Lubricating a Yale lock

[NomoneyNohoney]

I'm really sorry, I don't know the right name for the parts I'm describing.

The front door has a Yale lock, so when you shut the door, a curved tongue hits on a housing plate, then as the door closes, it slides into the lock, and at the end of its travel, it opens up again slightly and is retained behind the housing plate.
Our door is banging the tongue against the end of the plate, and it is not retracting very easily, so there is a lot of force fed into the housing plate, and the door frame the housing plate is attached to.

What I want to know, is how to lubricate the innards of the lock, so that it slides more smoothly and with less resistance. There is no problem with keys or the cylinder lock, its just the tongue and its springs etc inside the housing that needs greasing or whatever.

A long time ago, I sprayed WD40, but people say that isn't the solution, and I really don't know what is, or what to use.

[Itsallaguess]

The front door has a Yale lock, so when you shut the door, a curved tongue hits on a housing plate, then as the door closes, it slides into the lock, and at the end of its travel, it opens up again slightly and is retained behind the housing plate.

Our door is banging the tongue against the end of the plate, and it is not retracting very easily, so there is a lot of force fed into the housing plate, and the door frame the housing plate is attached to.

What I want to know, is how to lubricate the innards of the lock, so that it slides more smoothly and with less resistance. There is no problem with keys or the cylinder lock, its just the tongue and its springs etc inside the housing that needs greasing or whatever.

Does the latch (the bit that moves in and out) move freely when you use your fingers to press it into the lock, with the door open?

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[Watis]

I'm really sorry, I don't know the right name for the parts I'm describing.

The front door has a Yale lock, so when you shut the door, a curved tongue hits on a housing plate, then as the door closes, it slides into the lock, and at the end of its travel, it opens up again slightly and is retained behind the housing plate.
Our door is banging the tongue against the end of the plate, and it is not retracting very easily, so there is a lot of force fed into the housing plate, and the door frame the housing plate is attached to.

What I want to know, is how to lubricate the innards of the lock, so that it slides more smoothly and with less resistance. There is no problem with keys or the cylinder lock, its just the tongue and its springs etc inside the housing that needs greasing or whatever.

A long time ago, I sprayed WD40, but people say that isn't the solution, and I really don't know what is, or what to use.

Two words: powdered graphite.

Watis

[NomoneyNohoney]

The latch (good word!) moves in reasonably easily - I'm just wanting to get it as free as possible.

Powdered graphite? Won't that fall to the bottom every time the mechanism moves around? I'm expecting the answer to be some kind of grease...

[redsturgeon]

Has it always been like this or is it something that has happened over time?

It could be more to do with the angles and positioning of the tongue on the frame.

I would have said powdered graphite for the actual lock mechanism but this is just the spring latch/bolt however I doubt that grease would help.

WD40 is the wrong thing, it is a water dispersant(WD)/degreaser rather than a lubricant.

John

[stewamax]

My guess is that the lock and striker plate have shifted slightly such that they are too close together; when you shut the door the striker plate is hitting the latch too near its base rather than on the curve. It needs to hit on the curve for the latch to retract easily.

And Watis is correct: use powdered graphite and not grease (grease hardens with age and cold)

[swill453]

My guess is that the lock and striker plate have shifted slightly such that they are too close together; when you shut the door the striker plate is hitting the latch too near its base rather than on the curve. It needs to hit on the curve for the latch to retract easily.

Depending on the age and type of door, it could be something as simple as the hinge screws needing tightened.

(check the easy things first

Scott.

[Itsallaguess]

The latch (good word!) moves in reasonably easily - I'm just wanting to get it as free as possible.

When you've tried pushing it in with your finger, are you directly forcing it home perpendicular to the housing?

I only ask because you might want to try it with your fingers in the way that it'll actually operate, which is with the curved bit of the latch being pushed back, so that the flat 'back' of the latch might be forced to rub against the frame-edge of the latch-housing. You can often get a roughness developing, either on the back flat-edge of the latch or on the housing edge that it slides past, so that when the striker plate pushes the latch tongue back, the flat edge will sometimes catch on the housing....

As others have said, the other opportunities for issues is where either the door (and hence the latch-housing, creeps towards the striker-plate) or the frame-edge with the striker plate (or the striker plate itself) move too close towards each other over time, either by expanding or by worn hinges.

Also, the striker-plates and latch-tongues can develop flats, which can tend to quickly form into lock-points which don't allow the smooth movement of the latch tongue over the striker-plate. Check to see if the angled bit of the striker-plate is angled enough, and is forming a smooth transition for the latch-tongue to be fed back into the latch-housing - it should ride into it smoothly, so if it's not smooth, then some adjustment may be necessary.

My money is on the rear flat of the latch catching on the latch housing...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[88V8]

Wooden door? They expand in the winter, reducing the clearance so the tongue (curved bit) doesn't slide so easily into the striker (bit on the frame).

Easy to remove a Yale and lube it, if one is practical. Take it off, dismantle, clean, grease lightly.

Powdered graphite will do no harm.

Try a smear of Vaseline on the curved bit.

New Yales, same pattern, available from Lockmonster.
https://www.lockmonster.co.uk/cat/rim-cylinder-locks
You can keep the existing cylinder, so no need for new keys.

Easy to fit a Yale, if one is practical.
House... a machine for living in... machines need us to be practical .

V8

[DrFfybes]

Also, the striker-plates and latch-tongues can develop flats, which can tend to quickly form into lock-points which don't allow the smooth movement of the latch tongue over the striker-plate. Check to see if the angled bit of the striker-plate is angled enough, and is forming a smooth transition for the latch-tongue to be fed back into the latch-housing - it should ride into it smoothly, so if it's not smooth, then some adjustment may be necessary.

My money is on the rear flat of the latch catching on the latch housing...
Itsallaguess

My money is on that too.

Get a small tack hammer and a bit of wood and try and bend the edge of the striker plate outwards 1mm where it hits the latch. This should take it past any flat spot and make it a better angle to push the latch in.

Paul

[88V8]

Get a small tack hammer and a bit of wood and try and bend the edge of the striker plate outwards 1mm where it hits the latch. This should take it past any flat spot and make it a better angle to push the latch in.

Good tip with a mortice lock, but Yales have a cast striker. Not bendable.

Easy enough to replace the lock, like for like.
Just a screwdriver.
Nice thing about Yales, many old models are still available.

V8

[NomoneyNohoney]

So, I took the lock apart yesterday. The tongue was a bit rough where it first hit the striker plate, so I filed that smooth, and also rounded it off a bit more. The striker plate couldn't be adjusted as it was pretty solid, but - rightly or wrongly - it looked to me that the tongue was sticking out more than needed. I contemplated taking the striker plate off and burying it deeper into the frame, but decided that was too big a job, with potential for problems.

Having thought that the tongue was extending out further than needed, I glued inside the lock two bits of dowel. These prevent the tongue from protruding as far as previously, so that it's as if the tongue has already been partially retracted. The effect of this is that there is less distance for the tongue to travel before it slips under the edge of the striker plate, and coupled with my smoothing all the metal, it is now much smoother, and the door closes with less of a thud. Didn't use any lubricant as it feels much smoother so overall, hopefully job done.

Thanks as ever for the help and suggestions, really useful and kind of you all to take the trouble to assist.

[csearle]

...

Excellent NmNh, sounds like a very satisfying experience. C.

[kiloran]

Having thought that the tongue was extending out further than needed, I glued inside the lock two bits of dowel. These prevent the tongue from protruding as far as previously, so that it's as if the tongue has already been partially retracted.

Does that now make the lock more susceptible to the old credit card trick? I would think so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t98y6WbzQV8

--kiloran

[pochisoldi]

Having thought that the tongue was extending out further than needed, I glued inside the lock two bits of dowel. These prevent the tongue from protruding as far as previously, so that it's as if the tongue has already been partially retracted.

Does that now make the lock more susceptible to the old credit card trick? I would think so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t98y6WbzQV8

--kiloran

Depends if the lock has an automatic deadlock - usual indicators are a small bolt which is released when the door is open, but has no corresponding hole to drop into, and therefore remains depressed when the door is shut.

Examples:
https://www.locksonline.co.uk/image/cac ... 00x500.jpg
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/imag ... _77012.jpg

Easiest way to tell if it's an automatic deadlock is to push in the small bolt with the door open and then try pushing in the main bolt. If you can't then it's autodeadlocking.

[NomoneyNohoney]

I hadn't thought of telling an expanded story, but in case it's either of interest to readers, or of use to others, here goes...

I worry about the front door being left open, and to a much lesser extent, being opened from outside. Fortunately, the lock is quite high up, and the latch means that I think it would be hard to get a card in to open the door. However the fact remains that I worry about the door being out of sight.

Originally, I had wondered about a camera to watch over it, but decided that was too much faffing around. Instead, I conjured up an alarm system.

Start with this item: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-4CH-Chan ... 1730091890?
which is two remote controls, and four relays. Probably offends Ofcom in some way, but as its short range, well, a nod's as good as a wink...

Then, I bought a window reed - relay magnetic alarm switch, like this:- https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wired-Magnet ... 2369053258?
For my purposes, I wanted a switch which was normally open, when the magnet was close to the reed relay, and which closed when the magnet moved away. I'm sure all you clever people will be thinking, "Why not just use an inverter?" but I just changed the type of reed switch inside to a NO type.

Now, the relay has two key-fobs, each with four switches, one switch for each of the relays. I took a key fob apart, found the two solder points for one of the four switches, and ran two wires out to a terminal block. Then, two wires ran from the magnetic switch to the terminal block. What happens is, the magnet and the relay switch are screwed to the door and the door frame, so that as the door opens, the magnet stops influencing the reed switch, which then closes, and - seeing its wired in parallel to the key-fob switch - closes the key-fob switch. This then sends a wireless signal to the receiver unit, which is mounted on my desk, with mains transformer supplying power, so that as the door switch closes and sends the wireless signal, then my receiver unit senses this, closes a relay, and lights a bright LED.
TL/DR: Door opens, LED lights by wireless connection.

It might sound even more work, but the family find it great fun. The key-fob is mounted in an old wood cigar box screwed to the back of the door, and when anyone of us goes in or out, its irresistible to swing the door back and forth a few times, knowing that the LED is flashing on and off upstairs. We're all children at heart...

I have also purchased some low voltage buzzers so will be fitting one of those , either instead of/or as well as, the LED when time and enthusiasm allow.

Remember I mentioned that the key fobs have four buttons, and the receiver has four relays? I've still got three relays unused, so I have bought a mercury tilt switch, and this is stuck to the back of the inside letter box flap. As a letter is pushed through the letterbox flap briefly raises, and the tilt switch momentarily makes a connection. I have been making a transistor latch circuit board, so that the momentary connection energises a transistor and locks it on, with the plan that will the hold a second relay closed. This will then light a different LED, with a continuous display until reset, to show that letter or letters have been received. Haven't tested the latch circuit yet, but it should work...

So that's an extra level of security - if anyone nefarious opens the door, light and (soon) buzzer will alert to its opening. Also added bonus hopefully of knowing when post has come.

That still leaves two independent relays unused. Any ideas of what they could be used for? Suggestions on a postcard please, to:
"Some people have got too much time on their hands,"
Pointless ideas department,
NmNh Towers,
Somewhere,
YUK.

[88V8]

...., I glued inside the lock two bits of dowel. These prevent the tongue from protruding as far as previously.....

That's a clever workaround.
And provides a secure home for a family of woodworm.
Win/win

V8