Installing Replacement Rim Locks

[Mark Barrett]

Any help or guidance here would be much appreciated.

2 doors in my house had had the original rim locks replaced by roller ball catches. I thought it was well within my DIY capabilities to buy and install some new rim locks. Famous last words!!

The handles I bought are of the design in the first image below. i.e. the spline that goes through the lock and the door is attached to one of the knobs and threaded. Once through the door the circular "nut" is screwed on and attached to the door. The second knob slides over the spline and the rose is fixed to the door.

All well and good except no matter how I position and fix the various bits, the door handle is quite stiff to turn. It is definitely not the lock itself that is the problem but the way the other bits are interacting with each other.

I am thinking of cutting my losses and buying a different design of knobs whereby the second knob just attaches to the spline with a grub screw. (As would be the case with a mortice lock). See second image.

But before I do I wonder if anyone can suggest what I might be doing wrong and help me get these original knobs turning as freely as I think they should.

TIA

 

[Lime]

The usual cause of this problem is either
1. The threaded knob has been screwed onto the spline too tightly.
There should be some horizontal play between the knob fixed on the spline and the lock body.
2. The collar for the threaded knob is not fitted in line with the lock so that the spline is at a slight angle and not able to move freely.
3. The threaded knob or its fixing is touching/rubbing the wood of the door when the knob is turned.

Before fitting the threaded/separate knob, check that the spline with the knob on turns freely fitted in the lock and is not catching or rubbing on the door.

 

[Mark Barrett]

Thanks Lime

You've confirmed what I thought - i.e. that this can result from one or a combination of various factors.

I think I will just have to remove and reinstall the knobs again (trial and error) until I finally get them moving perfectly freely.

I suppose it is one of those jobs that once I get the knack it will seem easy and I'll think "what was the problem!"

Thanks again.

Mark

 

[a twig]

A good splash of diesel engine oil also works wonders in a stiff lock in my experience

 

[plasticpigeon]

Perhaps the threaded nut should be the other way around, I can imagine the small collar section getting stuck in the hole in the door, but the larger flat surface of the flat side would just rub against the flat of the door and probably wouldn't stick.

 

[Roger H]

Is the hole through the door to take the rod sufficient to allow the rod to turn without chafing?

 

[Penners]

A good splash of diesel engine oil also works wonders in a stiff lock in my experience

Except that the OP said "It is definitely not the lock itself ". And I was once told by a locksmith not to slosh oil around on the workings of a lock, because it tends to "glue" dust and wear particles to the mechanism, exacerbating the long-term wear.

I reckon Lime and PP have, between them, given a route to a solution.

 

[Flyfisher]

And I was once told by a locksmith not to slosh oil around on the workings of a lock, because it tends to "glue" dust and wear particles to the mechanism, exacerbating the long-term wear.

I've also heard this, which is presumably why 'locksmith lubricant' seems to be based on a dry graphite-based formulation.

This is also interesting reading (if you have a lock fixation )
http://www.locksonline.co.uk/community/2012/09/locksonline-top-tips-lubricating-locks/

 

[a twig]

A good splash of diesel engine oil also works wonders in a stiff lock in my experience

Except that the OP said "It is definitely not the lock itself ". And I was once told by a locksmith not to slosh oil around on the workings of a lock, because it tends to "glue" dust and wear particles to the mechanism, exacerbating the long-term wear.

I reckon Lime and PP have, between them, given a route to a solution.

Your quote missed the at the end of my sentence. In a written conversation where non-verbal cues cannot readily be communicated, such a graphic is traditionally taken as meaning the poster may not be entirely serious. Much as the one at the end of this sentence can portray that above response is somewhat tongue in cheek... :wink:

 

[CliffordPope]

If the locking nut is fixed to the door then the spindle, and hence the knob on the left, have to move slightly in an out when turned as the spindle winds in the threads. Have you allowed for that movement?

I would put the fixed knob with spindle through the door, and then tighten the screws holding the nut a bit at a time, checking that the knob will still turn freely. If you reach a point when it gets stiff then that must be because the act of finally tightening the screws has pulled the nut out of alighnment with the door - ie the hole is not quite at 90 degrees or the door surface is uneven.

You don't have to tighten the screws up fully - all they do is stop the nut from coming loose. A drop of locktite on the thread would do that without any screws.