Take stock of locks

It's funny how you hear nothing of someone or something for years and then they pop up several times in a week. I think it's something to do with sod's law. I have, however, had two repeated calls lately. One is a request for hints on how to hide wires and the other is for help and advice on the fitting of door locks with microswitches for the dreaded DD243.

As far as the lock fitting is concerned, a lot of alarm companies are now moving back to the shunt lock idea because it gives better protection for the property and still complies with DD243. The trick that is slowly gaining all the favour is the idea of using the shunt lock NOT to set and unset but to act as the point of entry instead of opening the door … just to re-cap:

The lock microswitch is set to final exit, then the final set is at the point when the lock is thrown … not when the door is closed. This has the advantage – or possibly the disadvantage – of not setting the system until the door is locked. But the real benefit is on unsetting.

When the lock is opened it starts the entry timer and removes the confirmation. However, anyone trying to force the door open will open the contact on the door and not open the lock – therefore it gives instant bells at the access point with confirmation if they proceed further. This is because if the lock has not been opened it has not started the entry timer or removed the confirmation.

Time to call in a joiner?
Now we come to the next set of problems – do we call in a joiner to fit the lock or do we do it ourselves? Who do we go to get a microswitched lock fitted to an aluminium or a uPVC door and where do we get the lock …. or are they even available? Then how do we hide the wires? That is a whole handful of questions and the alarm installers are asking them. OK here come the answers one at a time.

Starting with the wooden door, we are all familiar with the Chubb 3G114 microswitched deadlock and many of us already know that there are others on the market, but beware! It is possible to buy a non-BS microswitched lock and unless you are familiar with locks it could mean that you are fitting an inferior lock and reducing the customer's security. So here is rule no 1 – unless you are knowledgeable about locks DO NOT buy a lock without the BS 3621 kite mark on it or you will have no come back.

Next is the fitting. The obvious thing is to fit it yourself ... but have you the skills? Calling in a chippy will get the job done professionally and a sight faster than you can do it but you are stuck to waiting till he turns up and then paying his bill. It's make your mind up time – DIY or cough up the readies? Being a tight fisted Yorkshireman I would opt for the DIY option, after all, another skill under your belt is never lost or wasted.

Beware! If you are not an expert it is easy to dig holes for the lock that are too deep, not deep enough, not straight and not central. It is also a golden opportunity to do untold damage to the customer's door, particularly at the start of your learning curve.

However, there is help at hand, it is called the Lock Morticing Jig. This is a sturdy metal frame that can be clamped on the edge of the door and set up in such a way that you always get the right sized hole in exactly the right position, and it will be straight, central and just the right depth.

Faced with many more locks?
It is a brilliant bit of kit and if you are to be faced with fitting more and more microswitched locks then for a little over the £ton it is a bargain. If you wish to find out more ring Paul Souber on 0151 353 1199. Tell him you got his name from me and after a lot of "Oh no not him again" Paul will give you information sheets and a list of suppliers where it can be bought.

Don't bother asking Paul to supply direct; he is a man of unbending integrity to his suppliers and will not sell to the public. I wish there were more like him in our industry.

Another tip – when you are chiselling out the rebate for the lock face (the square bit at the end) try to avoid pecking at it with a large hammer and a blunt chisel, the result looks like Neanderthal man has been at it with a flint.

Here's what to do – after you have drilled the hole slide the lock in and fix it with two screws, at this point it will stand proud of the edge of the door by about a quarter inch. Get a good sharp Stanley knife and use the lock body as a marker to cut a deep line round the edge of the lock face plate. You can then remove the lock and chisel out the rebate to a dead straight line cut by the Stanley knife.

The result is faster, and very professional – unless you bugger it up by digging too deep. It wouldn't be the first lock face I have seen that has broken matches wedged behind it to make up for an over zealous chiseller. Another point – if you are taking an old lock out and some bits of wood drop out, save them, you never know!

Next problem – the wires. It doesn't matter how neat you fix wires across a door, after a week they look a rag-shop, very unprofessional.

If you have to run the wires across a door at least put them in micro trunking with a proper door loop at the end.

Don't just run a loop of alarm wire and disguise it with a junction box – the inspector will spot it straight away. There is another alternative, it depends on the door and the situation but I have done it and it does away with all the visible wires.

Instead of running the wire straight across the door why not run a quarter inch groove round the face edge and the top of the door and run the wire in that? With a bit of filler over the top and a dab of paint or stain the job is neat and easy and when the door is closed all is concealed apart from the JBs and the door loop.

A couple of tips – don't run the groove dead centre to the edge of the door, it will be in direct line with the fixing screws for the lock and you stand a good chance of running the screw through the wire.

Run it to line up with the edge of the lock face. Run the groove right up to the lock but at about four inches back up the groove drill in from the bottom of the groove going downward at about 45 degrees. Then the drill comes out right at the back of the hole you cut for the lock and you feed the wire down that. Cut the hole for the lock up to an inch deeper than the lock requires so that you leave room for some spare wire and possibly a junction at the back.

DO NOT fit the lock and pull the wire tight – the lock will never come out without breaking the wire. The same goes when you get along the top near the hinge edge of the door. Stop a few inches in from the edge and drill downwards into the door.

Then drill in a short hole from the face of the door to line up with the bottom of the hole from the top, (leaving a hockey stick shaped hole in the top of the door). When the wire is fed through the hole it appears to come out of the door and you can now put your junction box over it with the door loop attached.

Take the door off first
Digging the groove out of the edge of the door is the easy bit – you need a router (30 quid from B&Q) or you could try using your circular saw set to a very shallow cut and run progressive cuts till you get the right width – and it is better to take the door off first and get it wedged in a good working position rather than do it in situ and get covered in sawdust. It's a bit of effort but once mastered it is a ten times more professional job.

Aluminium shop doors are a much different kettle of fish, you can't chisel lumps and grooves out of these. However luck is on our side, virtually every lock we find on the Ali door is an Adams Rite lock and Adams Rite make a lock with a microswitch attachment.

The snag is that Adams Rite make a whole range of locks so make sure exactly which lock is fitted before ordering the replacement. Another snag is that not many people know about the Adams Rite MS locks so most of your local locksmiths /suppliers will not keep them in stock.

  You will need to do your homework well in advance but the job should be much easier in the end. The good news is that Adams Rite have a good technical man called Trevor Hall that you can talk to and a whole set of technical blurb sheets that can be faxed or sent to you. For more info ring Trevor on 01322 669211. Tell him you have read about it in this column and you are not familiar with their products and Trevor will stop talking in part numbers like he does for the locksmiths and will talk to you in layman's language. Once again they will have a list of suppliers that you can deal through.

Hiding wires in an Ali door is a different skill yet again. Firstly they are hollow so losing sight of the wires is dead easy but there are a couple of tricks to push up your sleeve. You may have to drill a couple of discreet holes to feed the wires so first check that you are not going to invalidate any guar-antees by drilling indiscriminate holes in the door.

Bass guitar string does it
Look carefully at the construction of the door and you may find a suitable hole drilling point on the top edge where it can't be seen. "Fishing" the wires through the door may be a problem but I found a bass guitar string to be the ideal answer; they are strong and very flexible with a handy ring at one end to fix your cables to.

They can also be used with a battery drill to feed through places where there are internal obstructions – here's how, grip the non looped end of the string in your battery drill and – with the drill running at a slow speed – feed the looped end into the door and by pushing slowly forward (spinning steadily all the time) the bass string should find its own way through the door around any internal obstructions. Finally you will have to put a hole through the face of the door to bring the wire out into a JB and to fix the door loop. Once again no wires are visible (apart from the door loop) and the job looks dead professional.

Now we come to the real problem – uPVC doors ...

After a lot of ringing round I have come to the conclusion that there are no locks made to fit a uPVC door that have microswitches built in.

Then there are so many different types of lock on the market, most of them not marked, that identifying the type of lock you are looking at is a problem in itself. However, one thing did crop up in my searchings – it is a flying leap from where we started and I have Geoff (or Jeff) at ME Duffel Ltd to thank for this. A company called Mila have designed a wire free central locking system for domestic properties with uPVC doors and windows. It is much the same as the one on your car – you press a button or work the door handle and all the doors and windows in the house lock. I can't see how this fits in with DD243 at the moment but it immediately springs to mind as a great little extra seller over and above the system you have already sold.

If you want more info try ringing the lads at ME Duffel Ltd on 0208 761 2121, or try the Mila website – www.centralock.com

One final word of warning – some of the tricks I have explained here are not to be tried out first time on the customer's expensive front door. Let's have a little practice on something from the scrap pile first eh! Good luck and let's keep the standards going ever upward shall we?

Charge a fair price for your skills
One final note – after a rip-roaring night at the Security Excellence Awards I got on the train home next day and found myself next to the team from Kings Security Systems, winners of the best installer award. After talking to MD Anthony King and Victoria Barker from sales and marketing I have at last discovered a company that practices what I have been preaching for years – Charge a fair and reasonable price then you can pay your engineers a good rate and get a good job in exchange.

This way you can get to re-invest in the business and keep your customers happy. Kings are currently training a dozen young lads – it's called investing in the future, they deserved the award and more.