I have a wickes self install PVC front door, complete with frame.
It has 4 point high security locking system.

It has now deteriorated to the point where when turning the handle to
open the door, the latch is not moving fully out of the keep.

If I use a key in the lock, the latch will retract fully, allowing the
door to open smoothly.

Is there anything I can do myself to effect a repair?

If I remove the screws to remove the locking cams will I get any nasty
surprises, like springs jumping out?


Hope this makes sense to someone.

Any advice gratefully accepted.



Steve..

On 21 Nov 2004 14:40:38 -0800, (Steve) wrote:

I have a wickes self install PVC front door, complete with frame.
It has 4 point high security locking system.

It has now deteriorated to the point where when turning the handle to
open the door, the latch is not moving fully out of the keep.

If I use a key in the lock, the latch will retract fully, allowing the
door to open smoothly.

Is there anything I can do myself to effect a repair?

If I remove the screws to remove the locking cams will I get any nasty
surprises, like springs jumping out?


Hope this makes sense to someone.

Any advice gratefully accepted.



Steve..

Without being able to see the door, you may be able to cure it bey:

a) grinding a bit off the end of the bit that goes in.

or

b) taking the latch/lock apart and making sure it was put together
corectly.

A friend of mine said she cued that exact same problem by lubricating
the mechanism with vaseline, but I don;t understand how or why.

I've had a vew problems with Wikes products myself. They are cheap but
not always very reliable.

Brad J

In article , steve@dog-
man.com says...
I have a wickes self install PVC front door, complete with frame.
It has 4 point high security locking system.

It has now deteriorated to the point where when turning the handle to
open the door, the latch is not moving fully out of the keep.

If I use a key in the lock, the latch will retract fully, allowing the
door to open smoothly.

Is there anything I can do myself to effect a repair?

If I remove the screws to remove the locking cams will I get any nasty
surprises, like springs jumping out?


Hope this makes sense to someone.

Any advice gratefully accepted.



Steve..

I am not familiar with this product but the locking mechanism is probably
a standard configuration:

A Slam Latch - like your internal doors - operated by the handle.

A Mortice Deadlock - a rectangular pin - operated by the key.

Some Roller Cams - round pins which move vertically into the keeps on the
jamb - operated by the handle.

The slam latch and the deadlock might benefit from a squirt of WD40.
The roller cams are often adjustable by turning the screw in the end of
each cam.
You may also be able to adjust the position of the keeps as the screw
holes are often slots.

HTH
--
Ziggur

"S'ils te mordent, mords-les"

(Steve) wrote in message . com...
I have a wickes self install PVC front door, complete with frame.
It has 4 point high security locking system.

It has now deteriorated to the point where when turning the handle to
open the door, the latch is not moving fully out of the keep.

If I use a key in the lock, the latch will retract fully, allowing the
door to open smoothly.

Is there anything I can do myself to effect a repair?

If I remove the screws to remove the locking cams will I get any nasty
surprises, like springs jumping out?


Hope this makes sense to someone.

Any advice gratefully accepted.



Steve..

Dont know if this is relevant. I had a similar problem with an
internal door, it was a simple mechanism - when the handle was pushed
down, this turned a square shaft which connected the handles each side
and as the shaft turned it made the latch move into the door. The
shaft or part of the latch had worn with use so the latch only moved
about 3/4 of its full travel and hence kept catching the plate on the
frame. I took it apart and was able to reverse something inside so it
was not turning on a worn part and it was cured. Sorry this is a bit
vague but was a while ago. Your door sounds a bit more complex but if
you dismantle it carefully you should be OK and you never know it may
be a similar problem.

I don't think grinding part of the latch away is an option, as the
latch does not move very far with just the handle, so I would need to
almost grind all of it away.

It does retract fully when turning the key however.

I have never seen the inside of these locks before so am concerned
that if I was to remove the locking mechanism from the door to see
what is wrong, could there be some springs ready to explode out?


It must be a straight forward 4 point locking system as used on many
doors these days.


Steve..




(Brad J) wrote in message ...
On 21 Nov 2004 14:40:38 -0800, (Steve) wrote:

I have a wickes self install PVC front door, complete with frame.
It has 4 point high security locking system.

It has now deteriorated to the point where when turning the handle to
open the door, the latch is not moving fully out of the keep.

If I use a key in the lock, the latch will retract fully, allowing the
door to open smoothly.

Is there anything I can do myself to effect a repair?

If I remove the screws to remove the locking cams will I get any nasty
surprises, like springs jumping out?


Hope this makes sense to someone.

Any advice gratefully accepted.



Steve..

Without being able to see the door, you may be able to cure it bey:

a) grinding a bit off the end of the bit that goes in.

or

b) taking the latch/lock apart and making sure it was put together
corectly.

A friend of mine said she cued that exact same problem by lubricating
the mechanism with vaseline, but I don;t understand how or why.

I've had a vew problems with Wikes products myself. They are cheap but
not always very reliable.

Brad J

In article , steve@dog-
man.com says...
I have never seen the inside of these locks before so am concerned
that if I was to remove the locking mechanism from the door to see
what is wrong, could there be some springs ready to explode out?

If I remove the screws to remove the locking cams will I get any nasty
surprises, like springs jumping out?

Can't guarantee anything, but it would be an unusual fitting that
exploded and bounced springs around.

You can safely remove the handles and the spindle to check for wear.

You can remove the locking gear. It will be a self-contained, one-piece
unit without any renegade jumpy bits

Have a go, it'll be OK. Far more entertaining than a jigsaw puzzle or
the TV.

--
Ziggur

"S'ils te mordent, mords-les"

The real annoying thing about this is that the door has only been in
place for about 5 months. It is out of guarantee though, as I
purchased it well over a year ago, and due to illness, could not fit
it until earlier this year.

I will risk tremoving the mechanism and see if I can do anything.



Steve..



(Mortimer) wrote in message . com...
(Steve) wrote in message . com...
I have a wickes self install PVC front door, complete with frame.
It has 4 point high security locking system.

It has now deteriorated to the point where when turning the handle to
open the door, the latch is not moving fully out of the keep.

If I use a key in the lock, the latch will retract fully, allowing the
door to open smoothly.

Is there anything I can do myself to effect a repair?

If I remove the screws to remove the locking cams will I get any nasty
surprises, like springs jumping out?


Hope this makes sense to someone.

Any advice gratefully accepted.



Steve..

Dont know if this is relevant. I had a similar problem with an
internal door, it was a simple mechanism - when the handle was pushed
down, this turned a square shaft which connected the handles each side
and as the shaft turned it made the latch move into the door. The
shaft or part of the latch had worn with use so the latch only moved
about 3/4 of its full travel and hence kept catching the plate on the
frame. I took it apart and was able to reverse something inside so it
was not turning on a worn part and it was cured. Sorry this is a bit
vague but was a while ago. Your door sounds a bit more complex but if
you dismantle it carefully you should be OK and you never know it may
be a similar problem.

On 25 Nov 2004 11:39:19 -0800, (Steve) wrote:

The real annoying thing about this is that the door has only been in
place for about 5 months. It is out of guarantee though, as I
purchased it well over a year ago, and due to illness, could not fit
it until earlier this year.

I will risk tremoving the mechanism and see if I can do anything.



Steve..

I had these exact symptoms with 2 staybrite doors, it cant be wear at
this age so should also be just an adjustment. After removing the
screws and strip from the lock side the barrel is removed by inserting
the key and wiggling it about an 8th turn each way whilst pushing it
out. Remove the bolts that secure the handles and the spindle, and the
mortice lock will come out. Hopefully pushing in the latch will reveal
an adjuster screw at the back. Tighten this up fully and reasembly is
the reverse of the above. Dont force the strip flush when reatatching,
screw it to the door at the lock first, gently pushing it on as you
wiggle the handle will have it snap in place. With the shoot bolts/
hooks I attatch them to the mechanism on the back of the strip then
push them into their mortices.

With the first dooe I did it took an hour or so after I had spent days
futiiley trying to find a replacement fo the 10 year old lock, the
second was 15 minutes with an electric screwdriver.


Vista
I want pizza

I took off the locking mechanism and it's impossible to see what is
wrong. The unit cannot be opened. I went to my local locksmith and
asked the person who was minding the shop could she find out what the
likely cost of s replacement was. She rand someone and was told around
£140 - £150.

I was flabbergasted.

I cannot believe that it will cost that much to replace the unit. It
is only a small part of the door.

There must be a cheaper place?

Any suggestions?




Steve..





(Steve) wrote in message . com...
The real annoying thing about this is that the door has only been in
place for about 5 months. It is out of guarantee though, as I
purchased it well over a year ago, and due to illness, could not fit
it until earlier this year.

I will risk tremoving the mechanism and see if I can do anything.



Steve..



(Mortimer) wrote in message . com...
(Steve) wrote in message . com...
I have a wickes self install PVC front door, complete with frame.
It has 4 point high security locking system.

It has now deteriorated to the point where when turning the handle to
open the door, the latch is not moving fully out of the keep.

If I use a key in the lock, the latch will retract fully, allowing the
door to open smoothly.

Is there anything I can do myself to effect a repair?

If I remove the screws to remove the locking cams will I get any nasty
surprises, like springs jumping out?


Hope this makes sense to someone.

Any advice gratefully accepted.



Steve..

Dont know if this is relevant. I had a similar problem with an
internal door, it was a simple mechanism - when the handle was pushed
down, this turned a square shaft which connected the handles each side
and as the shaft turned it made the latch move into the door. The
shaft or part of the latch had worn with use so the latch only moved
about 3/4 of its full travel and hence kept catching the plate on the
frame. I took it apart and was able to reverse something inside so it
was not turning on a worn part and it was cured. Sorry this is a bit
vague but was a while ago. Your door sounds a bit more complex but if
you dismantle it carefully you should be OK and you never know it may
be a similar problem.

Thanks for that info.

Yes, I did notice a screw on the latch when I stripped it down. It was
the only thing that could be adjusted on the lock.

I did try the screw and it was solid, but I will try again.

If this is the reason for my problem, I cannot understand why turning
the key retracts the latch fully, but the handle only slightly
retracts it.


I will see what I can do.


Steve..





Vista wrote in message . ..
On 25 Nov 2004 11:39:19 -0800, (Steve) wrote:

The real annoying thing about this is that the door has only been in
place for about 5 months. It is out of guarantee though, as I
purchased it well over a year ago, and due to illness, could not fit
it until earlier this year.

I will risk tremoving the mechanism and see if I can do anything.



Steve..

I had these exact symptoms with 2 staybrite doors, it cant be wear at
this age so should also be just an adjustment. After removing the
screws and strip from the lock side the barrel is removed by inserting
the key and wiggling it about an 8th turn each way whilst pushing it
out. Remove the bolts that secure the handles and the spindle, and the
mortice lock will come out. Hopefully pushing in the latch will reveal
an adjuster screw at the back. Tighten this up fully and reasembly is
the reverse of the above. Dont force the strip flush when reatatching,
screw it to the door at the lock first, gently pushing it on as you
wiggle the handle will have it snap in place. With the shoot bolts/
hooks I attatch them to the mechanism on the back of the strip then
push them into their mortices.

With the first dooe I did it took an hour or so after I had spent days
futiiley trying to find a replacement fo the 10 year old lock, the
second was 15 minutes with an electric screwdriver.


Vista
I want pizza