The Chainlink

The Importance of Lubing One's Kryptonite Lock in the Winter

Here's a somewhat cautionary tale that some of you might benefit from.   I don't know if my experience is typical..I assume some experts will chime in.

During the cold spell a few weeeks ago my Kryptonite wouldn't unlock. I frequently lock at the Marianos on Lawrence/Ravenswood.  I went inside to their coffee area, got a cup of hot water from the coffee folks, ,problem solved.  When I got home, I read up on the issue and people said to apply WD40 to the lock, which I dutifully did. I assumed all was well.

The next day I locked up at the same location and once again a frozen lock.  I was puzzled as I thought the WD 40 would have provided the necessary lubrication or removed any rust . Got a cup of hot water again, applied it, but no luck. I was starting to think that my key must have bent even though I had easily locked and unlocked the bolt several times during the initial WD40 cleansing.

So I went home via the CTA and read up on frozen Kryptonite locks. I was puzzle as though it was cold out, maybe  5-10 degrees, in three years of Chicago winter biking I've had no trouble unlocking in much colder weather (and after my bike sat outside all day).

Based on my reading on the Interwebs, I returned with more Wd40, bike lube, my plumbers wrench and a hammer for light tapping.  I also brought matches thinking I would heat the area up.

I applied hot water again, warmed the area with flame, more wd40, and no luck.  It seemed that the key couldn't turn all the way but my assumption was (and is) that the bolt was frozen.  

I was sufficiently cold that I took a break inside at the Marianos bar and the bartender, after hearing my story,  told me that drugstores sell these solutions to loosen up frozen locks (particularly car doors). She sent me down to the CVS @ Ravenswood/Lawrence.  They didn't have such a product but sent me to the Walgreens at Lawrence/Western.  They didn't have this mysterious solution.  So now I was really cold, tired, and decided to go home, correctly assuming that nobody could steal my bike with its frozen lock.  

So the next day I went into the wonderfully named Crafty Beaver store @Lawrence/Ashland and bought two different kinds of fluid to open frozen locks.  I sprayed the stuff into the key hole and after ten minutes of twisting the key the lock opened. I was thrilled. At that point I really wanted to go inside and celebrate with a cold one so I poured a ridiculous amount of silicon bike lube and more anti freeze lock solution (two different brands!) into the entire area where the bolt attached and the keyhole area. I wasn't going to deal with a stuck/frozen lock again!  After the beer I unlocked with np.

Next day I bike a few miles and also end up at the same bike rack. When I go to lock the bike, the entire sheath that covers the keyhole comes flying off as well as the metal "covering" where the key goes in. I assumed the lock  no longer worked, and as it was really cold but I wanted to work out at LA Fitness, I positioned the bolt to make it look like the bike was locked. It was about zero degrees and dark outside so I figured no bike thieves would be out.  Biked home after that.

The following day to my surprise it turned out that the lock still worked even with missing a few parts. Though I guess an adept thief could get better access to the keyhole now.   

Here's my takeways  from this episode:

1)  WD40 is good for loosening locks but does not remove rust.  A small amount of rust combined with very cold weather can freeze a Kryptonite.  Alternatively, maybe I cleaned  with water after the first WED 40 treatment and the left over moisture  froze. But that wouldn't explain why the lock froze initially so I'm sticking with the rust/cold weather theory.

2) Especially if you bike through the winter and expose your lock to the elements you should lube your lock periodically.

3) Don't use too much lube.

4) If your lock won't unlock during the winter, get the lock defreezing fluid at a home improvement store. 'These fluids work.

Josh

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An MSDS is a Material SAFETY Data Sheet and is used for describing health effects is not an engineering reference tool. WD 40 can be used for all those things that they purport it will do but the question is how well does it actually do those things. I believe that it is pretty good as a penetrant. Think about that. How would it penetrate? It does so by dissolving foreign materials in an area of mechanical interface such as a lock mechanism. But if it is dissolving that material does it attack the other surfaces? The answer is it does so it does so in a lesser manner in a given time period. So it won't destroy a lock in the short term and may even be fine to use in the long term but what are the other properties of the material that would make one decide to use or not use it in a long term application? One thig I know from experience is WD40 seems to flow too quickly and therefore will flow out and off the surfaces and require re-application in a relatively short time period. Other manufactures recognize this and have developed materials that remain attached to the surfaces to which the product is applied. Some of these materials are silicone, ptfe (Teflon), graphite, etc.. Depending on application (what thing it is being used on) different properties of these remnant materials are advantageous. Most oils are corrosive in some degree and but are not always the best lubricant for a given situation. So the easy answer is use experimentation, experience and/or intuition.

Thanks Cameron. Makes a lot sense and seems to explain the unintended results I experienced.

J

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