Lubricating door cylinders?

[^woody^]

Who lubricates their door cylinders regularly? And what with.

I've had various cylinders for decades and not bothered, and there have been no problems. The cylinders have only been cheap Yales or no-names too.

About six months ago I fitted an expensive "quality" 3* plus eurocylinder that cost me 3 or 4x what I would normally pay, and the damn thing started to bind after five months, requiring me to dismantle door furniture and remove the lock to remove the cylinder to sort it out

Then, as if they were watching and taking the piiss, I only get an email out of the blue from the manufacturer telling me it was time for the cylinder's six-monthly service lubrication. WTF?

They said I must use graphite powder (preferably their expensive stuff), but my little secret is that I'd already sprayed it with WD40 dry PTFT!

Googling around, I see that almost everyone/every site says "don't use oil or WD40 to lubricate, but use dry powder" - the reason cited it that oil gunks up. However, bizarrely, Abus a quality lock maker about 100 years old produce a spray oil for their locks!

 

[HERTS P&D]

I lubricated a Banham lock with graphite, I put so much in that the lock completely jammed. I had to put a vacuum on it to suck some out.



Andy

 

[crank39]

I've made the mistake once before in using wd40 on my up and over garage door and it soon gummed up, no harm done just as just replaced it, since then always used a dry lube like graphite or if your cheap just crush up some pencil lead or rub it on the key

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Likewise - used to use dry graphite powder but swapped to Abus P88 Lock Lube maybe 10 years back as it seems to penetrate better and isn't as messy as graphite. If it is an oil, it is very runny - it's more like WD40 (almost watery) - but it does help cope with frost and ice in outdoor padlocks as well as lubricating them. According to RS Components it is naptha-based but I honestly don't know

 

[johnny2007]

Buy graphite spray.
2 seconds job and keeps lock smooth.
It dries in a few seconds leaving only the graphite powder to do the work.

 

[justigator]

Ultion by any chance? I got some cheapo graphite powder from eBay rather than their overpriced stuff.

 

[Diver Fred]

Oil Dag.

 

[^woody^]

Ultion by any chance? I got some cheapo graphite powder from eBay rather than their overpriced stuff.

Yeah.

I also suspect the massive key slot may have allowed grit or something in to cause the cylinder to catch and not rotate properly.

I notice that their branded powder is in exactly the same container as a CK product - which is half the price.

I stil can't understand how Abus can have a oil/ liquid product for their locks, and other manufacturers frown at even the mention.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Neither do I, but I got my first can from a locksmith's firm years back (they sold Abus padlocks) and it does work