Emergency Locksmith. UPVC repairs. Car keys & remotes. Ross on Wye. Forest of Dean. 01594 541156 / 07736 038346
A customer rang with the tip of his key snapped off the ignition. It wasn’t possible to extract the broken part in situ therefore the ignition barrel and steering lock were removed. This enabled the customer to drive off (avoiding a parking fine). The ignition was then stripped (much more than shown in the photos) to removed the stray part and to cut a new key. (Note: customer was able to provide proof of ownership of the vehicle).
There are several methods of producing a new transponder (chip) car key. It is far easier and cheaper to copy an existing car key. If you’ve lost all the keys it is often possible to program a new key diagnostically. If that can’t be done it may be necessary to remove the immobiliser (aka ECU, EWS) and write information directly to the chip on the board. This may require stripping off your dashboard or clocks to get to it. It is more expensive a procedure than diagnostic programming
In this picture we are EEPROM programming a new key into a Fiat Punto immobiliser.
As the temperature changes UPVC doors can become difficult to lock/unlock. If it needs excessive force to lift the handle or turn the key then the door needs adjust or the mechanism inside can fail completely. If it fails in the locked position it can be difficult to fix. It’s far cheaper to adjust the door, and to avoid anything failing.
If the door does become stuck open or closed, give us a ring and see if we can fix it for you.
A dealer needed an extra key for a car that was being collected that afternoon. He couldn’t wait the week for a dealer key, and didn’t want to pay dealer prices either. This era Skoda uses the same keys and transponders as VW, Seat and some Porsche.
There are 4 main ways to provide replacement car keys. Cloning the existing chip. EEPROM programming a new chip into the ECU/IMMO. OBD programming into the ECU/IMMO. Dealer only keys.
Here is an installation of a standalone access control lock. This can be set to either open with a code, or a proximity dongle/card. Users can easily be granted/denied access by the system manager. This type of lock is ideal for small offices/businesses where access needs to be controlled, avoiding the hassle of changing the lock every time a member of staff joins or leaves.
I was asked to do lock changes on a vacant shop. It hadn’t been entered in about 18 months and was covered in dust and grime. 
There were 2 British Standard 5 lever mortice locks on the door.
Both mortice locks were non destructively opened and removed. Interestingly (to me at least) they had both been previously drilled open and not replaced. There was still the hole in the hardplate. Whichever locksmith did it had just poorly replaced the levers inside. Admittedly they’d drilled the hole perfectly.
Normally levers in this model lock are a mix of hi/low lift, they’d certainly be different from each other. When we opened the top locks all the levers were identical which is completely wrong.
It might be tempting after a hard day at work to drop your keys on the nearest table then go and relax. Don’t! The simplest way to steal your car or burgle your house is to fish keys out of the letterbox. Keep them out of sight. Keep them out of reach of rods and wires.
This poor Ford Fiesta was stolen/recovered. The keys had been tossed by the thief. I’m not sure if the thief or the recovery truck driver smashed the window. We were called to make a replacement transponder key so the rightful owners could drive it home from the pound. We also erased the missing key so that it can’t be used to steal the car again.
Here is the proximity reader for a Paxton Switch2 access control system we installed recently. They have many other styles of reader/keypads available.
Switch2 is more suitable for external use than the Compact system. This is because the Switch2 control unit is mounted inside the building, rather than being in the reader/keypad itself as in the Compact. Therefore Compact systems are normally only fitted internally.
If you need audit-trail, time-sheets, anti-passback etc, then look at the Paxton Net2 or 10 systems
Here is an old, badly fitting UPVC door. It was sagging badly on its hinges, hitting the frame so it wouldn’t close. The hinges were non adjustable, so the the only option was to remove the glass and repack the door panels. By packing the panels on the diagonal (heel – toeing) it shifts the door back into square with the frame.