Quick Tips for Extracting a Broken Key From a Lock
Portland, OR

Think about a time when you urgently need a file from your office cabinet or want to use the washroom after a long day at work, and you are hastily opening the door and the key breaks inside the locks!

Seems annoying?

Well, we understand the level of frustration, and therefore, we have brought a quick solution for you. First, calm down and compose your mind to use it to resolve your problem. Then gather some useful tools and carefully attempt to extract the Key from the clock without damaging the locks so you can unlock it through other keys.

However, these are just urgent cases; if you need more confidence, it’s better to call a locksmith service to help you. So let’s have a look at some of the fantastic quick hacks to extract broken keys from the locks without damaging them.

Reasons for key breakage

Keys are made with a specific pain pattern for each lock. Following are some reasons for the Key to break inside a lock.

Jammed locks

If you don’t the locks frequently, there is dust and oil buildup inside the lock. This will jam the lock and stop it from rotating or letting the ley inside. During this resistance force, the Key won’t be able to turn the locks inside cylinder and break down.

Weak and worn-out keys

Keys are made from medium hard metals like brass or nickel, so they wear off quickly with time and become brittle. When you try to open the door lock, they can break down due to their fragile condition.

Wrong Key or direction

Another reason for key breakage is that you have inserted the wrong Key or are turning it in the opposite direction. In both cases, the Key will get stuck inside the locks and, with further turning, will break inside the lock.

Extra force

To open the lock quickly, you may pay extra pressure on the Key, breaking it in half inside and half outside.

How to prevent the Key from breaking

To avoid the inconvenience of breaking of Key inside the lock, here are some tips to prevent such situations:

• ·         Lubricate the locks

Occasionally lubricate the locks through lubricant sprays or gel, and even if you don’t lock them often, try to lock and unlock them with a key to keep the lock functional. Use a silicone-based lubricating spray every 4 to 6 months to keep the locks in perfect condition

• ·         Replace damaged keys

Once you feel any signs of wear and tear in your Key, get them repaired and get new keys made so you don’t ever have to face such a situation.

• ·         Install the lock properly and get it serviced.

It is not always the problem with the keys; sometimes the lock needs to be installed properly or the cylinder is stuck and doesn’t move, which causes the Key to break inside. To avoid key breakage, first, get a good quality lock installed and get cleaned and serviced every year so that there are no chances of jamming or malfunctioning,

• ·         Don’t turn in the wrong direction or with extra force

If you have inserted the wrong Key or the Key is stuck, don’t try to rotate back or move the Key with extreme pressure. Carefully take the ley out or try to move it slightly so it won’t break inside the lock.

Quick hacks to extract the broken Key from your locks

If your Key has broken inside the door lock, tap the rim cylinder to make it fall out. If it doesn’t work, you can catch the outside edge of the lock and pull it back or not. If that is possible, you are good to go, and you can try one of the following hacks to extract the whole Key from your locks:

• ·         Use a paper clip.

The paper clip is the easiest and most steadfast way to extract a broken key. If the key end is visible and not very deep inside, you can use two paper clips and try to leverage the key inside the lock from each side. Then slide the clip to the first cut of the Key and try to pull it out slowly. It’s better to spray a lubricant before doing so; the Key may slide out more quickly.

• ·         Tweezers or extractors

If the key end is not outside and is stuck deep inside, then you can use tweezers or key extractors to extract the keys. Slide in the tweezers to get a hold of the Key and slightly jiggle it. You can pull it back. For extractors, you can use hooked extractors that will stick the Key in the keyway and take it out or the sprinkler key extractors that also stick with the Key and pull it back.

• ·         Knife

You can take a sharp blade or knife to pierce the end of the Key and pull it out. For this, make sure the Key is close to the ending, and you don’t push it further inside while stabbing it.

• ·         Fishing hook

If the knife and paper clip method fails, you can use a fishing hook to remove the Key. First, straighten the hook and bend the bard at a right angle. Now slowly slide it into the keyway and turn it toward the Key so that it gets stuck to the Key. Now carefully pull the hook back with the Key.

• ·         Super glue or hot glue stick

Another great hack is to apply super glue to the remaining part of the key and insert it straight inside the lock so it gets stuck to the broken piece inside. This will complete the Key, and you can pull it back safely.

This method might be dangerous for your lock and may damage its parts, so instead, you can also try a hit glue stick and slide it inside the lock. The broken part of the key will stick to the glue stick, and you can easily extract it.

• ·         Call a locksmith

Lastly comes a smart solution that is quick and risk-free, and that is calling a professional locksmith to extract the Key and make you new keys to unlock the door.

Concluding notes!

If you have the required tools or equipment to extract the Key without damaging the lock, you can try any of the above hacks. The lucky case will be if the Key has a part sticking outside. In that case, extracting it will be super easy. But if there is no visible part of the Key showing out and you are unable to get hold of the broken piece inside, avoid pushing it further or damaging the locks and call professional locksmiths such as Emergency Lock & Key services so that you can unlock your door lock without having to replace it later.