Do-it-yourself door lock handle repair

In detail: do-it-yourself front door lock handle repair from a real master for the site my.housecope.com.

How to fix the lock on the door if it suddenly failed? Such an unpleasant situation requires an urgent solution, especially when it comes to the front door. In this case, you can make repairs yourself. What is required for this and what steps need to be taken?

To know how to repair it yourself and not damage the door lock, you need to familiarize yourself with its design. There are many types of mechanisms. The following systems can be used for the entrance wooden or metal door:

  • cylinder - the key is small in size, with notches and protrusions;
  • suvaldnaya - a key on a long leg with "wings" on the sides;
  • disk - a small semicircular key with notches;
  • Phillips - the key is similar to a Phillips screwdriver.

The main types of door locks for the front door

The principle of operation of such systems lies in the features of blocking elements: cylinders, levers or disk plates. Cross locks are similar to cylinder locks, but they do not differ in reliability, since the secret can be cracked with a simple screwdriver.

There are also overhead and mortise locks. Repairing the invoice is quite simple, since you only need to remove the overlay. But it will be more difficult to correct the mortise on your own. You should not undertake repairs if you are not familiar with the rules for installing the mechanism, since you can only repair a door lock of such a plan by disassembling it.

Repair of a door lock largely depends on the nature of the breakdown. It is not always possible to fix the problem with your own hands.

A common cause of door lock failure is the failure of the locking mechanism tongue.

Video (click to play).

The most common problems are:

  • The tongue does not close. The reason may be the insufficient size of the response hole. In this case, you need to bore it or move the iron plate. The pad of the lock itself at the end of the door can block the tongue. A distortion may also occur due to frequent use of the door, due to wear and tear of the mechanism. It needs to be adjusted.
  • It is difficult to open the door. It can be blocked by a skewed lock or a door frame. The problem is fixed by adjusting these items.
  • It jams, turns poorly or the key is not inserted. Especially often such a breakdown occurs in the locks of a metal door. The cause may be clogging of the mechanism or displacement of its individual parts. To fix it, you need to disassemble the lock, clean it, lubricate it and install it in its place.
  • Jamming the lock. The reason lies in the state of the larva. Repair of the lock, its replacement or a complete change of the lock can help.

Do-it-yourself repair of the lock on the front door largely depends on the type of larva mechanism. It is in this detail that the source of the problem most often lies. For a metal door, cylinder and lever locks are most often used.

Replacing the larva will help extend the life of the locking mechanism

How to fix a cylinder lock on a door with your own hands:

  1. Remove the armor plate.
  2. Loosen the fixing screw at the end of the door.
  3. Pull out the cylinder.
  4. Replace it with a new one and put all the parts back in place.

In the case of a lever mechanism, it is better to completely replace the lock, since it is likely to break again. If the tongue is sunk, you need to disassemble the structure and adjust its position.

Other types of mechanisms are less reliable or do not have replacement parts of proper quality on sale. First of all, this applies to disc and cruciform secrets.Therefore, it is easier to install a new lock than to repair a broken larva.

More complicated is the situation when the spacer mechanism becomes unusable. In this case, the repair is carried out by removing the door from the hinges and disassembling the canvas. The peculiarity of this lock is that when the door is closed, additional crossbars are extended both vertically and horizontally.

Image - Do-it-yourself door lock handle repair

Any locking mechanism requires periodic lubrication

Let's say you checked the status of the secret and did not find the source of the problem. All parts are intact and in the right place. How to repair a lock with a working larva in a metal door with your own hands? Most likely, the cause of the breakdown lies in the clogging of the mechanism. This situation is not uncommon, especially when it comes to a metal door.

In this case, do-it-yourself repairs are easier than ever. First, open the lock. Remove all parts of the mechanism. Blow it out thoroughly and use a stiff brush to remove all dust and other dirt particles that have accumulated inside. Then wipe the larger parts with a cloth. Apply a small amount of lubricant to a cotton swab and carefully work each element of the lock. Assemble it and put it in place. Check out the quality of his work.

Please note: after such processing, the key may become contaminated with lubricant for some time.

Quite often, it is required to repair the lock in the interior door. They are heavily loaded, and therefore, over time, the tongue begins to sink, the handle jams or the latch dangles.

How to repair the lock in the interior door with your own hands:

  • If the problem lies in a sunken latch tongue, you need to disassemble the lock and install it in place. The spring may need to be replaced.
  • If the handle is loose and does not retract the tongue to its original position, you need to check its fastening relative to the rotary mechanism. After that, put it in place and tighten the screws. From time to time, you need to carry out a similar procedure and lubricate the mechanism to prevent its breakdown.
  • When the latch sticks, you need to disassemble the part of the lock that is responsible for fixing it. The reason may be the displacement of the part, the mashing of elements, their deformation or crack. In this case, you need to replace the damaged spare part with a new one.
  • If there are problems with the turnkey lock, the repair is carried out according to the same principle as for the front door. Perhaps the replacement of the larva or a simple cleaning of the mechanism is required.

If all efforts were in vain, you can call the master. However, it is likely that a new lock will need to be installed.

The key on the front door is the lock. If the installation of the entrance metal door is done correctly and during operation it was not subjected to abnormal loads, then the canvas itself will work for many years. But a lock with a handle is designed for a certain number of closing-opening cycles, and over time this bunch of mechanisms fails. Most often, the cause of the malfunction lies in the fact that the handle has broken. If you deal with its device, then repairing the door handles of the entrance doors will seem like a trifle.

Of all types of door handles, push and stationary models are installed on the entrance doors. Swivel mechanisms are installed only on interior doors.

Image - Do-it-yourself door lock handle repair

push type

With the help of a push handle, a person controls the opening of the canvas and at the same time acts on the lock tongue, and with the help of a stationary one, only opens and closes.

The stationary handle breaks from mechanical damage (from impact) or a loose fastener. If the stationary handle is broken, it can be seen with the naked eye. In this case, it will have to be replaced. If the fasteners are loose, then they need to be tightened.

The push handle, like any mechanism with moving parts, has weak points, the failure of which leads to characteristic problems:

  • The handle is connected to the mounting plate by a movable mechanism. Poor quality steel, poor riveting, or excessive mechanical stress cause the handle to fall out of its seat in the mounting plate. In such cases, it will not be possible to repair the mechanism, and you will have to buy a new one.
  • A square rod is inserted into the socket on the base of the handle hidden under the mounting plate, which transmits rotation to the lock and shifts the tongue. If, when the lever is pressed, the mechanism works normally, but the lock tongue does not hide, then there are problems with the metal rod. There can be two reasons: during installation, the rod was cut incorrectly and it became short (in a one-sided design). Over time, he could jump out of the hole in the lock case. The second reason is the fragment of the rod due to low-quality steel from which it is made.

Important! It is extremely rare that the seat at the end of the handle can wear out, and the rod can turn.

  • Return to its original position after pressing occurs due to the spiral spring, which is fixed at one end on the mounting plate, the other - at the end of the handle. If the spring breaks off or pops out of the mounts, then the spring effect will disappear. Repair of the door handle of the entrance metal or wooden door in this case is possible if the spring remains intact.

As you can see, there is nothing special to break in such a design, and any master himself will be able to establish the cause of the breakdown and determine the way how to fix the mechanism. To do this, it is removed and looked under the mounting plate.

Consider how the double-sided door handle with a long mounting plate is removed:

  • There are two mounting screws at the top and bottom of each mounting plate. Each screw on one side is connected to the screw on the opposite side of the door through a threaded socket (screed). To unscrew the fixing screws, it is necessary to fix the screw on one side of the door with one screwdriver, and turn the screw on the other side of the door leaf with the second screwdriver. So unscrew all four screws.
  • We remove the handles with fastening straps from the square pin and inspect the turn-and-turn mechanism. We will repair the flown spring, check the mechanism for operability and fix it in place in the reverse order.

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Double sided design

In this case, you will have to tinker to get the screws into the coupling.

The order of twisting the mechanism with a decorative strip:

  • In this system, the handle is additionally fixed to the square rod with a small screw screwed flush in its lower part at the very decorative strip. Use a thin hex wrench to loosen this screw. It is enough to make a few turns for the screw to come out of the hook with the pin. It is not necessary to unscrew it completely.

Important! This screw is the reason why it is not possible to remove the handle with the decorative strip.

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Loosening the locking screw
  • We twist the decorative overlay counterclockwise with our hands.
  • Now the fixing screws will open, with which the bar is attached to the door leaf (or the screws for the screed connecting the two bars on opposite sides of the door leaf). We unscrew these screws and remove the handle from the square rod.

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Unscrewing the fixing screws of the bar

After that, we inspect the rotary mechanism and determine whether it is possible to fix the breakdown or whether the door handle needs to be replaced.

Replacing the handle on the entrance metal and wooden doors is the same. The only difference is that when buying a new mechanism for a metal door leaf, its dimensions must exactly repeat the parameters of the old one. Its mounting holes, the location on the keyhole mounting plate must completely coincide with the holes in the metal sheet.

On your own, you can perform the following repair of the handle:

Video on how to remove and repair the push handle: