Problem removing deadbolt - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

mvan6766 · 01-16-2006, 09:10 PM

Hi, I have been reading this site for a couple months,but this is my first post. Have what seems like a stupid problem, but can't figure it out. I have replaced a lot of deadbolts but have never seen one like this. There are no screws, and no pins or any visible release mechanism I can find. The house is 30 years old and by the looks of the lock it is original. The sheave that goes around the cylinder spins fairly easily inside and out, but doesn't unscrew. also, there is what appears to be a thin washer that sticks out from the outside of the deadbolt about 3/8 of an inch against the door. Iv'e tried prying this back a bit to see if I can find a release mechanism, but no luck. If anybody has seen this please tell me what the "trick" is. I have learned a lot from you guys, hope you can help!!

mdshunk · 01-16-2006, 09:27 PM

Sounds like you have a rimlock style deadbolt, or a Medeco high security deadbolt. I know that most had a 1/8" set screw in the deadbolt backset, that "locked" the two halves together. Once this setscrew was backed out, you could unscrew the two halves apart.

DecksEtc · 01-16-2006, 09:37 PM

If md didn't solve your problem, you could try posting a pic to give those in the know a better idea of what you're dealing with.

mdshunk · 01-16-2006, 09:41 PM

I'm still remembering stuff...

Some deadbolts had a screw uncovering feature that was activated by turning the key pretty far backwards from normal operations. Some (Ilsco?) deadlocks locks had a trim bezel piece on the inside that just clipped over the works that you could gently pry off to re-expose the screw heads.

Some of the ones with the set screw like I described had it buried pretty deeply into the recessed hole (up to several inches).

Yeah, a picture would help.

mvan6766 · 01-17-2006, 07:54 PM

Thanks for your input, it really helped, you were right mdshunk, the trim peice popped out to reveal the screws, you had to do it in a certain spot with a slot, but after carefull examination with a flashlight I found it