I just moved in to a new house and am changing the locks. I changed most of them just fine but am having issues with the french doors at the back. The cylinder I removed looks exactly the same size as the new one. If I lay them down, end to end, they look identical. But the new one just won't fit in the door. The metal bracket that holds the lock in place has a slight ridge and the new lock won't go past there. I've tried angling it different ways and put some WD40 on, but it just won't fit. I took a picture to show the part that's causing it to get not fit-


https://imgur.com/wE0xEnO (link in case the image doesn't work)

I've tried putting the new cylinder in both ways and from both sides. I also took the handle off completely to see if that would help me angle it in better. From what I can tell, the old cylinder doesn't have any unique mark or indentations that would mean it's not interchangeable with other cylinders. The sizes look identical, but there must be a slight difference somewhere.


https://imgur.com/a/qq0syba

Anyone know if there's anything I can do? It will obviously be really awkward if I need to keep ordering cylinders from different manufactures, hoping eventually one will fit.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

The whole point about Euro barrels is that they are all made to the same standard and are therefore interchangeable......... But yours isn't . Out of interest, have you tried a barrel from another manufacturer, or for that matter an old barrel from a different door in your house to see if that works? I can't help thinking that this is one of those tolerance issues and that the "cure" may well be to get a barrel from a different source

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You could loosen the handle screws in case that is offset and pushing the lock to one side.
If it is just a thin piece of metal catching a bit of careful work with a round file could create the clearance. Take the handle off first so you don't damage it and I would be tempted to put a vacuum cleaner on the other side to prevent the metal particles dropping into the mechanism. That may be considered a bodge though.

Back the screws off on the handle, that will give you wiggle room

I thought of that this morning but then realised OP had said that he had removed the handle completely.

My bad. looking at the op's pics shows the issue with the handles

how tight is it ? your pic shows it the handle is the issue but you say it will not fit through the door ?

whats the make of the old lock ? what is the make of the locking mechanism ? (should be stamped on it)

edit. when you remove the handles do the plates stay on the door, they may be anti snap handles/plates and they look to de a little bit out of line

The metal bit shown in the picture that's causing the issue isn't connected directly to the handle and is fixed inside the door, but it does have enough give to move around slightly. There's one of these metal brackets that holds the cylinder in place on either side of the door and they appear to be connected to each other by a long screw which can be faintly seen in the first picture.

I tried putting the cylinder I'd taken out of the front door in to the back door and that also wouldn't fit. I'm hoping to find another solution before trying to file down the obstruction as the slight ridge that's causing the issue continues around the entire shape of the cylinder, so filing it would be quite hard. Does the bracket that holds the cylinder have a name? Or is it just part of the door? I was wondering whether I could try replacing that.

How about posting a picture with the handles removed so we can see what you are seeing.

Have you got one of these fitted ?

https://www.winkhaus.com/en-gb/door-loc ... rmorshield

Mike

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not seen one of those for a while

I took a picture with the handle off. I'm not sure if this is the same as what London Mike posted, but it looks similar. It's the same on both sides of the door and the two parts are connected by a long screw -
https://imgur.com/a/ljvoqMF

loosen that screw off and it should allow it to move, if you remove the screw and the unit you may find a grub screw that holds the barrel tight

edit. it looks like the new lock is a anti snap if so you should just be able to remove the offending items

Good call. Never come across those so good to know and stored in my memory bank... just incase.

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Verwood Handyman

Verwood Handyman


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