A former customer in Slough got in touch because a digital push-button code lock on the door had started playing up and needed looking at.
Once I removed it, the condition explained the problem. The lock had apparently not been taken off, cleaned or lubricated since it was installed many years earlier. Inside there were hardened lumps of old grease, some of the screws were rusted almost all the way through, and the buttons had become stiff to press and slow to return.
I gave the mechanism a thorough clean and worked lubricant through it until it gradually started coming back to life. It took the better part of a full bottle before the movement became free enough again.
Once the lock was operating properly, I reset the code to the customer’s requested combination and refitted everything to the door. No replacement lock was needed; a proper clean, lubrication and reset were enough to get the existing digital lock working again.
