This has been posted a gozillion times. My cylinders in door and baggage are toast. Can't see paying 80+ for worn out cylinders. Who made these? They can't cost much. Has anyone found a suitable replacement?

Pull out the cylinder and take it to any lock shop. They will measure it and sell you a generic cylinder for a few dollars, probably a lot better quality than the original. On a related not, all single engine Cessna's up to at least 1980 all used 1 of 12 keys, actual security by locking the door is a joke.

And, rock a Cessna’s Wings while it’s parked and watch the doors pop open. Only way to reall lock them is go in through baggage door, cam the latches over, then lock the baggage door. But if anyone understands that game, they just pick the baggage door lock.

These door locks keep honest folks out, maybe.

MTV

Have you ever done this. I have had no luck.

Dale Moul wrote:Pull out the cylinder and take it to any lock shop. They will measure it and sell you a generic cylinder for a few dollars, probably a lot better quality than the original. On a related not, all single engine Cessna's up to at least 1980 all used 1 of 12 keys, actual security by locking the door is a joke.

Yes, I have put generic lock cylinders into a 1965 C-150 and my current 1957 C-172. I also know of a few other planes over the years that have been replaced with non-Cessna locks. They are all the same diameter with 2 flat sides (it's called a double-D hole), The difference is the length of the cylinder and how the bar attaches to the end, usually a square plug. On my 172 the bar attachment was something else, so I cut the old bar and welded 1/2 of it to 1/2 of a new bar.

This is the end that will cause problems. I am no locksmith but I have never seen one like this where it attaches to the cam.

Years ago there was an ad in TAP for Medeco locks to replace the cabin and baggage door lock cylinders. That is what I installed on mine.

I've seen some airplanes where the door lock was replaced with one that used one of those round, burglar alarm type keys.
Probably more secure than a standard key.
My 180 uses the same key for the door lock & the mag switch, which is handy.

Cessna and several others use equally POS'y locks. It isn't even the locks themselves that have negative pressure induced on your world, it is the whole way the door locks. Yes you to can be the Fonze, by banging the side of the airplane to pop the door open. The locks themselves are similar to file cabinet locks, using a wafer system. There are actually 4 to the 4th power of lock combinations, 4 wafer thicknesses, four positions. They are very easy to re-key, if you have some spare wafers. The only thing locksmith locks are good for are parts, not even remotely similar in the rear side. My hat is off to the micro welder, I would have small puddles.

So every time I go to the aircraft junkyard, I snag a cylinder. I try to re-key all my aircraft the same. If you do not use the little star washer and some locktite, the screw will back off and your unicorn-like cylinder will fall off into space. Usually killing something on the ground. To re-key, you put your key in your prospective cylinder, if one or more of the wafers stick up, or is depressed into the cylinder, then it needs to moved about to another position. If you have a few wafers (I've never done this before), you can swap them out quickly. You just need some small needle nosed pliers to grab the wafer. Be careful of the little tiny springs, they go in the round holes on one side of each wafer. They like to enter a parallel universe if you do not keep them under control. If your effort to get all the wafers flush with your key inserted and you have no more selection in your pile, then you can file off the offending part that sticks out of either side. Not optimum, but these locks are a joke anyhow.

We had some guy having a pre-purchase at the shop. He decided to take the aircraft, but had a cow about the keys. "No, we where not given any other than what you see." "but this is a $150K airplane I have to lock it!" My insurance guy was there at the time and Frank walked up and locked and unlocked the airplane with his tennis locker key. I did the same with my Jeep gas cap key. One of the mechanics repeated it with his tool box key. He quieted down. I personally see no reason to buy an expensive key system, as the way the bolt goes into most aircraft does not really secure the door. Going through the baggage door works on some but not all. Hey. its why we have insurance anyhow.

Do you feel better know!

dogpilot wrote:Cessna and several others use equally POS'y locks. It isn't even the locks themselves that have negative pressure induced on your world, it is the whole way the door locks. Yes you to can be the Fonze, by banging the side of the airplane to pop the door open. The locks themselves are similar to file cabinet locks, using a wafer system. There are actually 4 to the 4th power of lock combinations, 4 wafer thicknesses, four positions. They are very easy to re-key, if you have some spare wafers. The only thing locksmith locks are good for are parts, not even remotely similar in the rear side. My hat is off to the micro welder, I would have small puddles.

So every time I go to the aircraft junkyard, I snag a cylinder. I try to re-key all my aircraft the same. If you do not use the little star washer and some locktite, the screw will back off and your unicorn-like cylinder will fall off into space. Usually killing something on the ground. To re-key, you put your key in your prospective cylinder, if one or more of the wafers stick up, or is depressed into the cylinder, then it needs to moved about to another position. If you have a few wafers (I've never done this before), you can swap them out quickly. You just need some small needle nosed pliers to grab the wafer. Be careful of the little tiny springs, they go in the round holes on one side of each wafer. They like to enter a parallel universe if you do not keep them under control. If your effort to get all the wafers flush with your key inserted and you have no more selection in your pile, then you can file off the offending part that sticks out of either side. Not optimum, but these locks are a joke anyhow.

We had some guy having a pre-purchase at the shop. He decided to take the aircraft, but had a cow about the keys. "No, we where not given any other than what you see." "but this is a $150K airplane I have to lock it!" My insurance guy was there at the time and Frank walked up and locked and unlocked the airplane with his tennis locker key. I did the same with my Jeep gas cap key. One of the mechanics repeated it with his tool box key. He quieted down. I personally see no reason to buy an expensive key system, as the way the bolt goes into most aircraft does not really secure the door. Going through the baggage door works on some but not all. Hey. its why we have insurance anyhow.

The point being you can buy any Cessna cylinder and move the wafers over to match your key. You can find them on eBay.

I think these are the same guys from 25 years ago:

https://aircraftsecurity.com/collections/cessna

"Better" security is achieved by placing the door latch in the "flying" position, as done by crawling through the baggage door.

A easier way to activate the full latch is through the pilot's window, and then locking the window with a lock similar to the following STC kit:
Cessna Window Locks
https://www.cessnawindowlock.com/

The previously listed~$200+ kit with the Medco cylinders only replaces the Cessna cylinders that only lock the exterior pull handle, which allows the infamous door-pop when shaking the wing.

Not perfect, as a window can be broken to gain access.

Bill

Not sure how hard you are rocking those wings but my doors don't pop open.

You can mitigate the door popping open a bit when rocking the wings or just banging the side by the door. On later model aircraft, not sure when they started with this design, sometime in the 60's I think. There is a ratcheting toothed gear assembly there in the door post. It engages with the grooves on the bottom of the bolt and ratchets one way to allegedly keep the door closed when parked. If you loosen the three screws on the assembly you can adjust its position to better grab the door. I would lube up the back of the assembly with a oil spray tube inserted with a bend in it to better lube the nuts. If your door pops open really easily then move it up a bit to get better engagement with the teeth. It also goes in towards the interior to grab more grooves. Experimentation is in order.

Here’s a great mod. Locks installed in the frame that allows you to securely close the door with the handle, then close the window and lock it. Simple 90 degree tab that grabs a slot cut in the window frame.

Much easier than reaching through the baggage door. Can you still break into the airplane? Of course, but at least the wind won’t rock the doors open.





Different vendor than we used, but this looks identical. We put one on both doors.

https://www.cessnawindowlock.com/