Padlock for exterior use?

[mike]

I'm looking for a padlock that won't die in the rain.

Previously had a 50mm laminated padlock from Aldi (less than a fiver including hasp & staple) which did sterling service for 5 years before the innards succumbed to rust.

Its replacement from a local hardware store - a similar product with a supposedly "weatherproof" plastic jacket - filled up with water in the first rain shower and, despite me dumping its "weatherproof" jacket, is useless three months later. I'd return it but I dumped the receipt thinking "what could possibly go wrong with a padlock?"

I thought all padlocks except tiddlers for lockers/suitcases were meant for exterior use but obviously not. So what to look for? Brass, steel, laminated? Anything but "weatherproof"?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Paul - xxx]

We use these at school ..

.. bought from a local hardware supplier at roughly same price, 6 at a time keyed alike .. ;)

Spray roughly twice a year with 3-in-1 oil and they work for years.

Any lock (anything) will rust if you just leave it. Ours are used 4 times daily, 2 sets of main gates, 4 playground gates, 4 shed doors and two dustbin/compound padlocks ..

[John Williamson]

You could ask at your local boat hire place what they use.

I've got a Squire? weatherproof one on the fuel cap of the Land Rover, and with the occasional squirt of oil, it's lasted at least five years, in spite of me removing the plastic shield on the hasp to get it through the hole on the cap.

Laminated case, with a yellow plastic cover moulded onto it and a black plastic base cover, with key flap. IIRC, it came from B&Q.

[Nick Odell]

This sort:

to work okay out in the open all the time but I've found that they need a good overhaul every three months or so to keep them that way.

This sort:

to carry on and on without any attention but tend to cost a lot more in the first place.

I guess it depends on what you are trying to secure and how determined the 'opposition' might be to unsecure it. The second type are at their best if you select the size to match the staple/chain link so you leave no room for the insertion of a hacksaw blade.

Nick

[Peter Parry]

reasonable quality locks last in the rain as long as they are given a good squirt of oil now and again.

[Newshound]

The "Masters" from Screwfix work; and you can get sets of three keyed alike which is very useful sometimes.

[DerbyBoy]

The "Masters" from Screwfix work; and you can get sets of three keyed alike which is very useful sometimes.

_________________

The one on my garage door is about 20 years old. It has an occasional spray of whatever I have from the Pound shop to dispel water.

[Adam Aglionby]

Abloy , more an ebay buy than brand new.

Difficult to pick due to keyway design and very weatherproof, choice of lock on shipping containers.

Cheers Adam

[Andy Champ]

I have an Abus Diskus that has been securing my shed for many years and AFAIK is perfect inside. It's certainly shiny on the outside, and works fine.

I also have a couple of Squire Stronglocks (or something very similar - if you google that phrase you'll get a picture, lots of flat plates stacked) One has been on the garden gate for at least 15 years. I had to oil it last month as it was getting sticky. Used a couple of times a week. And another underneath my dinghy (so out of the rain) which is of similar age, and hasn't needed oiling.

I think they're older than that. I don't actually know when my Dad bought them!

HTH

Andy

[The Other Mike]

No need for one of them. Pikeys just jack them up, put a spike under the tank, lower the vehicle down, and collect the diesel.

[Jon Fairbairn]

[?]

I have a cheap lock on a shed door that used to need attention, but since I started leaving it stuck upside-down through the staple, the rain doesn?t get in and I?ve had no problems with it.

Of course, that depends on the geometry of the lock, orientation of the staple and willingness of other users to do something slightly out of the ordinary.

[John Williamson]

I'd just love it if they put the contents of my tank into their diesel engine. :-)

[RobertL]

When I lived on a boat I used ABUS disklocks and they worked fine in all weathers and never rusted (in 10 years).

Robert

[Nightjar]

I have used these for years and, as the names says, they really are all-weather padlocks:

Bignell

[Adam Aglionby]

eather padlocks:

Medeco are great top end padlocks , looking along here, lane of workshops, also popular apart from Abloy are Cisa, Ingersoll and Squire SS65 even on Ebay around =A350+ a lock but they won`t fall off from a glancing blow with a hammer. Cheaper Discus style locks will....

Other top tip is put a bit of old roofing felt or other flap over the lock , keeps the worst of the rain out and after last winter , weatherproof dosen`t mean freezeproof, lock de-icer is incredibly handy.

Cheers Adam

[the_constructor]

Medeco are great top end padlocks , looking along here, lane of workshops, also popular apart from Abloy are Cisa, Ingersoll and Squire SS65 even on Ebay around £50+ a lock but they won`t fall off from a glancing blow with a hammer. Cheaper Discus style locks will....

Other top tip is put a bit of old roofing felt or other flap over the lock , keeps the worst of the rain out and after last winter , weatherproof dosen`t mean freezeproof, lock de-icer is incredibly handy.

Cheers Adam

Why pay for de-icer when warm water does the job just as well poured on the body of the lock.

[Jules Richardson]

I always planned to do something like that (miy thought was something cut from the bottom end of a can and nailed above the lock to form a little roof).

Then I found a spray-can of silicone 'dry' lubricant though, and a quick squirt of that every year or two seems to keep them working (and isn't a 'messy' oil that might get transferred to keys and then pockets), despite the insane winters we get where I am.

cheers

Jules

[The Other Mike]

Go on then, you can't just leave it like that! What's in the tank?

[John Williamson]

The well known diesel engine wrecker known as 95 octane petrol.

Believed to be almost instantly lethal to modern small diesels. It doesn't do the older ones much good, either.

[The Medway Handyman]

I have a brass B&Q combination lock on my garage, been out in the elements for 15 years, works like new.