How do I prevent my locks from freezing?

Every year, through the winter months, we get a number of enquiries asking for advice on dealing with this, so we’ve put together a few hints and tips. Locks and the cold weather don’t tend to go together very well, all locks, including combination locks use very complex mechanisms with springs, pins and bars. These will all expand and contract through a change in temperature, worse, they may get stuck if a little bit of water gets inside and freezes.

Choosing a resilient lock

The first thing to consider is locks that are more resilient to freezing, the higher security locks will use a ball bearing locking system, rather than using loaded bar. This means that they unlock using less moving parts and are less likely to freeze together. In this way, combination padlocks can be much more likely to freeze as well as be difficult to open than keyed locks.

Consider a lock that uses a plastic casing, these are designed to help keep the rain off the lock but will also prevent excess water ingress into the mechanism, this can then freeze overnight.

Prevent your lock freezing

There are some things that you can do to help prevent your locks from freezing in the first place, but the best advice we can give you is to prevent or stop water from getting into the lock. Make sure that you keep the lock dry and it should be ok.

Lubricate the lock

Most lubricants have a freezing temperature well below water and below what you would experience in the UK, in our test, it did help to spray the lock first, but only a little don’t rely on this method entirely.

The best type of lubricants are those which stay inside the lock and not just drip out, PS88 spray is good and WD40 is also another oil that works very well.

Cover the lock

We believe that one of the best methods is to simply cover the lock with part of a sock or a cheap glasses case, they’re good as they won’t soak water up.

Whilst this method may sound odd, it helps to prevent condensation from forming on the locks and then running down into the mechanism.

Grease or Vaseline

This tends to work a lot better than lubrication, but it is messy, sometimes freezing occurs when water, dew or condensation gets into the lock. You can use Vaseline or grease, in some cases Vapour Rub can work too. Whilst applying it, try to make sure that no water can drip down inside. Also put it on the keyway, especially if the lock isn’t orientated downwards. Ensure that the lock is 100% dry when you do this, otherwise you may just be trapping in existing water.

Dealing with a frozen lock

If your lock has frozen, it can be very difficult to get it open quickly, traditional car anti-freeze will work but, in some cases,  it may take a while to unfreeze. As you apply it, shake and tap the lock then try to freeze the mechanism inside. Hot water can work very well but it’s rare that it will be an easy and assessible option for you. Pour water on slowly rather than all at once and if you can, fully immerse the lock into warm water.

If you have no water or antifreeze, then you’re going to have to get your hand cold. You could put a cloth or handkerchief over the lock and hold it until it thaws out. this could take around 5 to 15 minutes depending on how much water got in there to freeze. Keep the lighter perfectly upright to make sure that the heat travels up into the keyway. Once it’s thawed, you can then get the key in, you should also be able to get it open with little persuasion, don’t use this method in conjunction with a Delcer lubricant if it’s flammable.