Winter Tune-Up – Locksets

Following up to last month’s article on preparing your doors for winter, this month we will give you some tips on how to prepare your locksets. Exterior locksets especially have to put up with extreme cold temperatures, rain, ice and misaligned doors.

TIGHTEN UP
Door hardware works best when it is secured into the door. Ensure that you tighten the screws on the strike-plate and the face-plate of the latch. Next, tighten the knob or lever once they are centered in the door prep. If you have “hidden” interior screws (like Schlage’s FA-Series products), remove the interior knob or lever from the chassis, and remove the rose from the chassis using a small flat- end screwdriver. Once completed, tighten the screws and re-assemble.

STICKY LATCHES?
Occasionally, a sticky latch can be remedied using a small amount of lubricant on the plunger and working it back and forth. Most often however, the sticking is a result of misalignment. You must remove the interior knob or lever and ensure that the latch hub (where the exterior spindle goes through) is free of dirt and other obstructions. Give the hub a tiny amount of lubricant and insure the latch is centered vertically and horizontally in the door prep. Re-install the interior trim and tighten.

MISALIGNED DOORS
If the latch and strike are not properly aligned on interior doors, (causing the door not to hold in the frame) you can move the strike plate. Remove the screws and situate the strike-plate about 1/4” towards the direction the door swings. Exterior door lock performance often suffers because steel entry doors are affected by “thermal bowing.” Due to the large temperature difference between the inner and outer surfaces (often by over 40 degrees celsius) the door warps or “bows” towards the inside. The maximum deflection occurs at the middle of the door, right where the latches are. If you have ever had to lean on the door to lock it, or pull it towards you to open it, you too have been a victim of this phenomenon. You can move the strike-plate over slightly as described above. If you have a deadbolt, you can enlarge the opening on the deadbolt strike-plate with a flat steel file, again towards the inside.

KEY CYLINDERS

The small opening for the key faces the worst of what winter can throw at lockset. It is a good idea to lubricate the key cylinder with powdered graphite. Ordinary lubricants leave a residue which can attract dust. Dust can easily cause cylinder pins to jam. To lubricate, place a small amount of powdered graphite on the teeth of the key, and insert the key into the cylinder. Repeat this procedure a few times, working the key back and forth in the cylinder each time.

Did you miss Part One of our Winter Tune-Up Series? Click here to read what you missed!

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