Josh-the-Locksmith
25 Years Experience
Austin, TX
Male, 46
I've been a locksmith since 1998. I did automotive residential & commercial work from 1998 to 2008. From 2008 to 2018, I did some residential, but mostly commercial work. I have been project managing & estimating since 2018. I used to locksmith in the Chicago area, now the Austin area.
Nothing special. Unlock the door and have the business or homeowner put in their code to deactivate the alarm. If it’s an eviction or something where the occupant isn’t there, wait for the police and have the customer/bank rep explain what is going on.
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You should have just purchased a new deadbolt, it’s much easier for a homeowner rather than trying to replace the cylinder. It sounds like you purchased a rim cylinder. The tailpieces on rim cylinders only turn when the key is turned. Tubular deadbolts, such as residential, use what’s called a “lazy tailpiece”. It turns 180 degrees, or so, independently of the key. Depending on which brand and model your deadbolt is, chances are more than likely you can’t just replace the cylinder like you’re thinking anyway. I would highly recommend returning or discarding the cylinder, and just purchasing a replacement deadbolt instead.
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Yea it’s possible it’s a different lock. Management might know something about it, or it’s always possible you have the wrong key, or someone open & replaced it with another padlock. Lots of possibilities really. Mgmt might have a way to cut the padlocks off, or you can hire a locksmith to pick the lock or cut/drill it off.
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Nope, it’s all just proper management and mental hurdles.
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I’m sorry, that is not enough information to go off of. HHL isn’t a brand I’m familiar with. If you want to see if you can salvage it, take it to a walk-in lock shop, they might be able to make a key to it. I would ask them for a price first, it might not be worth your money depending on what the worth is of the box. I would guess if they can do it, the cost would be around $30.
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You didn’t mention the brand, but it sounds like a common Kwikset problem. Usually just replacing the latch will fix it. Kwikset also has a common problem where the screws back out on the inside of the handleset. Take it apart very slowly. Buy a replacement latch, and put it all back together. Should be good to go.
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You say it’s too big for the door. How so? Is your door too thin? If so, you need adapter plates. That’s going to be the case for any equivalent. If your door has a different backset, say 2-3/8” instead of 2-3/4”, you either need to adjust the deadbolt latch, or purchase the correct backset. Depends on brand. If the hole in your door is 1-1/2” in cross bore, you need to get it drilled out to a 2-1/8”. Those high security deadbolts have some flexibility, but not a ton. They are pretty particular as to how they fit, and they’re all pretty similar.
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