(785) Power Company Meter Locks - How to Pick Them Open!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ก.ย. 2024
- In this video I'll demonstrate ow to pick open locks used on power company meters. These meter locks aren't true locks, but there is an easy bypass using a wood screw.
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These things are the bane of electrical and HVAC contractors everywhere. Thanks for the cutaway. Explains how those ridiculous keys work.
Thank You BB...
Now placed in service on Fire-Rescue apparatus throughout the entire State of NewJersey.
This is phenomenal! Residential single-phase / 240 volt AC service is easy enough to access in a pinch if overhead wiring is the norm in your area, but light commercial and industrial metering is much more elaborate. In addition to meter pans and enclosures ---> utility companies secure raceways, pedestals, enclosures, etc...
Thanks for all of your video content.. between you and Dev.O-- I've equipped quite a few with the knowledge you have so generously shared.
Thank You.
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What size wood screw is that you are using?
I need to know the size wood screw! Please!?!
@@terrawolf635 did you find out I would love to know trying it on a gas meter
You just saved me 5 days without gas for heating and cooking. Now I just need to remember to put it back on before they arrive. THANK YOU!!!!!!!
Ha ha ha. I did the same. lol
No magic word for this vid. Wish I could have won a screw from Bill!
Why isn't this the #1 video? I had to sit through a couple stupid ones trying to unlock one of these yesterday and I couldn't get it to work. Thanks for the quality video!
Same here, brother!
For me it is
BECAUSE IT DOESNT WORK. He doesn't tell you what screw, it wont screw into the block like he said it would and hes a liar getting views off BS
I really like when you show is the inside of locks
+Highteckhobbies Me too, especially the unique locks.
Me too!
It's almost like lock picking foreplay
Awesome! Fully dissected. Not just the hack, but the logic behind it. Appreciate the video, thank you.
Great video. Just what I needed. Once I saw how the lock worked, it was easy to bypass.
I will add some thing though: You can make this even quicker if you do not rely on the threads to engage the barrel at the end. All you need to do is have enough threads to grab the spring. Insert the key into the hole, push down on the screw which pushes the threads upward into the spring. While pushing down, pull the screw backwards, which will compress the spring. At that point, you can simply jiggle the other end of the lock, and the ball bearing detents will go inside of the tube allowing you to remove the other end.
You Scare the heck out of me Bill using gloves on that grinder
Thank u ...this works well. I own a contracting construction company and these cost me $$$, but not any longer. Just did this today.
Thanks Bill.. I'm an electrician, and have been stumped by that screw technique, always having to end up waiting for the power company.. You just saved me so much time and so many headaches.. As always you rule!!
It's alot harder than it looks I just spent 2 hours trying to get one off. It's not easy. I'm gonna go back and try again once my anger subsides.
@@mattc420any luck? Tips?
@@user-nc2nv9tl6c beating it with a hammer seemed to work better lol
I used a sheet metal screw and a small pair of vise grips. Inserted into the hole and grabbed the spring angling it slightly and pulled back. Worked on the second try. I do like your version also-
This will help me and my mates out at work so much! Thank you for the comprehensive video.
Can confirm that this absolutely works. Just make sure the screw is the right size. If it's a tight fit (and it probably should be) and hard to get the screw tip in the lock, you can force it past by holding the lock with a pair of pliers, and driving the screw in with a drill. After you unlock it, do the same but with the drill in reverse to remove the screw.
These things have advanced yo
Thanks Bosnian Bill and happy retirement.
This video also saved me a ton of time and money as an electrician here in PA as PECO energy also sometimes uses those locks
That lock looks more like the kind used on gas meters (at least where I'm from). When I was a meter tech this would have been real handy trick to know. Sometimes bugs lay eggs in the lock and pack the opening with dirt which will sometimes ruin the key. This video plus the supra and master key vault videos are a must watch for people who work with meters.
Hair slide(bobby pin)/screwdriver/this channel. That's all it took to break into a filing cabinet that had been locked due to moving house(yes the keys got put away some place safe in the move). very simple lock that took no time to pick. thanks to your very helpful videos allowed me to help someone out of a tight spot (without buying professional tools).
Hey Bill, what size is the screw? PS, love your channel, it's amazing.
Awesome stuff! This gave me the ideas of using a small drill bit to make a small hole. I then used a #6 2 inch wood screw and screwed into that small hole which allowed me to release!
This was a perfect explanation!! Saved me a ton of headache, thank you!!!
Thanks... A non-destructive method to open the lock change out the panel or main breaker and reinstall. I hate when the utility company tells the electrical contractor to "just cut it off." This is a much safer method, and allows the electrician to secure the meter in the socket after work is complete. Awesome.
I think I will go around the block and unlock some meters. you did it again. you out smarted the lock.
Bill you are an artist! Multifaceted professional. thanks for the "what's inside" pick video
thank you i love your ways of overcoming locks i find it fascinating
For cutting that lock up and showing us how it is inside.... you get a like!
You always make it look so easy, Bill.
you have no idea .. you saved me... i just had 2 screw it in with a screw diver in the beging and hold the head of the lock head with a channel locks while i tread it in the beginning. then it was a breeze.. awesome buddy
Bill this has got 2 be the #1 video in the universe, you are definitely the man. Thanks 4 your help
big bad billy,thank you so much for the tip.
i work for the water co. in c.t. and we use these locks for our meters also ,now sometimes i forget my key and have to cut it and it is a long process.lol now i can show the worthy co-workers.thanks again ,
SIR BOSNIANBILL.
Worked a treat. Total time 5 min from grinding to picking. Glad i said no to smart meter.
Brilliant! Thank you. Videos like yours are the reason for TH-cam.
Thank you, Sir! That is one heck of a compliment and I am wallowing in it!😀
another great video, as always. If it wasn't for your channel and your depth of explanation, I probably wouldn't have learned how to pick locks. keep up the good work.
great! my power bill just went down by half, thank you
+Ed Nelson Be careful, you might find what's inside, very shocking!
+Ed Nelson There is a mercury switch inside your meter that will narc on you if power is lost or the meter is moved. Good luck.
+D Push yep but fuck with it a few times the think there is a fault with it then hack the shit out of it - they ignore it as think there is a fault.
Yeah that is not at all how I did my job. The first time I might give you the benifit of the doubt and just hot swap the meter. The second time you get turned over to the collectors and they charge you the price of the meter that was removed and however much they THINK you might have stolen. Once again good luck.
Ed simple software in new meters look at time power on and knows if there was an outage and if numbers don't match they know, probably caught quicker than you expect, might even let you cheat for awhile to run up the penalty
Just started lock picking and found your channel, and man are your videos awesome!
Thank you!! It took me a few tries to get it right but YES !!
Appreciate the time it took you to cut that lock open. I love the mechanics.
You're a friggen genius 👏🏼 🙏🏼 This was such a great video, thanks!!
Thanks! I have had to cut these before and it is not pleasant.
Here, they use a very heavy steel girdle around the meter to keep people from "casually" tampering with it. It takes a grinder with cutoff blade to cut this. I have started a minor grass fire from grinder sparks going in dry grass near the meter. Also, it can throw sparks that discolor the building siding. And finally, I hate to be destructive, and often the meter box ends up with a few nicks or grinder marks.
I will be practicing your technique on my meter to get the hang of it, before I have to do it for real.
This was actually the first lock I ever picked (wintertime necessity). I used a metal coat hanger. I put a sharp bend in the end and cut it off so there was a very small hook, and with that I was able to manipulate the lock open in seconds.
I've been trying to do that all day. It's not working for me
@@mattc420 Try it at night.
the key is like a corkscrew handle. i worked for virgin media in the uk. the shaft expands allowing the pin to be removed.
virgin use their own locks on the cabinets. easy enough to make keys if you have a lathe like i do.
in the uk all we have is steel lockwire to stop the customer from tampering. as you can imagine it doesn't stop tampering.
Awesome video. I always look forward to ur nightly videos. Thanks for opening the lock. I love knowing the inner workings of the locks. Thanks for all the great videos!
If you wanted the balls to retract, why not splash some cold water on it?
That's hilarious skrenos 🤣🤣🤣
😂😂😂
😂😂😂😂
Zing
You want a Patriots fan if your deflating balls
Bill; love your videos. You are the guru for my lock picking progression. Regarding this video in particular; I've followed this method perfectly and have not been able to get the threads to engage. Yes, I cut the end off and ground-down the proximal threads. I am using a #8 screw, but I'm wondering if I'm using a screw that is too larger for the hole at the end of the spring ?? Very frustrating to not get this seemingly simple pick to work.
I did something similar... I used a concrete screw because is stronger and grinded the thread and the tip just like you did but it didn't work because in some cases the shaft is slightly bigger than the first hole. So what I did was I take a small piece of copper wire and wrapped the first two turns of the tip of the screw. Then you bang it with a hammer to get in and then give a few more taps when you reach the shaft. You wil retract the whole thing just by pulling the screw
Bosbianbill, you are the man. The MAN.
Thank you for showing all the tricks.
Great info!
BosnianBill....... Im not certain how too say I Love You in Bosnian :) (or discreet and pvt enough) other than flat out say THank You Sir!! You speak my language. You are a Brilliant Man with Exceptional Teaching skills. I carefully watched this video 3 times. And 10 seconds Bill!! All it took me.. Im A freakin Genius now thx to you lool!! Im your lastest subscriber as well Fan Thank Yoiu!! Ive never tsaken this amount of time since TH-cam was born, to express myself and say thanks.. Slainte
TV cable company locks next? I can send you a few.....they are magnetic here in Ga
+Uncle Jeff's World Oh really ? I did not know that. I'm here in GA too
+Joseph Park A tutorial isnt necessary. Just stick a screw driver in there for tension and shove a paper clip inside and rake it once or twice and you're done.
Heliosaurus just like master lock
Best video on TH-cam on how to pick a cylinder lock. Watched 4 others before this and nothing worked. Thank you!
These plunger locks are all the same.
I've learned a lot about the false security padlocks provide from watching these videos and this has gotten me interested in learning more about locks and lock picking. Can someone perhaps recommend what would be a very good, durable, reliable and relatively complete lockpick set to not only learn with, but also to use once you become more proficient?
Always love your cutaway work, and makes me wish I had machining tools lol
I had to do this today and a scratch awl fits perfectly in the shaft, then just light tap of a hammer it came right open just a tip that worked for me.
you are so good and finding those fixes!. im in the UK so the actual application will not occur but im sure something will crop up where the same principal applies. Thank you.
So what does the proper key look like / how does it work ?
It’s a pin with some bumps on it lol
I really need to make a video we use these every day and the key is stupid simple
Just show the spring it holds the pin in the lock, need too retract the spring to open the lock,but they cut off my power and fund out lock my box and did not mess whit it because they will the power line, and i leve it alone , its not good mess whit the lock so i am not taken it off or mess whit it at all,
by far, the best explained video GOOD JOB
Brilliant stuff. Great video.
The cut - away was a great idea too. I always love seeing inside how things actually work.
I have had one of these locks sitting on my shelf for years. It's closed and i never could figure out how to open it, Thanks Bill.
You hit this one out of the park. cheers
Great job Man , We ALL APPRECIATE YOU 💪
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You are a genius, and I greatly appreciate your insight!
I just tried this and it worked like a champ!
Glad to hear it! Several people emailed saying it didn't work. When questioned, they all skipped the step of grinding off the tip of the screw before trying it. Thanks for the confirmation!
I actually had this exact problem on a job and tried this exact method from this exact video and the issue I had that isn't addressed was the core spinning before the threads had a chance to bite hard enough to overcome the spring pressure...
Perhaps a drop of superglue would've helped or something else to hold the core temporarily...
This. Works. Amazingly. Thank you !!
What size screw?
Bill, thanks for all the videos, and congratulations on the retirement!!! You deserve it!
Bosnianbill, NJ Power is using the style barrel lock similar to the Cable Companies I dealt with. The tool went in like the screw did. As you lifted the handle on the "tool" it spread the "tip jaws" seizing the plug (like the screw) and retracted, unlocking. National Grid in the NE use a different style.
nice one, glad you gutted it to show an even clearer picture.
Bill you are a genius..thank you!!
Worked perfect, first try!!! It's just good to know that it can be done!!! ;)
What size screw?
Never seen one of those, but that is way to easy. I love it!
$300 key beat by a grind down $1 screw, amazing Bill!!!
great videos man just found your channel and its awesome
Nice one Bill, did not have sound on my work PC but video view only painted the picture nicely buddy. Great video as always.
That's Amazing & Very Cool...! Thank you Bill for the Awesome Video & Cutaway...! Keep up the great work. Nick.
Fantastic video/tutorial! And thanks for showing the cutaway also!
What size screw did you use for this demonstration?
What kind of key does this lock use? I'm trying to work out how it engages the mechanism
+codebeard It uses a split tube with a wedge in it. The tube goes in the locking block, then the wedge spreads the tube so it can pull the block back. It's actually an easy design to replicate very cheaply.
+codebeard The tip could be something like a reduced T-shape, so if you just rotate it it just slides in through two slits, you rotate some more and it engages by disaligning with the slits and hitting an end point, and now you can pull. You free it by rotating in the opposite direction. This can have many different designs, it could also be 3-sided or 4-sided, the video mentions that there are different keys that are specific to different locks.
The screw overrides it all, to see how it actually works you would need to cut open the small inner cylinder or to somehow inspect its inside. But i guess the metal needs to be sufficient soft to cut the appropriate shapes into the inside of the hole in that cylinder. With a softer metal like brass you can easily machine this using a CNC mill and a tungsten carbide drill bit that has a thin axle and a wider cylindrical head.
I am obviously speculating, but i am quite sure that the key looks quite subtle. Just a rod with minor smooth protrusions at the tip.
+taser1984 do you have a picture of it ?
this works!! Great job.....excellent video... very professional. Thanks!
You are the man! Thank you for the best video on the barrel lock. What size was the dec/wood screw?
No reply. Did anyone figure out the size screw?
@@nysalsero77 I believe I used a #6 finally, but had to slightly grind down the diameter of the bottom threads to finally work. My final thread diameter was around 3.75mm, which makes sense since common trade sizes seem to jump from 3.5mm (6-32) to 4mm (8-32). Not sure about metric, but I can say the tolerances are almost teeth-grinding tight, my first two attempts to zero in on the final catching threads diameter 2 threads are plenty, really only get one it seems anyway but that makes it a bitch when grinding them even a touch means losing the sharp thread edge. The final 'trick', which I had seen someone else on here mention, is to 'feel' that one friggin' thread to start grabbing, then stop before it bottoms & spins out and tweak the screw into that catch spot...but only lightly since you'll also be leaning on the spring which makes it drag on the outside wall which will lose your catch. It's a bitch, actually, the real trick is to find a screw with threads that are sharp & slightly larger (.2mm maybe?) than a machine screw you find that fits nice & tight along the spring (mine was a 6-32, I could 'feel' the edge of the keyway...it was only 3-4mm deep)....my point for the 'trick', though, is the ONE or TWO threads on the bottom w/BARELY a taper are going to work FAR better SHARP as opposed to just the right diameter. 3 threads & you start binding on the spring as you 'thread' those _slightly_ wider threads down past the spring.
Sorry so long, just wanted to be clear since it really only took an hour to get it right but still a BIATCH to realize what the hell it wanted to _fully_ slide enough to release. I BET the 'real' tool has ONE full thread, perhaps something like 1.75 threads so you can 'thread' them past the spring with a bigger OD than the ID of the spring -that's the 'cleverness' of it, I think :p
@@nysalsero77 LOL, Bill probly could've saved some time if he'd not lost the spring on his cutaway, since you'd clearly see the threads on his 'tool' would (I'm assuming) not quite fit through the spring without rotating the tool through the spring. Hopefully he know this.
Awesome! Thanks for the cutaway! Love to see how it works.
Good tips and cutaways help. Thanks.
Reminds me of using a household implement to get another utility.
I have to admit, utilities locks are actually quite good. They protect well against destructive methods (and when they fail, good luck replacing the lock to hide your crime), but they are simple enough to not get mucked up by weather. They actually offer better protection against tampering than a warded Master lock. And they are cheap!!!
Here is a lock not much more complicated than a wall anchor and it works!!! It doesn't lock very well, but it is a nice obstacle to tampering. I have an easier way. Two words. Dent Puller. But your method has more "finesse".
+bosnianbill can you please do a lock lab inventory or a video of your tools and locks. By the way you are the best TH-camr and lock picker I have seen. You are so good please keep do what your doing. I love your videos and love when you post. I started lock picking because of you. I have been watching you for a year know and I won't stop. Thank you.
Awesome. I was just looking at home depot. They want $60 for barrel lock keys. We are allowed to have access to the meeters here in philly but the POwer company may take a day or up to a week to come take it off. It's crazy. Thanks bro.
$60? That's cheap. They go for about $500 here. It's illegal to own by regular contractors... Only utility companies can buy them.
Also they have different versions... Make sure it's M71759 by Brooks UP
Thank you so much.
The locked my gas meter without leaving us a note or warning.
Gas companies now often place a disk in the first union downstream of the meter when they do a cut-off to prevent flow even if you turn the valve on. If you pull the disc next they will take the meter with the regulator and you can't bypass that without burning the house down.
nice, always wondered how they worked. even though I work for an electric utility I never knew how they worked. simple but effective design. I have seen those on gas meters.
Work perfectly first try thank you very much
Very informative video
You got your self a new subscriber
Thanks
Thank you, Bill.
very cool video I'll save this info when I really need it
Thank you very much sir. Great video.
Best video yet.
I wonder if a small threading tap would work? Might bite better and one with a fine thread would have plenty of threads inside the inner part. Just an idea.
Well played, sir! And the secret password to get a box of those screw keys is "Abracadabra!". I will await your drawing my winning (and hopefully the only) entry. Wait! What?
What size (thickness) screw was used?
Thanks for responding to my comment . It works well for me when I tried . I have not seen the screw method yet but I'm certainly going to give it a shot. It looks a lot easier . And thanks for the videos I have learned quite a lot watching them. Keep up the good work.
I saved 15% or more on my power bill by watching this video.
That’s what I was looking for . Great info. Thank you ,
I have seen the adds on ebay where some NY scheister is trying to sell keys at grossly overpriced rates.
The actual "key" is actually a type of hollow wedge that has a shaft similar to a finishing nail that when pulled back will expand two wedges into the hollow shaft binding it quite firmly. The "nail" and wedges are housed in a piece of steel resembling the lock and has a cam handle attached to the nail to pull it back and lock it into place. Wish I could post a photo, better than trying to describe it.
LP&L/Entergy in the New Orleans area used a lock that was good at seizing up from corrosion, so the linemen tended to just cut the things off. But with a pair of channel locks you could bed it apart and unlock the meeter, then bend it back on. Ours had been removed several times. Once when we updated the breaker box, once when we moved the breaker box, again removing the box to do work to that wall, and then when the line coming from the pole dropped one leg, we pulled it diagnosing it and then the electric company came and the guy fought it for a few minutes before getting his bolt cutters out. I had removed it in half the time a few hours before he showed up. shoulda left it off for him
You are so awesome thank you for this video .. A big help !!! A blessing actually !!
You are the best Man!!!👍