A screwdriver opens the door lock

11/20/2008 English German

Edition # 77
San Francisco, 11-20-2008

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A screwdriver opens the door lock

Figure [1]: To lock the lock, turn the small cylinder in the middle of the door knob a quarter turn to the right.

Michael The locks on bedroom doors in America look quite different than in Germany. For example, to lock the door in Figure 1 from the inside, you turn the small cylinder in the middle of the door handle a quarter turn clockwise. After that, the door knob can no longer be turned and the lock can no longer be opened.

Figure [2]: From the outside, the bathroom lock looks like it can be opened with a key.

What I didn't know for a long time is that you can easily open these common door locks from the outside with a screwdriver. That's probably a safety mechanism so that small children, or adults who behave like small children, don't lock themselves in and then can't get the door to open again.

Figure [3]: A lock on a door can be easily opened with a screwdriver for security reasons.

Here's a trick: You simply stick a regular screwdriver from the outside into the opening that looks like a keyhole, and turn it a quarter turn to the right -- snap, the door knob turns and the door opens. A huge party fun!

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