle and locked it behind him while jumping to the store to get something. I had experience unlocking many types of vehicles before, but I don'r recall ever servicing a Jeep Wrangler before. I figured it shouldn't be much different than other vehicles I've done before, so I took the job and started heading the customer's location.

Normally, for most vehicles, I use an across-the-window tool and air wedges which proved to be very effective way for unlocking vehicles more than other types of tools I've used before. However, in this case, I did not know that the Jeep Wrangler window frame would be so tight which did not gave me much room to maneuver with my tool.

After multiple tries of attempting to get with the edge of the tool to the lock button to unlock the vehicle, I finally gave up. I decided to call a Reno locksmith co worker of mine for a last advice before going with a little more expensive route of actually making a key for the vehicle in order to unlock it. My co worker mentioned using a cord tied to the edge of the tool which allowed manipulating the edge of the tool making it much easier to unlock the lock button. Once I was able to find a cord in my van, I made few attempts using the trick and to my surprise it worked and I was able to unlock the vehicle within couple of minutes.

Residential Lockout Service

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Lock Re-key

I remember a few years ago I got a call from a customer who needed to re-key all the locks in his home. Like most locksmith technicians, once I got to the customer's home, I inspected the locks that needed to be re-keyed for compatibility making sure I could key them all the same. Most of the time its not a big deal, but In this case, the customer had four doors where each one of them had a Titan deadbolt and a Corbin entry lock. 

The first step for me was pulling all the locks. Before starting re-pinning all the locks, I did a little testing. I noticed that I was able to use the new key I made for the Titan deadbolt on the Corbin cylinder, but only when the plug was out of the sleeve. I then had an idea to grind the bottom surface of the blade about 1/32" and the key seemed to fit in the Corbin Plug even after re-pinning and assembled it. I finished re-keying all the other cylinders, put them back in the door and the customer was satisfied since now he had to worry about only one key instead of two.

Luckily, I got this idea from a Reno locksmith co-worker of mine who recommended me to always have a set of around six keys made for each common lock manufacturer before any re-key job. That way, the next time I will face a similar job, I would come prepared and save some time. It seemed that in this area, the most common lock manufacturers are Schlage, Kwikset, and Multilock, so now I have a set ready for each one of them which will save me the time of cutting them on job location.