Dealing With Keys Broken in Locks

The concept of keys and locks goes back many centuries, and today, keys and locks are used more than ever. Some of these keys and locks are simple metal, and may be found on house doors or even on garden sheds. These are the simplest locks and are useful enough, but expensive items such as cars and pickup trucks have more advanced lock features in them for maximum convenience and security alike. And of course, there are also free-standing padlocks, which can be put onto and taken off of nearly anything, such as a gym or school locker. Many Americans, though, may have problems with their locks or keys, such as if they need key extractors on hand, or car lock picks or electronic lock picks in the case of an accident. These key extractors are often used by professionals, as are lockpick sets, but ordinary Americans may also purchase key extractors from hardware stores if they suffer from keys getting broken in locks. Lockpick kits can help someone who is locked out of their own house, for example.

Damaged Keys

Why are key extractors used? Keys are physical items, as are the locks that they go into, and sometimes something might go wrong. In some cases, a worn out key may be forcefully used in a lock, and the key may break in half. One half comes free, but the other half is still in the lock. That piece may prove nearly impossible to remove without the aid of tools such as key extractors, and the lock will be unusable as long as a key piece is stuck inside, occupying the space. This can be trouble, such as when someone breaks off their key in their front door’s lock and now they can’t get in or out. In other cases, a padlock may suffer this problem, and the user can no longer open their locker and access the contents. Thus, a person in need may either call upon a professional lock pick expert who has key extractors, or this person may buy key extractors from a hardware store and keep them on hand, just in case.

Missing Keys or Fobs

In other cases, the problem with a key or lock is not the key getting damaged, but lost altogether. Or, the key may be locked inside a car, and thus the person paradoxically cannot get to the key without first unlocking the car, which requires the key. This is quite common, and many Americans find themselves locked out of their cars every year like this. When that happens, the person may call upon professional car lockpick firms, who will send an agent to their location and pick the car’s locks to allow access. Naturally, this may require some verification that the person who called them indeed owns the car and isn’t trying to steal it or steal items from inside. Assuming there are no problems, the lockpick expert will open the car’s locks for the client. Something similar may be done if someone locks themselves out of their house or apartment, and they may call upon lockpick experts who can get them back into their residence. Here again, some verification may be requires to ensure that the lockpick expert isn’t aiding in a robbery.

What about car key fobs? These are small, handheld remotes that come standard with most cars, and they have a few buttons on them to lock and unlock the car’s doors and trunk alike. Such fobs can be programmed, but sometimes, a fob may become damaged, lost, or its programming may become faulty. Here again, a person may find themselves locked out of their car, or at least they won’t like the inconvenience of a missing or unusable fob. Should this happen, the car owner may have their fob either replaced or repaired, or reprogrammed by an expert. Some advanced cars today won’t even start unless the owner’s fob is inside the vehicle, to help prevent theft. A car’s computer may, in fact, believe that its actual owner is a thief until that owner gets the fob replaced or repaired.