Lock on aluminium door.

[Michael Chare]

In a bungalow, the front and back doors are both aluminium and have pins that come out of the top and bottom.

In the case of the front door, it is impossible to raise the handle to move the pins out, so I presume that they never move.

I removed all the visible screws and the lock barrel from the door, but the lock itself did not want to come out.

In the case of the back door the pins move out if you raise the handle and back if you lower the handle, but you can do this regardless of whether the door is locked or not. So not much use! I have not tried to take it to pieces.

The locks on both doors are made by Union. Is it likely that they can be made so that you have to raise the handle to push the pins out before you can turn the key to lock the door?

The previous owner of the house was probably quite old, so the doors might have been changed to make them easier to open and close.

Further questions:

1. Is changing a lock barrel to work with a different key a DIY job?

1. Is there a significant security risk having a lock barrel with a knob on the inside, thus obviating the need for a key to open the door from the inside?

[Adrian]

Are they "Eurolocks"?

Is there a glass panel in the door?

[spuorgelgoog]

Usually yes, provided you can get the old cylinder out and replace it with a new one (and the new one is identical to the old - I got caught with an i dentical replacement which wasn't and I had to do some minor chiselling in a wooden door)

Yes, in that if the door has glass which can be broken, or if the crim can enter through a window and then open the door to escape more quickly carryi ng loot. HOWEVER having a locked door which requires a key to open is a sig nificant risk in the event of fire. A thumbturn lock should always be used when the building is occupied.

Pass on the specifics of your lock and aluminium door mechanism.

Owain

[David Lang]

You mean this bit?

That's what usually happens.

There are two things. One is the lock, the other is the locking mechanism inside the door, the actual lock only "locks" the mechanism.

All the doors I've come across you have to lift the handles to engage the pins before the lock can be turned.

Easy. Look at the door edge and there will be a single screw exactly level with the centre of the cylinder. Remove it (they are 2" to 3" long). Now turn the key a little to 11 o'clock or 1 o'clock and pull/ push and the barrel should come out. They look like this;

You can see the threaded hole where the screw is. Turning the key slightly move the black bit into line with the silver bit allowing it to come out.

Measure (mm) from the front to the hole, then from the hole to the back to get the size. It might be something like 30/35 or 40/40.

There is if a window can be broken so someone could reach in. You have to balance this against the ease of exit in case of fire. If it takes you 3 minutes to find the keys the hall could be full of smoke. I have a thumb turn even though I have a window.

[Michael Chare]

Yes

Yes, but the glass is patterned so you could not see a knob.

[newshound]

Police hate knobs (security), firemen love them (safety). Your choice. FWIW I converted my elderly mother's to knobs.

[Michael Chare]

Replacing a Eurolock barrel with another barrel is generally quite easy. What I was wondering was whether I could make one of the barrels that I have work with a different key. Is it a DIY job?

I suspect what I have is something like this:

I need to take the door to pieces again to check properly.

[Tim+]

If it's a eurolock, the key must be inserted and turned through about 30 degrees before the lock barrel can be removed. Just needs a bit of trial and error and jiggling. The barrel is held by just one screw.

That's not right.

That's how they usually work.

Yes. Very easy. Just one screw and the old key needed.

Logically there must be but seeing as we usually leave the keys in the lock for speedy exit in case of fire etc, it makes no difference to us and we have knobs now.

Tim

[Adrian]

So very easy to change the barrel, then.

But somebody could smash the glass, reach through, and turn it.

[Adrian]

More hassle than it's worth.

[Brian Gaff]

These sorts of locks are a real pain if you, for example want to lock the inside door, but leave the porch unlocked and allow tradesmen ie carriers to put large stuff in the porch. Of course security is compromised but in my case Iwas happy to have it like that. The problem came in finding any kind of porch door where you did not need a key to get in.

They, in the end had to specially modify a door with a new locking mechanism.

Luckily mine was upvc not alluminium! Brian

[Chris Hogg]

Is there any significant difference in use between a knob on the inside and just leaving a key in the lock? The latter strikes me as being more flexible, in that you can remove the key when you go out, for example, thus improving the security, but leave it in when you're at home, thus also having the safety aspect.

[Peter Parry]

Many years ago during one of the then periodic fireman's strikes I attended a house fire in which a family of four died. The bodies were all at the front door which was locked. The key was later found under the body of the father. Talking to neighbours and relatives it appeared the door was usually locked each night and a key was permanently hung on a hook by the door. I presume that in the dark and smoke it got dropped before the door could be opened.