Disc locks

[Jim L.]

I bought some Abus disc locks that I’m not too happy with. They are hard to get the key in and out as well as being hard to unlock. Greasing them with silicone spray didn’t help. These locks are the ones with the picture of the buffalo on it.

Anybody got a better choice for disc locks?

 

[soapy]

Never use a spray silicone in a lock. Get some graphite to use a lubricant. I would take some alcohol and clean the locks real good and let them dry. The spray in some graphite. That will usually do the trick. I have never had a problem with the abus locks.

 

[MEP001]

I've found that if the lock has been dropped and hits the ground at a particular angle, the keyway gets distorted. I took a spare key and cut it short and forced it into the key way to spread it back open.

MasterLock makes a version that has 100,000 different keys instead of a couple dozen, and the locks look better. You can order more of a key number later.

 

[Jim L.]

My mistake in calling the grease silicone…it is “Tri-Flow Superior Lubricant” in a spray can. An employee at the hardware store said it is the best thing they had in the store for locks.

Normally I don’t say much when a new part goes bad, but I bought 10 locks and had problems with 5. I checked my old locks of which most are still around after 13 years and they are Masterlocks. I remember the Abus locks were a little more expensive than the Masterlocks and I thought I was getting a better product. Live and learn.

 

[Earl Weiss]

FWIW.

I know silicone spray is supposed to be bad for locks. I still give all mine that are outside a good shot of WD 40 once a month or so.

A few years ago an employee got a hold of an Abus High security Key that fit my locks. (I now have 100 or so of these keyed alike in stock. waiting to find someone in an unknowm location who wants to buy them)

I tried these
http://www.keymart.com/power_locks.htm

As a replacement. Some on the forum said i would not be happy with them.

Have been very happy going on 2 years now. Have about 100 in service.

 

[Keith Baker]

ABUS makes 2 grades of locks, the Buffo is the cheaper one.

http://www.dultmeier.com/prod-search.asp

I bought some of the Buffo locks quite a while ago, and found that they weren't as high a quality as the regular ABUS locks. I threw them away and went back to the more expensive one.

Keith

 

[Jim L.]

Maybe Abus should stick to selling only one high quality disc lock and drop their “not worth a crap” line. I know it would have saved them at least one customer.

 

[MEP001]

Normally I don’t say much when a new part goes bad, but I bought 10 locks and had problems with 5.

I didn't realize they were new and bad - can you return them for exchange or refund?

I've never had a new lock defective like you describe - I wonder if the whole box got dropped and got damaged or if their quality control has gone downhill.

 

[Washmee]

I didn't realize they were new and bad - can you return them for exchange or refund?

I've never had a new lock defective like you describe - I wonder if the whole box got dropped and got damaged or if their quality control has gone downhill.

I would bet that somewhere on those locks are printed the words "Made in China".

 

[mjwalsh]

“Tri-Flow Superior Lubricant” in a spray can.

I checked my old locks of which most are still around after 13 years and they are Masterlocks. I remember the Abus locks were a little more expensive than the Masterlocks and I thought I was getting a better product. Live and learn.

Tri Flow is what we have had the best experience with for locks in general. We use carb cleaner on our highest end Abus's before relubing with red grease. It is a nightmare when locks no longer open when you need to get them open quick.

Anybody have a current best source for the Masterlocks?

 

[Twodose]

MasterLock makes a version that has 100,000 different keys instead of a couple dozen, and the locks look better. You can order more of a key number later.

Are these a disk lock? Where do you get them?

 

[Carl]

Crappy Locks Indeed!

I can testify that this lock is "crappy" because I recently broke one of my keys, split in half, inside one of my vacuum vault Abus locks that unfortunately uses this type of lock because I had to use too much muscle to try and unlock the lock so...I will soon be trying some tricks I saw on YouTube on "How to Remove a Key Broken Inside a Lock". (sigh)

Nice to learn here that there are two quality levels of these locks so that I will AVOID this type of cheap lock from now on 'cause they're just a headache waiting to happen. - Carl

 

[Jim L.]

mjwalsh

Both Windtrax and Dultmeier have the Master Lock disc locks in their catalogs.

 

[MEP001]

Are these a disk lock? Where do you get them?

There is a disk lock that's identical in style and size to the Abus. I've used Google before and found locksmith suppliers from which they can be ordered in large numbers keyed alike, but I've never ordered any myself that way so I have no one in particular to recommend. There is a local locksmith who can order me MasterLock brand locks in any style and key number I want and charges about 20% more per lock than Kleen-Rite asks for the Abus.