Corbin Mortise Lockout

I had a job recently from a fellow locksmith technician to unlock an apartment door that was equipped with a Corbin Mortise lock. There was a bolt loose there and it seem like it would be necessary to drill for the cylinder retaining screw. After cutting through the screw with my drill, I unscrewed the cylinder and manipulated the bolt back with the tip of a long screwdriver.

After getting the door open, I was searching for a reason why the lock wouldn't open and noticed that the door, around the mortise lock, was bulging outward. Apparently, the door had been forced open during an earlier break-in. The lock was loose in the cutout and wobbled a little. I took the lock out of the door and found that because the lock was loose and apparently vibrating when the door was closed, the housing or cover plate screws had loosened enough to allow the cover to move, causing the bolt retractor to come out of it's slot and malfunction.

I reassembled the lock. inserted a new retaining screw, put the cover plate back on and used a little Loctite® to help prevent the screws from loosening again and put the lock back on the door. Although I did not have it in my service van, I suggested to the customer to allow me ordering a mortise lock reinforcing wrap around plate from MAG, which would cover the damaged area of the door and prevent the problem from reoccurring. For more information about similar services, check out the following link.