Broken lock - Please help..

darrenwis

Hi all,

Come home today and cannot open the patio door, the handle just spin around but doesn't seem to move anything internally.

When turning key the lock itself seems to function.

Please see video here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oNzbp1cZXo

What could this be? Expensive fix?:mad:

Kiran

Probably a gearbox problem. Last one I bought cost £20 and took about 10 minutes to take out and swap over. You do need to open the door to do it though. You may be able to do this by turning the key to the right and keeping the pressure on the key. If this doesn't go far enough unlock the other side do the same thing again whilst pulling the left handle down and apply pressure to the centre of the door.

HTH

darrenwis

Thanks for the reply, could it be the spring at all? The handle is the same on the outside aswell.

Kiran

The handle should only go up into the lock position or down into the open position. For it to freely rotate the part of the gearbox that receives the spindle is more than likely broken. Has someone forced the handle?

wantonnoodle

We have recently had cause to replace the gearbox on our kitchen door and a few months prior, the patio door. The replacement gearbox in each case was about £60 from the local glass company (who had manufactured the doors and windows fitted in the house).

It looks to me like a spring in the gearbox has snapped. That was what happened in the case of our patio door, which wasn't properly lined up either (that failed on the day we bought the house) so we ended up with the door held shut with a length of rope for a few days until we got round to fixing it.

Also, bear in mind that in some cases the gearbox alone can be changed, but in others, the track has to be replaced as well. We have one of each (the patio door gearbox was soldered onto the track, while the kitchen door was a standalone gearbox.), but cost is generally the same.