What are these holes in the side of my padlock?

[ze...@hotmail.com]

Sorry for the mundane question but I thought I should check it out.

I have small keyed brass Master model 130 padlock. I bought it as
part of of pair of (what I thought was) identical locks. The curious
thing is, in one, there are 3 perfectly spaced and drilled holes in
the side --drilled perp to the axis of the key, just over 1mm in
diameter. They are spaced 2mm apart. Inside each of the holes are
small springs barely held in by the slight tension they put on ID of
the holes. They can be removed with a needle with almost no
resistance. The other lock of the pair lacks these holes. Both
locks function OK. I'm fairly certain the locks did not originally
come with any kind of covering or sheath. I just wonder what those
holes are for and why they are in one lock and not the other?

The lock in question has been securing, for over a year, a
construction site breaker box --not a major security concern --just
making it difficult for kids that may want to play with the site
power.

Thanks,
zeb

[harkawy]

Zeb,

First, there are six sides to the padlock; the top where the shackle
is, the bottom where the key enters and two narrow and two that are
wide. The two narrow sides are the top and bottom of the keyway. If
you have three holes on the narrow side which is on top of the lock
cylinder (the cuts of the key are facing that direction,) then it
leads me to believe that the lock had been drilled by someone to
remove three of the four pin sets that secure the lock. With the
three removed, the forth (closest to the bottom of the lock or the
side that the key enters,) can be picked to open it.

You didn't say where the locks were purchased, but in my judgment,
they should be returned/exchanged for a proper set of locks that are
"keyed alike." Do not use the one with the holes as it provides zero
security. You might as well replace it with a paperclip.

Harvey

[Default User]

Sounds like the manufacture was incomplete. If it's what I
think, those holes should have been plugged. And the padlock
should be returned for replacement by the seller.

--
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<ze...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:38c4c577-0b52-42c8...@l35g2000vba.googlegroups.com...

[ze...@hotmail.com]

> The two narrow sides are the top and bottom of the keyway.  If
> you have three holes on the narrow side which is on top of the lock
> cylinder (the cuts of the key are facing that direction,) then it
> leads me to believe that the lock had been drilled by someone to
> remove three of the four pin sets that secure the lock.  With the
> three removed, the forth (closest to the bottom of the lock or the
> side that the key enters,) can be picked to open it.
>

That crossed my mind but the holes are machined so perfectly, all
while the lock was in place.
Then again maybe some sort of drilling template was used. Thanks for
the educating response.

[Mark]

I agree...it seems that they didn't cap the cylinders to complete the
keying. I would discontinue use if only for the reason that it could
fail to open

Mark

[testingdig...@gmail.com]

to know the reasons behind the holes in padlocks

https://reasonsbehindthe.blogspot.com/2019/04/why-there-is-hole-in-padlock.html