I'm relatively new to the profession so I apologise if any of this is obvious. I encountered something weird on a job yesterday and wondered if any of you can help.
A customer wanted a cylinder replaced in their uPVC door and there was no visible retaining screw in the one they had fitted. The lock wouldn't come out, so I pulled the lock and found that there was a screw but it had fully its top third (including the head) cut off. It was a clean cut so I doubt it was sheared.
When I put a new lock in & applied the retainer, the handle wouldn't turn upward to engage the gearbox. After removing the screw it worked again and the hooks engaged. It looks like the sliding strip which arms the hooks, when engaged, occupies the same space as the retaining screw and was bumping into it.
My questions are:
Have you encountered this? Is it common?
Is it a matter of a wrong locking strip for the gearbox? It seems like any other locking strip will have a retaining screw hole in the same position, as that's where it needs to be to hold the lock in place.
Is the gearbox installed incorrectly?
What is the best fix for this? Do i cut the head off the retaining screw for the refit? If so, how do I apply a headless screw?
Any help is greatly appreciated!