Locksmith South Dallas

Weather and How They Affect Your Locks

Since we use our locks all the time. We use our keys several times a day, the moment we have a problem with a lock, we assume the problem is with the keys and not the lock. It can be a problem with your keys or locks. We unlock and lock our home, cars, school locker, gym locker, and other things several times a day. When you have problems with your locks, it is safe to assume that if the weather has changed, even slightly, it could be the reason that you are experiencing a problem with our locks and NOT your keys.

How Warmer Temperatures Affect Your Locks

Pay attention to the weather if you’re noticing that you’re starting to experience problems with certain doors opening when you try to open them. Some will jam up when the temperature outside start to get warmer outside. What happens is the doorframe begins to expand. Whenever this happens keys become stuck in one position and will not move. You might be trying to do everything to get the key to turn but it will not turn and you don’t want to turn too hard for fear of breaking it off in the door. At Locksmith South Dalton in Dalton, Texas, we often find that people experience problems with their deadbolt locks when the temperature outside changes. The key becomes compressed inside the door when the frame swells. If you have a door that is made from wood or that has a wooden frame, you may encounter this problem more often. Wood is one of the easiest materials to swell and contract when there is extreme weather. Don’t do anything to drastic because, as stated earlier, you wouldn’t want to break the key off in the door and make matters worse.

How Colder Temperatures Affect Your Locks

When the weather begins to cool off, you outside, you may also start to have problems. The problem you may notice is that the key will not unlock the door. It isn’t that the lock is frozen, it’s just that the frame is contracting. Even when this happens slightly, it will cause your key to have a problem fitting inside the lock. This might happen several times before you realize it isn’t the lock; it is due to the weather. This is primarily the case with exterior doors. This isn’t a problem that can’t be resolved. You’ll just have to remain calm and take the key out of the door and putting back inside the door again, wiggling it slightly as you try to adjust it to get it to turn. Wait for the weather to warm up a bit and you won’t have to worry about this continuing to happen. The problem will get a little worse over time. If this has happened several times already, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have the lock evaluated to make sure it isn’t just due to the weather that the door is giving you problems. It’s better to be safe than sorry. The last thing you would want to happen is to get your key stuck and not be able to get it out. When this occurs, you’ll have to end up contacting a locksmith anyway.

What Will Happen to Your Locks If It’s Freezing Outside

Your car locks are often susceptible to sticking when the weather gets cold outside. Your locks will be affected adversely when the temperatures are freezing outside. It is your car lock that can actually freeze on you if your car is not parked inside a garage or if any water gets inside the car frame and the door seal. Once it reaches the locking mechanism, the lock can freeze. The ice needs to be melted in order to get inside your car. Here is the process:

1. It the door is the only thing that is frozen, push it really hard and pull the door at the same time. By applying enough pressure you can usually get the door open. You’ll have to put a lot of arm work into it though.
2. If there is a lot of ice, you’ll need to use an ice scraper. If you don’t own a ice scraper or you have simply misplaced yours, a credit card or spatula will usually suffice. Don’t use anything made of metal, as this will scratch up your car.
3. You could pour water over the ice, which might help. Just don’t use hot water because this could shatter the window. We suggest that you use lukewarm water since it will be warmer than the ice.
4. When the car lock is the problem, the best way to solve this problem is to use a solvent. De-icer products are available at most automotive car shops or hardware store. A lubricant will dissolve the ice and you’ll be able to stick the key in the lock and turn it in the direction you’re attempting to turn it in. Sometimes even rubbing alcohol will work or windshield wiper fluid. This is because they are mostly made from alcohol. The first time people hear about a lubricant, they think of WD-40, but we wouldn’t suggest you use WD-40 because it will gum up the lock.
5. The last thing we would suggest that you do is heat up your car key. This can only be done if you have an all metal key. Hold the key with tongs and you can heat it with a match or lighter. The heated key may enable you to stick the key in the lock and melt away some of the ice build up. We caution you not to do this if you have a transponder key.

Sometimes when the weather changes and you begin to experience problems with your keys, you can’t really predict when a problem with occur. However, some of the suggestions above usually remedy the problem. It’s a good list to keep around in case you experience this problem with your keys.