Unexpected Padlock Failure

[Knotty4U]

I have a Master Lock padlock that I use for various SB activities. I've never thought of it as being particularly cheap - if anything I have always thought of it as heavy duty. Today I used it for a purpose that involved no physical restraint and when I went to release the lock, the key barrel had failed! Not the key mind you, but the actual barrel that the key inserts into. Don't know how it happened, but it doesn't really matter. Rather sobering if one stops to consider the consequences had it actually been used for physical restraint. No back up in the world would have helped out.

I would have NEVER considered this a possibility - now I know better. I've never seen anything like this in my life before, and I've used a padlock or two in my nearly half century of life . I guess the moral is always expect the unexpected.

[Kronopticon]

everything is subject to wear and tear and over time, things wont be as prescribed, i buy new padlocks every 6 months or so, i've had this happen before, while i was wearing them, and it just needed a bit of fiddling for a minute, turning and re-turning the key, moving it any which way to get it to move, and as you can see, im still here

[bound_jenny]

This is somewhat disconcerting, sobering, especially since I also considered Master as a reputable brand (it's also pretty dominating... ). I suppose that they too, are subject to market pressures and must reduce costs by assembling their locks in cheap labor farms and drastically reducing quality control checks on both parts and the finished product.

But, if one keeps all things in perspective, this kind of failure is highly unlikely.

Jenny.

[ponylady]

goes to show regularly using oil to clean the mechanism goes a long way to make sure they won't act up.

but it can still happen.

[Expeto]

I suppose wet, just unfrozen keys won't do any good either

[RADER]

A drop of WD-40 ever so often will work wonders for any lock.
I have some on outside sheds etc. and they last for years, with
a little oil on them. Rader

[not1975]

A drop of WD-40 ever so often will work wonders for any lock.
I have some on outside sheds etc. and they last for years, with
a little oil on them. Rader

I had a similar issue with a bike lock (which was used to connect two cuffs), where the key turned but it simple refused to disconnect. Luckily I was able to get the cuffs off instead.

The cuffs have been locked onto this bike lock for some time, but I just now tried WD-40 on it after reading this comment and it finally opened. It didn't occur to me that it might require lubrication even if the mechanism seems to be turning. But there you go...

[nitro]

WD-40 is more of a solvent than a lubricant, although it does include some lubricant ("Water Displacement - 40th Attempt").
It is useful to free stuck parts.. It also works to take crayon off the wall among it 2000+ uses.

For your locks, a high quality silicone spray is better lubrication. Use the WD-40 to get things moving then follow up with the silicone lubricant.
(not to be confused with the personal silicone lubricant )
http://www.3inone.com/products/silicone-spray/

[redone]

Am I the only one thinking this? I can't help but wonder what would happen when one of us has to call a friend or spouse for help. Hopefully your spouse knows that you are into whatever but it would still be really funny. Think about all the positions or outfits or things we stick in our bodies, what must that look like!

I think there would be a new appreciating for your rescuer. You might even get some, "I want you to do this for me or I'll tell about your secret" out of it.

[Jadit]

I just used a 5-combination lock which looks like this, only exception that it had numbers 0..9 instead of letters:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/26/56800 ... 2169_m.jpg
...and when the timer gave the correct combination it wouldn't open Situation was not dangerous in any way and i didn't need to break anything to get it off, luckily. I'm just clueless on why it happened. What my main guess is that some forceful number turning may have altered the combination. Well, i tried couple hundred different varieties, tried to listen to possible clicks with different metal positions if it would be hackable (its not) and then threw it to carbage.

[Dane]

@Jadit

I saw pictures of these 5 wheel locks before, and always wondered. It looks in all pictures like some of the letters/numbers are higher than the other ? Like the letters in the word match in your picture. If so, it dramatically decreases the number of combinations, unless it is possible to change the combination and scan/take a picture without knowing which wheels are high and which are low ?

[mfx]

Powdered graphite it the best lubricant for locks (You can buy it specifically for this purpose) WD40 and silicone oils are OK but many oils can cause more problems than they solve as they attract and cause dust/dirt to stick thus gumming up the mechanism. If you use padlocks to lock yourself to something e.g. a bed then use at least two in series so you have a good chance of unlocking one if the other fails, at least you can then move around and escape in an emergency even if you can't undo your other restraints.

[lugnuts]

I hadn't thought about it in a bondage context until just now, but...
Some years ago I purchased a padlock for a shop unit.
It worked with the key the day I bought it. I came back the next morning and couldn't get it open with the key.
I ended up borrowing tools to get into my unit.

So, does this mean that 'final lock' should be two locks hooked together so either one can be opened?

[tripinthehead]

In my previous job I had to do alot of work with locks, opening them up and changing the pins so a different key can be used, and although I was not ad never was a locksmith, I still have enough experiance and knowledge about them to say that MFX is 100% correct, you want to use powdered graphite to lubricate your locks!

The reason you do not want to use liquid based lubricants, if you are not sure how a lock works, I uploaded a pic of the the workings of a lock (hopefully it worked, first time putting pic up) i took the pic from the website http://www.tpromo2.com/ssmag/locks/lock1a/cylinder.htm

anyways so most standard locks have your upper pins as shown in the picture, many also have lower pins, if you use a liquid lubricant or any type of liquid for that matter the can 'gunk' up with dust and any other particles that may find their way into the lock. A little bit of gunk isn't likely to cause any harm but repeated uses of the liquid lubricants can result in alot of buildup, if gunk gets into the srings or the pins and the chambers the pins slide in it can cause them to jam making them either very hard or impossible to open and I have also seen in the case when the pins get so jammed that when the key is inserted and hits a jammed pin in can force the pin out of the chamber into the key slot, if this happens the lock is impossible to open and you will need either a locksmith or to cut the lock and get a new one (both of which may not be ideal if you are tied up and out of reach of tools)

They absolute best thing you can do is regular maintenance (i would personally say every 6 months to a year) or if the lock feels alittle stiff, get a can of compressed air and blast out the inside of the lock and tap it (keyslot down) onto a hard surface to get any dust and metal dust out, then pour powdered graphite into it, tap the lick again on a hard surface (with keyslot up) to help the graphite move throughout the lock, then tap it again (keyslot down) to remove excess graphite, that will keep your locks in good working order for along time!

[boundmonkey]

Ultimately, even with a new product or a well maintained quality product, breakages and failures occur.

The solution would probably be to use two padlocks for every link in your self bondage chain...