Friday, June 12, 2009

Rekeying Weiser deadbolts

a really good feature of the weiser deadbolt is that it has a grade one rating. schlage only has a grade one rating in the primus keyway B500 series. the primus keyway is restricted. only certain franchised locksmiths can cut keys for it. a grade one rating means the deadbolt has certain superiority in things like being able to stand up to various physical attacks. go to weiser.com and read up on the weiser before you make a decision to replace it with another deadbolt. check out some independent reviews of the weiser. http://en.allexperts.com/q/Locksmithing-3110/2008/9/Handleset-Rekeying-1.htm

replacing the weiser deadbolt with another weiser deadbolt would probably cost about $50 and a rekey for it would probably run about $20.
i am not familiar with the quality of the weiser deadbolt so i cannot advise you as to how secure it may be. schlage is pretty high quality. medeco is high security but the can be expensive. i would judge a kwikset to be medium security. you can get a low end schlage for about $30.

26 comments:

  1. Weiser Locks are not a lock I personally like to work on. They are difficult to remove the cylinder and sometimes difficult to re-insert it.

    If you feel you really want to remove the cylinders from the locks yourself, please follow the steps below:

    On the doorknobs, once the lock is removed from the door, pull on the long piece of metal that protrudes out of the back of the lock while you turn the key the the right to about the 7o'clock position, pulling the key as you turn. If you don't pull the spindle (the long metal piece) far enough, the lock won't come out. If you don't have the key to the door, either toss the lock in the trash or take the whole thing to the Locksmith.

    The deadbolts are somewhat easier. Depending upon the model of deadbolt, just remove the screw that is in the back of the lock. Of course, you have to remove the lock from the door first, otherwise you won't see the screw you need to remove. Once removed, the cylinder simply comes out of the back of the lock. If there is no screw on the back of the lock, the lock doesn't come out and you need to take the whole lock to the Locksmith. You don't need a key to remove the cylinder from most deadbolts.

    If you are stuck on the Weiser locks, by all means, keep them. I don't suggest you do that though, since all I've had with Weiser Locks is trouble. I always recommend Schlage Locks to all of my customers.

    http://en.allexperts.com/q/Locksmithing-3110/remove-Weiser-cylinders-locks.htm

    If you decide to rekey the locks, be sure to have the Locksmith lubricate the locks, and please don't let them use graphite. Graphite can cause more problems than people think.

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  2. Weiser is currently owned by Black & Decker a well known company committed to excellence

    Weiser has introduce many innovations in the last decade, including the Brilliance Anti-Tarnish finish

    Throughout their history they have always created high quality and secure locks

    There are quite a wide variety of Weiser deadbolts for you to choose from. They vary mostly by finish and type.

    Generally, there are two types of deadbolts. A Single cylinder and a double cylinder mode. The difference relates to the way in which you lock/unlock the deadbolt. With a single cylinder, one side is locked with a key and the other side in locked manually. Double cylinder deadbolts have to be locked on either side with a key. They have no manual way of locking or unlocking them.

    The prices of Weiser deadbolts ranges from $22 on the low end to as high as $40 or $50. Typically the single cylinder deadbolts are less expensive than the double cyclinder ones.

    http://weiserlocks.wordpress.com/

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  3. There are things you can do. The obvious choice is to get a bump proof lock or a digital touchpad. That does cost more but I would think the peace of mind is worth it. Like all ‘news’, this one may never affect your situation (I certainly hope you are never a victim of a break in) but for sure, the next time you have to change the locks on your door, make sure you ask for a bump proof lock.

    http://weiserlocks.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/should-you-be-worried-about-lock-bumping/

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  4. BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA: March 7, 2007…A breakthrough in key cylinder technology now allows consumers to play locksmith in a way that is expected to revolutionize the home security market. Introduced in March by Weiser Lock, a leader in door hardware products, the SmartKey® has taken locksets to the next level by introducing a quick and easy-to-use key cylinder that eliminates the need to fumble with traditional pins and tumblers.

    Lost or stolen keys will be a thing of the past with the new technology, which allows the cylinder to be rekeyed in seconds through a simple process. The SmartKey® enables you to control who has access to your home by allowing you to provide temporary access to neighbours, trades people or cleaning services.

    “The SmartKey® Lock guarantees to score big with consumers who are looking for peace of mind, control and convenience,” said Mark Wallace, Canadian Marketing Manager for Weiser Lock. “SmartKey® will empower consumers by enabling them to rekey locks as many times as they wish. With SmartKey® Lock technology, if you are concerned about a lost or unauthorized duplication of your key, you can simply replace the key and not the lock.”

    The SmartKey® cylinders employ a unique locking system that provides Grade 1 security. The cylinder also allows consumers to rekey all locks so that they can operate from one key. According to recent tests by Underwriters Laboratories (“UL”), SmartKey® Locks passed the most rigorous UL lock picking test. In addition to satisfying these rigorous ANSI/UL requirements, the revolutionary design of the SmartKey® Lock makes it not susceptible to lock bumping techniques. SmartKey® Lock technology eliminates the shear line in traditional pin tumbler locks, which simply put, means that SmartKey® Locks cannot be “bumped”. Another innovative feature of SmartKey® Lock technology is that it gives you the ability to re-key your lock yourself in less than 15 seconds while still providing superior security.

    The SmartKey® from Weiser Lock is available now in the Collections by Weiser Lock family of products and can be found at banner stores and independent retailers across Canada. The line comes with a lifetime mechanical and finish warranty.

    To learn more about the SmartKey®, log on to: www.weiserlock.ca

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  5. Okay, what's so exciting about a key? These are actually ordinary keys, although Weiser calls that little skinny thing in the middle of all the keys a SmartKey. With the new SmartKey locks, you can re-key a lock in 15 seconds without taking it off the door. You could change a lock in your house temporarily for workmen, and then change it back when they are done. Even more exciting for rental housing, you can instantly change keys as the last piece of furniture goes out the door. For new construction, you can install a brand new key for the home owners as part of the handing over the keys ceremony, showing them how to do it themselves at the same time and locking out all the keys used during the construction period. You can then use the construction keys on the next site. In fact, your site supervisor could have one key for all your SmartKey sites. This system can eliminate locksmith costs and delays - both for you during construction and for the home owner the rest of the life of the house.
    SmartKey locks use a ring system rather than pins and tumblers, which allows you to simply use the working key to turn the locking mechanism a quarter turn to horizontal. Hold it there and insert the special pin in and out to suspend the rings. Remove the working key, without turning it, insert any new key and then return the lock to the vertical position. It is now re-keyed. The old key will no longer work and the new one is now the working key. You can move on to new keys, return to old keys, key all the locks to the same key... all in seconds. Keys are standard and can be duplicated anywhere keys are sold. Weiser SmartKey sets can be purchased with new random teeth, which give you six everyday keys, two alternate keys (colour coded) and the special SmartKey (with a special keychain so you won't lose or misplace this little useless looking thing).
    So with all this sudden convenience, is it secure? Although anyone can buy a SmartKey pin, it doesn't do anything unless you have the working key to turn the cylinder a quarter turn as the first step. If you lose or misplace the SmartKey pin, they give you another one with every set of new keys. By eliminating the traditional pin and tumbler system, SmartKey Locks cannot be "bumped" or sheared by a thief. In fact, this lock is classified as Grade 1 security, having passed the most rigorous UL lock picking test. If you lose the working key, you can take the lock off the door and, with a special Weiser jig, a locksmith can re-key the lock.

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  6. I've yet to see a video on youtube of a smartkey lock picked. Let's put 'em up guys! If there are videos of Medecos being picked, surely someone can post one of this lock being picked. Personally, I'm enamored by them and have them on every external door on my house for convenience reasons (my siblings are always losing their keys and it makes it a heck of a lot easier to re-key).

    For all the hatred of Kwikset, I have to give them some credit. They're stumping most of us at nde attempts, and they are an affordable bump-proof (resistant?) lock. Furthermore, they have strategically located anti-drill ball bearings.

    The lack of this kind of stuff has consternated us for years, and now it's within Joe Sixpack's reach. Kwikset has finally done what we've been complaining about for years and I still hear whining from many members on the forum.

    It's no Medeco or Abloy, but I would venture to say they have revolutionized the affordable lock industry and made it so that destructive entry will continue to be the primary means of entry of criminals.

    We should take pride in the fact that our promulgation of the ease in which most locks can be compromised has made the industry take note, and more importantly, take action.

    Let's give credit where credit is due.
    http://www.lockpicking101.com/viewtopic.php?t=29323&start=30

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  7. The Master Bump Stop lock is a nice product and far more difficult to bump than others available.

    The Kwikset is bump proof, although there are bypasses for it, that make it easy to break through.

    The Kwikset's can be defeated with minimal (invisible) damage, that will not affect the lock operation.

    Bilock deadbolts are significantly cheaper than Abloy or various other brands.
    Bilock (factory) just release a super special deadbolt (using old Lori stock deadbolts) for very reasonable prices. (under $75, list)

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  8. I would say this is pretty much bull. I have been a locksmith for 7 years now. If a lock is pinned correctly, a bump key is pretty much useless. For instance, if the pins are all 9’s or all 7’s or something, then yea, a bump key will work. But in my clark security classes I was taught to never pin a lock in this fashion, because it will make the lock vulnerable to picking and bumping. All locksmiths should know better than to pin a lock up to a vulnerable key. This is a good reason to have your locks changed by a locksmith, not a hardware store. If a lock is pinned to a good key, like 16161, it will never be bumpable, or pickable. Also, these days most locks (higher grade kwicksets, and all shlage, and all baldwins) have mushroom pins inside of them (http://www.capricorn.org/~akira/home/lockpick/p35a-nt_b.gif). When you put some torque on the lock sideways, the mushroom pins cause the lock to bind up and the pins will no longer be movable. Want to know how criminals get in? They break windows and kick doors, not stand there for 10 minutes finessing locks. Saying that this technique will work in “all locks the key will slide into” is completey and utterly false. Contact a real locksmith and ask them. Any locksmith will tell you the same thing. A good key is not bumpable nor pickable. Since this post I have received hundres of calls asking for medeco locks and high security bump proof locks. It was recently on the news here in sacramento. I’ll tell you what, locksmiths selling people medeco locks for their front doors are taking advantage of the people. Even if you put a Medeco or Primus or Everest lock on your front door, the lock can be drilled out in 20 seconds flat. Also, any big guy could just kick the door, or grab a rock and throw it through the window. Crow bars can be bought fromt he hardware store. From a criminals perspective, screw bump keys, get a crow key(crow bar) or a rotary pick(a drill).
    http://www.tlarson.com/blog/2006/09/08/bump-key-follow-up/

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    Replies
    1. That is absolutely bull crapp, I have no problem bumping high low pinned locks at all, OK they might be resistant to those rip off keys they sell on the Internet, those keys are made to make money, not to open locks!!!

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    2. Watch my videos and you will see how easy it is,I haven't met a lock that will not be bumped yet with the keys I make!!!

      Delete
  9. To the guys that can’t seem to get this to work. It’s because this guys lies. Bump keys rarely work. If they are working on your locks it’s becasue you have a) a weak key. A key like 11111, or 21212, or 98998, is easy to pick with a bump key. Or b) you may have master pins in your lock. This may be the case in a dorm or an apartment (allthough a master key system in an apartment building is completely illegal, and for good reason). A standard shlage lock has 10 different depths of cuts, and 5 cuts on the key(good shlages, like baldwins, have 7 cuts). That gives us 10^5 possible keys for a standard shlage, or 100,000 possible combinations. Out of these keys, probably 1,000 are bumpable. All locksmiths use strong keys when the key locks (unless they’re not good locksmiths). My strong key set consists of only keys that are non-pickable and non-bumpable. If you pin a lock up to 26315, or 16942, or some good combo like this a bump key will just not work, period. This guy is trying to scare people so he can rip them off with $200 Medeco and Primus locks. Buying these locks will really do you no good, a criminal will still have no problem breaking a window. Get an alarm, not a new lock. If you can bump lock, go to a local locksmith and have him pin the lock to a bump-proof key, and ask him to use mushroom pins in the lock. Then try your bump key again. You will see that it simply will not work. I’m sure some of you reading this have even seen professional locksmiths, with real lock picks, have a hard time opening a lock and have to drill out the cylinder. This is because bump keys and picks are practically useless if the lock is pinned correctly.

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  10. the locksmiths here are right. But the one detail to really focus on is that only a lock/key set that has at least ONE pin set at the lowest setting (the highest number setting) is unbumpable. Kwiksets in particular are usually easy to bump. I won’t say exactly how, but I was able to pretty much test 200 different locks, and only ones with pins at the lowest setting gave me problems (which were few).

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  11. The comments from so called experts are incorrect. There is no such thing as a ‘good combinations’ Mushroom and spool pins dont do anything either. There are several bumping techniques and some are highly efficient at overcoming the resistant combinations and shaped pins. It is mooted that it is impossible to make a ’standard’ pin tumbler lock immune to bumping.

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  12. No matter how you pick or bump, if there’s even one mushroom pin inside the lock, when you put torque on the cylinder plug the mushroom pin is going to allow the cylinder plug to turn slightly, and the holes in the cylinder plug are simply not going to line up with the holes in the cylinder housing. This will bind the lock and render bumping/picking almost useless.
    I’m not saying that a lock with mushroom pins is impossible to pick; generally when picking these I try to push the bottom pins all the way into the cylinder housing and pick by dropping the bottom tumblers rather than raising them, therefor not allowing the cylinder plug to bind. What I am saying is that mushroom pins will make it much less likely for bump keys to work. I pick locks a lot. I can pick a lock with mushroom pins _maybe_ 1 out of 5 times. Add a good tumbler combo (16161 or something) to the equation and even a good professional locksmith will not be able to pick it, even in an hours time (at a job I pick for 2 minutes then it’s time to drill. Cylinders for Shlage are $14 my cost, and Kwickset cylinders are $7). As earlier mentioned, even a combo like 00000 or 01001 would be hard to bump (not hard to pick), because bump keys just do not bounce the tumblers high enough to get the low bit combos. Even if bump keys did bounce the pins high enough to hit the low bits, a bump key would not bounce one pin all the way up to a 0 and another only to a six without binding the cylinder plug (which is why good locks use mushroom pins).
    What I see on this page is people saying “I can pick every single lock with bump keys”. This is not true. Instead of saying that you can pick every lock, I’d like to see video footage of someone pinning a lock with mushroom pins and a good combo and then bumping the lock. Take your camera, point it at yourself, replace your 14mc cutter with your 47degree cutter, and cut a SC1 to 06060. Then drop your top pins and replace them with mushroom pins, and pin it up so we can see the depths of the bottom pins in your pin kit, and bump it with no camera cuts. I know that I’ll never see this footage because it can’t be done.

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  13. change-a-lock kit around $16 shipped

    success: rekeyed 2 deadbolts.

    third one--the rear cap pin seems frozen. can't get it off.

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  14. When I re-keyed the six 6 pin Kwikset locks in my house, I did so for $1.80. That's one dollar and eighty cents. I did this by finding a mom and pop hardware store that sold me the pins, lent me the cylinder extraction tool which you can get for free from Kwikset anyways, lent me the plug follower which you can use a 1/2 inch wooden dowel instead, gave me a key to re-key to from their box of mystery keys and walked me through a practice lock.

    What I found when I rekeyed my locks myself was that they were mastered with master pins and protecto balls such that contractors could have just one key for all the homes under construction in the neighborhood and although the protecto balls were removed by the use of the home owner's key, the mastering wafers remained hence the entire neighborhood could be opened by master keys which differ by just one cut from the builder's keys issued. This was expected and I dumped out the master pins. What I didn't expect was that these 6 pin locks are sold with 3 anti-prick spool top pins each but only one was installed in the front door, also half the locks only had 5 of the 6 pins occupied by springs and pins effectively rendering them 5 pin locks.

    Could it be that residential locks have a reputation for being easily picked and bumped because it's common practice for the builder's to pocket the security pins, master them, and only use 5 of the 6 pins?

    As to the misinformation about key bumping that proliferates over the Internet, Masterlock released an article some time ago describing their bumpstop development process. It described how their first approach was a two part top pin with the idea that if it was Newton's Cradle impact transference effect, one part would telescope up but the other part would remain stationary thereby keeping the shear line blocked but it didn't work, then they tried magnets to hold the top and bottom pin together rather than separating but it didn't work so they commission high speed video of a cutaway lock and discovered that it wasn't the Newton's Cradle/billiard ball effect at all but rather the ramps between the bitting on the key accelerated the entire pinstack together till the top pins were above the shear lines which would then hit the offset created by the torque applied to the plug and that's where the pins would separate. Basically, it's just reverse picking done very quickly. That's why they focused on shaping the bottom of the top pins so that it would enter the plug despite that offset and indeed they employed the difference in the bible bore hole diameter and the plug bore hole diameter to float the pin and they shaped the bottom to avoid it being cammed out. They credit the bump resistance to the pin floating but it's also because the pin quickly reneters the plug rather than set on the shear as the other pins do.

    I suspect that despite the poor reputation of pin tumbler lock such as Kwikset's, they would be a lot harder to pick and bump if the security features and all the pins were actually installed with decent bitting patterns and that very simple modifications in pinning practices can make it even more bump resistant.

    Just because a 13 yo posts a youtube bumping a residnetial dooe that's probably missing entire pin stacks, missing it's security pins and rife with master pins does not mean that it's necessary easy to bump a properly installed and pinned lock.

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    Replies
    1. Those bump stop master locks are so crapp I can bump it by my bare hands by flicking them with my finger!!!

      Delete
  15. Had lock bumping worked by the Newton's Cradle effect as so many believe, it would be a simple matter of having a light weight aluminum bottom pin and then placing a pin of equal weight above the top driver pin such that any impact would not move the driver pin much as the balls of the Newton's Cradle in the middle do not move. The pin above the driver pin doesn't matter cause the driver pin is sized such that it can never fully enter the plug with the bottom pin present hence that pin above the driver pin can bounce to it's heart content without ever clearing the shear line. Obviously, this doesn't work because it's not the Newton's Cradle effect but chances are the curved bottom of mushroom pins would allow rapid re-entry into the plug thereby avoiding setting on the offsets. Also sizing the driver pins or adding pins on top of the driver pins such that the pin stack is a uniform 0.467 inches from chamber to chamber means that the divisions between the driver pins and the bottom pins will not cross the shear line in unison.

    Ultimately, a pin chamber could be sacrificed, overbored, a ball bearing placed into it that seats into the top of the pin chamber of the plug, a strong spring put in and a setscrew to adjust the tension on this torque limiter (similar in concept to that of a torque wrench or an electric drill). That way the plug would only turn if the torque exceeds a certain value at which point it wouldn't be possible to pick or bump the lock cause the excess torque would prevent the binded pins from moving. Until there is enough torque to unseat that ball, there would be no offsets or binding that would allow the top pins to be set. Also, any attempt to drill the shear line would encounter the ball bearing and the drill bit would just spin uselessly. I would also tap that plug pin chamber and insert a setscrew into it so that the ball bearing could not be lifted by a pick. Unfortunately, this would render the 6 pin lock into a 5 pin lock but a very difficult to pick or bump 5 pin lock.

    Standard pin tumbler locks can certainly be modified to be bump resistant and some modifications may be as simple as balanced complementary pinning.

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  16. The low bitting actually do get hit by a lock bump attempt. Remember that the driver pins are there to push them down all the way to the 9's level when the key is not present, they just have less spring force behind them as the spring is less compressed unless the short pin stack is compensated by additional pins above the driver pin or a stronger spring perhaps two springs intertwined. Some locks are bored to float a lot bitted bottom pin in one chamber in order to provide bump resistance. Retrofitting an existing lock with this concept would required a larger diameter bottom pin perhaps made from a 8 AWG gauge brass wire and boring the plug hole out larger but not all the way down and used only where a shallow bitting is to exist, this could be a problem for future re-keying.

    Pinning for the deeper cuts tend to cause more problems for lock bumping then shallow bittings. The taller pinstack means more spring compression hence less chance of setting on the way back down plus there's less room for the pins to move to begin with.

    Complementary pinning makes all the pinstacks the same height effectively making them all difficult to bump regardless of bitting.

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  17. I think my $1.80 for six locks beats rodman's $16 for two locks...

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  18. The extra give from mushroom pins and other security pins actually make the locks easier to pick which is why you're not supposed to have all the top pins as security pins, remembers it's the slight offset from the plug rotation that gives you something for the top pins to rest on. It's misalignment that you exploit when picking a lock, security pins introduce more misalignment as an unfortunate consequence but they present false sets to the lock picker. Kwikset recommends keeping the two deepest in the lock as barrel pins to hold alignment till the key is fully inserted and most locks with security pins will have at least one barrel or serrated pin to hold alignment unless they have a sidebar system to hold alignment. Note the torque limiter would also hold alignment allowing all security pins as an option.

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  19. I've seen smartkey locks being picked on youtube. You apply pressure on the smartkey sidebar by using the smartkey tool itself while you pick the wafers. It is a wafer hybrid lock hence the internal components can be deformed which is it's main problem. It's just too mechanically complex for it's parts to be robust. Kwikset has improved the materials used since the first batch was so easily compromised. I would only use smartkey locks if there was another kind of lock on the door and another entryway into the house. I wouldn't rely on it alone for security.

    If I wanted the convenience of rapid re-keying for access control, I would look into a biometric or code lock but I would still have a standard dead bolt on the door too. Ideally, I would want one that would only accept input when a paired bluetooth cell phone is within a few feet, then it's not just whether my thumb print, code or key is there but whether my cell phone, laptop, pda or bluetooth headset is around.

    You see paracentrics like Abloy Protec all the time in some countries but its a lot harder to carry a lot of keys with those three dimensional spikes as keys. Even the Bilock is a hefty thick key, basically two keys connected in a U shape. I was planning on bringing back some Protec style locks from Brazil before I knew what they were or at least some of the cruciform locks that you see there as well but the keys just don't stack together very well.

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  20. Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful for me. I am looking forward to your new posts.

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  21. yes i agree with you. some locksmith services can cut this deadbolt

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    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete