Losing the metal key to your smart lock leaves you with two inconvenient options. Either you have to change the existing lock completely and trade it for another lock – and that’s a too-expensive solution, or you can just rekey Yale smart lock.
Rekeying smart locks sound like a simple enough thing. But in fact, it’s much more complicated compared to how it seems at first. It takes even more time and concentration compared to the Yale smart lock installation, which isn’t an easy thing to do either. Therefore it’s recommended to leave the rekeying to a professional locksmith. But if you’re bent on doing it yourself, it’s an option too.
If there is a physical keyhole in your Yale smart lock door, most likely you can perform a rekeying on it. But how hard it is, as well as the details of the procedure, depends on what model type you possess. The Yale smart lock is a good option if you fear you may need to rekey your lock. It’s simple to both use and maintain, and it can be rekeyed in less than an hour by an average user.
Only a few smart lock manufacturers give an opportunity to buy a keyless device. Most of the smart locks sold on the market use traditional deadbolts built with simple tumblers and pins. With these ones, you have to spend some time learning about the mechanics of the locks or leave the rekeying to a lock master with experience.
Learning about the smart technology
In the end, most regular and smart locks are not very different from each other in a mechanical way. This makes repairing them simpler than you could expect.
Types of smart locks
People usually talk about three lock types.
- Cylinder locks. These take place of the deadbolt’s cylinder. They are the most common, and easiest to mess around with and they are similar to classic locks. You can call them the basic smart lock type.
- Lock replacers. These are installed in the place of the original door lock after you remove it entirely. An inconvenience when working with such models is that you have to take apart the whole device to get inside the mechanism.
- Keyless locks. These are not rekeyed in a traditional sense, because they have no original key at all. Such models are pretty rare to stumble by on the market.
Rekeying process simplicity
It’s very relative whether one type of smart lock is easier to rekey than another. And you can’t compare them by the simplicity of the installation, because the rekeying process is very different from it.
Rekeying isn’t simple to perform. The reason why it’s so complicated to rekey a smart lock is simple. If anyone could do it, security would be compromised. Potential intruders would just rekey the lock to access the front door.
You should call a locksmith if you’re not sure about rekeying the lock yourself, especially if you’ve lost the original key.
Nuances for Schlage, Yale, and August smart lock models
Smart locks that are built into the door, such as Schlage or August ones, require you not only to disassemble the whole device but also to take all of the mechanical details from the door frame in order to rekey the lock.
If you don’t understand what are you doing, you may accidentally damage the essential parts of your security device. This is very inconvenient because it prolongs the rekeying process significantly, giving you much more problems to deal with to continue using your lock as usual.
Yale locks mostly fall into the keyless category. For example, this can be said about Yale Assure Lock SL. Keyless smart locks don’t come with a spare key. Your deadbolt is replaced completely. This renders your original house keys useless, and you can safely get rid of them in one way or another.
Rekeyable backup locks cons
The main feature of digital locks is that you can rely on smart features and use a smartphone app. But sometimes you don’t have your phone on you. In this case there usually exist some backup options in form of a physical lock and key or sometimes a touchscreen.
There is an opinion that having a traditional backup lock with a metal key makes smart safety features almost completely useless. Spare keys can end up in the hands of a burglar, and thus they receive an opportunity to easily bypass your security system. Physical keys are easily stolen, lost, or even cloned behind your back, usually by ex-housemates.
This is the biggest downside of rekeyable smart locks, and you should always have it in mind before installing such a device.
When it is necessary to rekey Yale smart lock
Most commonly users have to rekey their Yale lock for security purposes. Yale models have a high safety level, therefore they aren’t easy to pick.
While this protects you from burglars, it also creates a danger of not being able to get out of the building in time when some sort of emergency happens. To leave the house, you require the keys on you.
Another reason to rekey your Yale smart lock is a question of convenience. Sometimes it’s quite a task to find the keys in a hurry.
How to rekey a Yale lock
Before you start, make sure you did enough research. Some of the things you’ll have to do need knowledge of nuances, rare tools, and complex techniques.
Also, remember that working with small mechanical parts requires a keen eye and steady hands. Using a magnifying glass will certainly help you.
Prepare an adequate workspace. You will need bright light, flat, clean, and preferably white-colored table surface (such a color helps to keep track of pins). Make sure that you’re completely comfortable with your workspace before you start.
Preparing the instruments
Rekeying a smart lock requires some professional equipment that isn’t usually stored in your house’s workshop. It would be much harder to come by them if most manufacturers didn’t provide brand-specific rekeying kits. They contain all the instruments you need, and they are built in a way to fit your specific smart lock perfectly.
To rekey a smart lock, you need these instruments as the base. But for some models, you will need some more.
- Tweezers.
- Plug follower.
- Screwdriver.
- Pin tray.
- Key blank.
- New key.
- Core shim.
- Repinning kit.
- Key gauge.
- Sharpie.
Taking the smart lock apart
This step of the process is very different for various device models. You have to use different methods depending on what kind of smart lock you have.
For example, with the August smart lock, it’s easy: you just have to use a common screwdriver to access the inner parts of the lock, because you can use it to take it off the wall and to pry it open both.
But for integrated security systems like the ones Schlage offers, it’s much more difficult because it offers resistance to being taken apart. It’s because of increased security, so the lock is protected from unauthorized access. The trouble with these models begins when you reach the pin and the tumbler, which isn’t hard, but after that, you have to open the lock – which is difficult when you don’t possess the original key.
Fortunately, Yale locks usually fit into the first category, so you won’t have much trouble prying it open.
Shimming the device
When you’ve got access to the back side of the device, you can shim the lock. Although this too depends on the model you possess. Some smart locks require a small pin, others need a c-clip or a Torx screw to be shimmed properly. Let’s go over a quick instruction on how to shim the device:
- Place the shim on the back part of the lock. Make sure that it’s in line with the key pins.
- Put the key blank inside the corresponding key slot.
- Continue to put the pressure on the shim and slowly take the key blank out.
- If you’ve done everything right, the shim will slip between the key and driver pins.
- Be extremely patient and slowly get every pin while slowly moving the shim.
- When you put the shim behind all the pins, open the lock, but be careful so that the unfixed tumbler doesn’t fall.
- If you can reach the driver pins, take them out from the top of the lock. This can’t be done on most of the locks.
Rekeying process
When the lock is finally opened, you can actually rekey it. Follow these steps:
- Push out the loose tumbler with a plug follower. Pay attention so that not a single key pin falls down.
- Map out the pins from the new key. Use a key gauge. It’s recommended to number the pins somewhere, this way it’ll be much more convenient.
- Take the old pins away from the tumbler.
- Place there your new key.
- Replace the pins in the exact same order they were numbered in. Use the repinning kit.
- If everything is going as planned, the key pins will be sitting flush outside the device.
- Put the tumbler back. Push out the plug follower while you’re doing it. Don’t remove the key yet!
- Turn the key once to ensure that it works before you refit into the lock’s place.
Weighing the options
Having to work with extremely small mechanical parts is hard. You may take a bit of time to get hold of this skill. Don’t be shy to look up some video instructions and stay focused.
If you need to rekey the smart lock right now, call a locksmith because doing it yourself requires patience and practice. You probably won’t nail it the first time you’re doing it.
Connecting Yale smart lock with Google Home
You may want to connect your rekeyed Yale smart lock to Google Home.
Step-by-step solution
- Install the Yale Home app on your smartphone. You can find it both in App Store or Google Play, depending on what phone you have.
- Create a Yale account within the app by following the instruction you’ll receive when you first open it.
- Connect the lock with Wi-Fi. Do it by selecting your network’s name In the list of available networks on the keypad.
- If required, put in the password of the Wi-Fi net when the device asks you.
- Select “Done” when the lock has been connected with the Nest account. You can find that option in the upper right section of the screen.
How to access the mobile application
A mobile application is an innovative mobile app that allows you to lock and unlock the door from any point on Earth by using your smartphone. It’s a very convenient feature that doesn’t come at the cost of security because when you’re away, the smartphone carried with you is safe from burglars that may want to break into your private property.
Any Yale smart lock has a mobile application. It’s available to all users for free, and it doesn’t matter which specific device model type you possess. You can download it from the App Store or Google Play, depending on your smartphone, and log in with a Yale account connected to the corresponding smart lock.
Conclusion
Yale smart locks are a great option for any smart security system. Their reliability was proved with time. For years, users have been successfully protecting their residences with Yale products. A Yale smart lock is often chosen instead of a Schlage lock, Kwikset device, or an August smart lock.
Yale sells its locks with a mechanical deadbolt. Its position, which keeps the door locked or unlocked, can be altered via a mobile application or a personal computer app. A built-in alarm system notifies you when something unusual or dangerous is happening with your front door.
In the end, to rekey Yale smart lock isn’t as easy as it sounds. But when you have some practice and learn all the nuances of this process, it becomes much less difficult than it seemed at first. For an experienced user, it only takes a couple of minutes to rekey their lock.
Still, you have to acquire that experience first. Therefore if you need your lock rekeyed fast and surely, it’s better to call a locksmith.