Frozen locks

[waskawood]

I have a dead bolt lock on my fish house and when it gets really cold the moisture from the inside condences and freezes my lock. Is there any way to prevent it? I get tired of carrying a torch!! Thanks....

[ice_it_06]

Load it up with white lithium grease you can get in a spray can, or graphite powder.

Usually just get graphite down in them when I buy them and shoot some lithium in there and never had issues.

[Jim Almquist]

A warm can of WD40 with the little red hose deal has worked great for me.

[LMITOUT]

I carry one of those small cans of lock de-icer. Seems to work.

[cold one sd]

Lock de icer here too.

[theoilman]

AMSOIL has a spray lube that works beautifully for locks, it displaces water, lubricates (thin film lubricant), dries and leaves a slick finish that does not attract dust and dirt. (WD-40 leaves a fuzzy/sticky surface when the carrier evaporates that does attract dust and dirt then makes locks hard to work.) (Any of the spray greases are also going to make the lock action very stiff and attrack dust and dirt badly too.) (The graphite lubes will lubricate the lock, but won't keep moisture from recondensing and freezing for very long, plus it will make your pocket dirty.) It is best to spray/lubricate with it while above freezing - it last for up to 6 months in locks. You can also use it to spray your door gaskets to keep humidity from freezing them shut. It works just as well in your car and truck door gaskets, latches and locks to keep them from freezing. More info: AMSOIL Metal Protector

[Walterwontfalter]

My deadbolt and even the lock on the doorknob freezes from time to time. i always carry a 1,000,000 candlepower spotlight, either corded or cordless so at night I can shine and find my house. Just a minute or so with the light on and close to the lock warms it up enough to free it. It's worked every time for me.

I've also used a lighter to heat up the tip of my key then placed it in the lock. It's worked and can work in a pinch but I've had better luck with the spotlight.

[hanson]

I learned that this can happen to you about 2 years ago now when I arrived at my ice shack on Upper Red Lake at about 1am when it was -15. All I wanted to do was go to sleep, and I couldn't get into the shack!

I left my propane torch at home, didn't have a lighter, and really no other source of heat besides a sunflower heater. Soooo... we fired up the sunflower on a 20lb tank and I made my buddy hold the heater up to get some heat on the doorknob/lock. We also sprayed WD-40 into the keyhole to try and de-ice it but that really didn't do much. WD is pretty flammable as well if you didn't know!

The trick I learned after this incident was to stick the key in the lock and heat it with a lighter. The key heats up quick, melts the ice, and you are in.

[Jim Almquist]

Hanson if you heading to the shack put the wd40 up on the dash so it is warm and it will cut through the ice very much faster.

[waskawood]

Thanks for all of the great advice guys. I appreciate it....