TomWIC Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 Managed to grab one of these cases for a great price used due to the lock being faulty. The key turns but the latch doesn’t disengage from the base. I contacted Hiscox and two days later I’ve got a brand new shiny latch to replace it with. The only problem is that where the current latch doesn’t disengage, I’m not able to access the rivets on the base to drill to swap them over. I’m not overly handy to be honest, and I don’t want to brute force it in case I do more damage. I've attached a couple of pics to hopefully show the problem. Anyone able to give me some advice about getting this old latch off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 There are a number of You Tube presentations which show how to pick a lock, I'm guessing the Hiscox lock is fairly lo-tech and show be reasonably easy to pick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6feet7 Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 The catches are short and pretty bendable soft metal. A push on the offending catch with a screwdriver should bend it enough to be able to open it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hubrad Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 57 minutes ago, 6feet7 said: The catches are short and pretty bendable soft metal. A push on the offending catch with a screwdriver should bend it enough to be able to open it. Or the similar screwdriver action and you can probably prise it apart around the brass pivot pin and open it that way. You said the key doesn't operate the lock.. when you turn it, can you hear/feel a little click as it tries to do so? Might be the key worn, so could well be worth picking open anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomWIC Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 (edited) Thanks everyone. So, I took a chance with a screwdriver and a bit of brute force and managed to pop the latch up. Now that I've done that, whatever had made it stuck before isn't a problem now. The latch fully opens and closes again (albeit with a bit of stiffness as it's been like that for a few years, I was told) and the key locks and unlocks fine. And now I've got a spare latch if it ever breaks again Edited March 15, 2020 by TomWIC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomWIC Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 Also, the only difference between the old and new latch is the angle of the spring - perhaps this was the problem? I forced it back a bit with the screwdriver and doesn’t seem to be moving now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hubrad Posted March 15, 2020 Share Posted March 15, 2020 Excellent, mon brave! I don't use hard cases that often, but when I do it's Hiscox; love 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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