So, a good buddy has a mother-in-law garage apartment built in the 1960’s (maybe 70’s). It has Schlage brand multi-point lock systems from back in the day. The garage is unoccupied and got broken into over the summer. All three doors were “locked” but not shut post break in. That is, the top to bottom u-shaped rotating piece on the door was open in the non-rotated or locked position. A locksmith sprayed in lubricant, fiddled with each door for a few minutes and got that u-shaped piece to rotate ~30 degrees to the “unlocked” or open position. Once in the open position, when the door is shut it easily swings to the non-rotated position. Then, when opening the door, a bit of pressure on the hinge side of the door, the u-shaped piece rotates 30 degrees and it opens.
Challenge is one of the doors is open but the u-shaped piece is in the locked position. I can’t figure out how to make it rotate the 30 degrees? HELP!!!
If unclear, the door is open but the u-shaped piece is in the closed position (no angle). I’ve hit it with my palm multiple times. Tried two crescent wrenches to rotate the “u”, gently banged the “u” with a hammer. Can’t figure out how to get torque.
I cannot figure out how to rotate the damn thing. I must be doing something wrong or there is a trick. There is another door with the exact same lock that I have been able to open and shut a couple of times to understand how it generally works. Both the outside and the inside lock need to be rotated CCW to the unlocked position. I’ve spritzed in the “unlock” oil to every orifice. I figure it’s “frozen” or “stuck” into being open but locked.
If I can get it into the 30 degree angle, then there is plenty of leverage on the bar that juts out from the door frame that the u-shaped piece locks into. Once it fits into that door frame bar, then there is plenty of torque to rotate that 30 degrees open or shut. My problem is now that it is open, how to get it to rotate that 30 degrees???
By the way, this lock does not have a rotating handle. Only a keyhole lock on the outside, and a fixed handle (not part of the lock mechanism on the inside). It has a small plastic spring lock piece on the top of the door, that seems to do something when it’s closed. I can push it down but doesn’t seem to do anything related to the unlock.
If anyone has experience or good ideas, please share!!!
A locksmith had an unsuccessful crack at it? I’m an adept lock picker (mostly learned from the Law Pickiing Locker on YouTube), so I’ll echo PastTemse’s advice.
All fails, drill it out and replace it - yet a clever old lock is worth preserving.
To update, squirted the hell out of the entire assembly with some sort of lock dry lube. Kept turning the key (could hear the bolts engage and disengage) and by hand working the door length pivot mechanism until it finally moved. Then pulled the door shut and it pivoted back to the correct position. My friend didn’t want to touch it at that point since the door is largely unused. Will work it when that door needs to be used frequently.
Trust me, I’ve looked but can’t find a youtube or schlage website video that comes close to this 1960’s relic. It’s not a simple dead bolt style lock. The u-shaped flange that pivots off the floor to ceiling length of the door, has probably 5 bolts that shoot out and lock the flange straight. Newer versions all have a rotating handle that moves these bolts out or retracts them. There is no obvious way to open the u-shaped flange, nor an obvious way to open what it bolts into on the door frame. One could drill out the key hole lock, and maybe figure out how to get that u-shaped flange to do the rotation magic. It’s designed to be really challenging to anyone to break in. Unlocking the bolts into the u-shaped flange, and then pushing the door open rotates that u-flange maybe 20 degrees. Then when closing against the door frame assembly, that rotates or snaps the u-flange back to straight or 0 degrees. It’s a cludgy European thing from the 1960’s. Current versions look so much more practical.
I’m fairly familiar with door lock internals and with unrelated textual descriptions of complicated machinery and I have zero idea what the heck you’re talking about. I wish I did and I want to help. But this is words I recognize each of that collectively amount to sentences of gibberish.
Appreciate y’all checking back. I haven’t been able to find a matching photo but the first photo below should give an idea of the modern take. And then two photo’s I took for self reference without thinking I should showcase on the dope. See what y’all make of the below?
You can see there is a left piece that juts out the entire length of the door
The photo shows no handle and only the key slot
My friends door this piece jutting out is u shaped
this u shaped piece from top to bottom is what pivots when the door is opened or closed. The door frame has a top to bottom solid metal piece that fits inside the u-shaped piece when closed. And the pivot seems to be just the force exerted by opening or closing.
I can’t figure out how to post my two crappy photos of a top down view that might be helpful.
The u-shaped channel you’re describing is an anti-jimmy feature and is probably completely unrelated to the lock itself. And as you’ve said, is simply meant to pivot freely on what’s probably a full length piano hinge installed on the inner face of the door so it’s protected behind the u-channel when the door is closed.
A stuck piano hinge needs a lot of lube to get moving freely again. And may have gotten slightly bent through use or someone’s ham-handed attempts to free it by prying on one small area of it. If it won’t loosen up with lube and gentle heat (like a hair dryer), you may need to replace the whole assembly.
