How can I get a broken key out of a door lock

It can happen to any of us that when closing or opening the front door of an apartment, house or garage, the key in the lock breaks. How to remove the remaining chip in the castle and open the door. If you do not panic and approach the issue calmly and competently, then in 80% of cases you can cope with the problem without loss, and in another 10% you will be able to limit yourself to replacing a larva or lock.

The main reasons why the key breaks in the lock

There are many such reasons, but the main ones are as follows:

• Depreciation of the internal mechanism of the lock and the key itself.
• Contamination of the secret mechanism or foreign objects entering the well.
• Error opening the lock (the key is not fully inserted or another is mistakenly inserted).
• An attempt to turn a jammed key with the help of improvised objects and tools (pliers, a hammer, a steel pin, etc.).
• Poor quality material of which the castle is made.

But for whatever reason, if the key broke and the chip remained in the lock, it is necessary to decide what to do in this situation.

How to remove a key chip from a keyhole

If the key in the lock is broken, do not immediately resort to radical measures - to break the door or cut it with a grinder. Try to remove the chip and open the door.

In no case should you immediately throw away a piece of the key that is left in your hands. If it is possible to remove the stuck part, then in two halves the specialists in the workshop will make a new key in a few minutes, with which it will be possible to open the lock.

Before taking any action to remove the stuck part of the key, it is necessary to drop grease into the keyhole several times and wait 15-20 minutes until it spreads over the entire surface of the wreckage and lock mechanism. This will greatly increase the chances of success. For lubrication, WD-40, gun and machine oil (spindle), any transmission or automotive oil, as well as brake fluid, are suitable.

• The ideal and easiest option for pulling out a broken key is to disassemble the lock and remove the chip. But this can be done when the door is open (or it is possible to open it from the inside). If you plan to use the lock in the future, then before assembling it must be well cleaned and greased.
• If a piece of the key sticks out of the well, you can try to grab it with pliers, small pliers or tweezers. This must be done carefully. Do not apply great force or jerk sharply. Gently rocking up and down and from side to side, you must try to stretch the stuck part. You can simultaneously gently tap on any accessible part of the castle. Vibration and shaking will help move the chip out of place.
• If possible, put two thin awls in the slots between the fragment and the keyhole above and below (or from the sides) and, swinging the stuck part, try to remove it.

• Truly a jewelry, but very effective way to extract a fragment of any key - using a self-tapping screw. A thin hole must be drilled at the end of the wreck, being careful not to damage the lock and break the drill. It is necessary to screw a self-tapping screw of the corresponding diameter into the resulting hole. Then, holding on to the head of the screw, constantly swaying the stuck piece, gently “fetch” it from the castle.
• A less effective, but quite effective way - using a jigsaw file. It is necessary to cut off the mounting tip at the file.The file must be thrust into the key so that the slope of the cloves is “towards you”, carefully turn the teeth in the direction of the debris and pull out. The operation is repeated several times until you can remove the jammed chip.

• If the key is made in the form of a cylindrical pin with barbs (level locks), then you can get the chip using a copper or brass tube of suitable diameter. Its size is selected according to the part remaining in the hands. The tube must be put on the pin with very high force. Having slightly expanded the very tip of the tube, it is necessary to heat it with a blowtorch or over a gas burner, then with effort to put on a chip sticking out in the lock. After waiting for the pipe to cool well, remove it from the lock with the clamped part of the key.

We open the door with damage to the lock

What to do if the key in the lock is broken and the chip cannot be removed. To open the door, you have to sacrifice, at best, the lock cylinder, at worst, the lock itself.

To open the lock, you can do the following:

1. If the lock is not installed correctly, the cylinder mechanism may protrude above the pad. In this case, the end face of the cylinder can be clamped with a gas key and rolled up. It remains to clear the hole from the debris and open the door with a flat screwdriver.
2. If the cylinder does not protrude, then you can additionally sacrifice the pad by tearing it with a nail gun or chisel, after which you can use the gas key.
3. In the absence of a gas key, you can knock out the cylinder with a hammer, but it is advisable to do this after the internal armor plate has been removed, which is not always possible. It must be borne in mind that after such an autopsy, the lock will most likely have to be replaced.
4. Using a drill, you can drill a cylindrical insert just below the key hole. This will destroy the Tsugali - the code mechanism. Then, having pulled out the drill, gently tap on the end of the cylinder so that the debris would fall down and not jam the lock. It remains to insert a flat screwdriver to replace the key and open the lock. If the key is double-sided (has curly cuts on both sides), then you need to drill on both sides.
5. You can completely drill the cylinder mechanism. For this, a drill with a diameter of 6-10 mm is used. In this case, the cam is usually damaged. To unlock the lock, it is necessary to bend the end of the screwdriver or a strong wire by about 1 cm (it should reach the locking mechanism), insert it into the hole and push the bolt.

If you can’t cope with the problem yourself, then breaking or cutting the door is still not worth it. It is better to contact the service department, whose employees know what to do in a particular situation.

The reason for a key breakage quite often becomes pollution or wear of the lock. It can be extended by periodically lubricating the mechanism with spindle or gear oil. If the lock began to jam periodically, it is better to repair or replace it.