Wölfischhttps://woelfisch.de/blog/2010-04-24T15:52:00+00:00Jörg's BlogLocked out2010-04-24T15:52:00+00:00o'wolfhttps://woelfisch.de/blog/author/owolfhttps://woelfisch.de/blog/locked-out<p>As I came home Thursday night I couldn't open the door to my flat anymore: the dead bolt snapped back, but the latch didn't. Luckily I was able to remove the escutcheon plates and turn the axis of the spring bolt with the Leatherman. Now quickly to the hardware store before it closes and buy a new cylinder lock. And new escutcheon plates. I didn't take into account, though, that not only the cylinder lock was non-standard, but also the mortice lock. I had to google how to remove the cylinder, and the mortice lock does not take a standard cylinder lock. Dismantled, the system looks like this:</p><p><img height="204" src="http://img.woelfisch.de/bks-lock.jpg" width="340"/><br/><em>Old proprietary BKS locking system</em></p><p>Also, the special system made it impossible to measure the required lengths correctly. The plates were the wrong ones, the hardware store closed already, I had to somehow keep the door shut for the night.</p><p><img height="285" src="http://img.woelfisch.de/doorwithoutlock.jpg" width="340"/><br/><em>There, I fixed it</em></p><p>Later that night it dawned on me that it was the mortice lock and not the cylinder which was broken, and that I might as well could have saved myself the trip to the store.</p><p>The next morning I went to the hardware store again, exchanged the plates for the correctly sized ones and bought a new mortice lock. At least the cylinder lock had the right length. After some adjustments to the door for the new system I was able to mount the new lock and finally have a correctly opening and lockable door again.</p><p><img height="280" src="http://img.woelfisch.de/newlock.jpg" width="168"/><br/><em>New lock, inside the flat</em></p><p>The new plates even match the ones on the door across the corridor.</p><p>Lessons learned:<br/><ul><li>German door locks are as over-engineered as American ones¹ are crappy.</li><li>Locksmiths take measures of things no sane engineer would even think of.</li><li>When renting the next flat I'm going to insist on DIN standardized locks.</li></ul><br/>(For German readers: <em>mortice lock</em> = Einsteckschloss, <em>cylinder lock</em> = Schließzylinder, <em>escutcheon plate</em> = Schutzbeschlag, <em>latch</em> = Falle, <em>dead bolt</em> = Riegel.)</p><p>¹ Ironically, the bored cylindrical lock was invented by a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Schlage">German locksmith</a>.</p>Visitors and other things that happened last week...2006-09-17T22:36:00+00:00o'wolfhttps://woelfisch.de/blog/author/owolfhttps://woelfisch.de/blog/visitors-and-other-things-that-happened-last-week<p>Last week, I had <a href="http://users.livejournal.com/doco/">doco</a> and <a href="http://users.livejournal.com/imperial_wolf/">imperial_wolf</a> staying at my apartment for two nights. They were travelling Germany by train for a week and visited the <a href="http://www.dbmuseum.de/">Railway Museum Nuremberg</a>.</p><p>On Thursday, two colleagues threw their good-bye party with Leberkäs and Weißwurst. We will miss them and their expertise.</p><p>During the week I tried to find a replacement rechargeable battery for my XClef HD-800 harddisk MP3 player. Unfortunately, it can't be purchased anyway. I paid EUR 180 for the player two years ago, dammit. This was the last time I bought something with a built-in battery. I'll use an el-cheapo 1 GB flash player in the future. It runs on a single AAA battery for hours.</p><p>My neighbour next door is gone. The rumours in the house say he is broke and accepted an eviction notice. WTF? He had more than 6 months to sort things out and get welfare to at least be able to keep a roof over his head. I don't understand why some people do not even ask for help. He just packed a couple of things, left most of his stuff in the apartment and wasn't seen ever since...</p><p>Finally, welcome to LiveJournal, <a href="http://users.livejournal.com/kralle_lion/">kralle_lion</a> and <a href="http://users.livejournal.com/carterfox/">carterfox</a>! Have fun!</p>