I was talking to an aftermarket vehicle lock supplier earlier and mentioned the use of graphite powder on said vehicle lock (before it failed) and he suggested it was a bad thing (not just not the best thing), recommending their own brand aerosol 'lube'. Now, he could have been telling the truth or it could have been just snake oil (not literally of course ... but who knows!). ;-)
The chances are the lock was just worn out anyway, even before we got to it but that got me wondering if graphite power lube had been outmoded these days or maybe was just not suitable for this (pretty standard pin) type lock used on a van?
So I thought I'd ask the panel ... so do we all actually use graphite power or other 'dry' lube for all our locks (within reason etc) or is it really not suitable for some (and I'm still talking everyday car / house / padlock locks here).
Googling and Youtube seem to have the std range of contradictions so I wondered if there was anyone here who knew their locks who could fill in some blanks for me please (excuse the pun). ;-)
Cheers, T i m
p.s. I took the old lock to bits and it looks like the first pin had worn to the point where it was jamming slightly in it's guide (also worn) and of course that pin sees most of the work (more than those behind it) and probably more of the dirt and wet etc.