Yale nightlatch - can I have locked myself out?

[rar4s]

I have installed one of these: https://yalehome.co.uk/77-traditional-nightlatch-60mm/

on a door to an area with no other entry routes. The key hole is on the outside.

All worked fine for a period, many ins and outs, but attempting to get in yesterday I found myself locked out.

Is this possible? Is there a way to e.g. leave the snub so that I can exit, let the door close behind me, and then never be able to open it again with the key?

My understanding is that the snub immobilises the bolt so that it is either stuck in, or stuck out. In the former case, the door wouldn't lock itself when I left and I could push it back open, and in the latter case I wouldn't have been able to leave unless I moved the snub free again, right?

Is there some way that you can open the door from the inside, close it behind you, and not then be able to get back in with the key?

Note that there is zero possibility of the snub being moved after I left. There are no other ways into the room.

Many thanks,

 

[jj4091]

As far as I know the latch still operates with the snub in the locked position so yes you could lock yourself out. Perhaps a bit of manual dexterity with something thin but very strong will gain you entry again. I believe metal brick straps are ideal if ypu can get some or something similar.

 

[endecotp]

Is there a way to e.g. leave the snub so that I can exit, let the door close behind me, and then never be able to open it again with the key?

No, except...

Note that there is zero possibility of the snub being moved after I left.

They can move by themselves, i.e. due to gravity; if you manage to leave it in a middle position where it's a bit unstable, then the bang of closing the door might make it fall into the locked position. I've seen this happen to a neighbour.

Does the door have a letterbox, or some other opening?

 

[foxhole]

Why fit a lock back to front?

 

[opps]

I have installed one of these: https://yalehome.co.uk/77-traditional-nightlatch-60mm/

on a door to an area with no other entry routes. The key hole is on the outside.

All worked fine for a period, many ins and outs, but attempting to get in yesterday I found myself locked out.

Is this possible? Is there a way to e.g. leave the snub so that I can exit, let the door close behind me, and then never be able to open it again with the key?

My understanding is that the snub immobilises the bolt so that it is either stuck in, or stuck out. In the former case, the door wouldn't lock itself when I left and I could push it back open, and in the latter case I wouldn't have been able to leave unless I moved the snub free again, right?

Is there some way that you can open the door from the inside, close it behind you, and not then be able to get back in with the key?

Note that there is zero possibility of the snub being moved after I left. There are no other ways into the room.

Many thanks,

A few years ago I was working at my mum's. I turned up at 8am. She couldn't gain access after having popped out. My aunt was over from Ireland. She couldn't open the door from the inside. I had to keep manipulating the key until the cylinder would open. The cylinder was faulty. It was supposed to be key alike with the euro thumb turn further down the door.

I reverted to fitting the old cylinder lock but intentionally put it in upside down. Doing so disables the knob deadlock. The downside is that you have rotate the key further when opening the door.

It works though.

 

[rar4s]

Well, chaps, I am pleased to say that this was solved. Returning to the property in daylight and paying more attention, I noticed that the door had no wobble at first, then some wobble when I turned the key proving that something was happening. There is another handle (knob, really) on the door further down which I mistakenly remembered as being nothing but a knob, i.e. not turning anything. Examining it, though, I found it was screwed onto the spindle very tightly giving this impression. The spindle was threaded with quarterly splines hoping to receive a grub screw through the knob. But this was missing entirely, so that the knob could only continue to tighten on the spindle until jamming against the door and doing nothing to turn the spindle.

Resolving this with an improvised grub screw, the door opened!

So I don't know what happened here, the grub screw must have become lost somehow but was nowhere to be found on the floor. But in any case the answer to my original question is NO these night latches cannot be made to lock you out except as described by some repliers here. When working properly, you can't leave in the first place if the snub is engaged.

 

[Koolpc]

I never travel anywhere without a grub screw.