Medeco Lock Rekeying Nationwide | Novak Lock & Security Long Beach

Medeco Lock Rekeying: The Long Beach Owner’s Guide

Medeco lock rekeying in Long Beach typically runs $45-$85 per cylinder for residential deadbolts and knob sets, with high-security rim cylinders and commercial applications landing at $75-$140. We stock Medeco key-in-knob, rim, and mortise cylinders on our Long Beach service trucks, and most residential rekeys are completed same-day with two keys included. The call starts with a written price from the dispatcher, and Haven Standard Clause 1 prohibits our technician from changing that figure at your door.

Call (424) 340-6795

Most Long Beach homeowners discover they need a Medeco rekey after a purchase, tenant turnover, or a lost key - not because the cylinder failed, but because the key control has been compromised. In Belmont Shore and the Alamitos Beach rentals, we regularly see Medeco Biaxial and M3 cylinders that still function mechanically but have unknown key copies in circulation. That is the failure mode: uncontrolled duplication, not a broken spring.

Which Medeco Models This Applies To

Medeco has produced three distinct cylinder architectures since the 1980s, and each rekeys differently. The original Medeco Biaxial uses angled key cuts with sidebar pins; the M3 adds a slider mechanism for pick resistance; the X4 (discontinued but still common in Long Beach commercial buildings) uses a conventional pin-tumbler stack with Medeco’s restricted keyway. We rekey all three, but the pin kits, key blanks, and labor time vary significantly.

To identify your cylinder, remove the key and look at the face. Biaxial cylinders are stamped “MEDECO BIA” or show a small “B” logo. M3 cylinders read “M3” and have a slightly wider face to accommodate the slider. X4 cylinders look like standard Schlage from ten feet away but carry the Medeco keyway and a “X4” stamp. If the stamp is worn off, measure the face diameter: Biaxial and M3 rim cylinders are 1.180 inches, while X4 rim cylinders match the 1.125-inch Schlage standard. That 0.055-inch difference determines whether our truck stock fits or we need to pull from our Long Beach warehouse.

We use factory Medeco pin kits and key blanks for Biaxial and M3 rekeys. For X4 cylinders, we stock both OEM Medeco pins and quality aftermarket equivalents from LAB and HPC that meet the same tolerances. The aftermarket pins save roughly $15 per cylinder; we quote both options in writing before we start.

Signs Your Medeco Lock Rekeying Is Failing

• Keys that once turned smoothly now catch or require jiggling. This usually indicates worn pin chambers or accumulated salt corrosion from Long Beach’s marine air, not a key problem. A rekey with fresh pins and lubrication restores factory-smooth operation.
• You cannot account for all copies of the current key. Medeco’s entire value proposition is restricted duplication - keys marked “DO NOT DUPLICATE” at a hardware store mean nothing if a previous owner had a locksmith cut spares. Rekeying resets the combination and voids all existing keys.
• The key turns but the bolt does not retract fully. This is often misdiagnosed as a latch or strike problem. In Medeco deadbolts, the tailpiece connector between cylinder and bolt mechanism can wear eccentrically, causing the cylinder to rotate past the point where the bolt moves. Rekeying includes tailpiece inspection and replacement if needed.
• A new homeowner finds Medeco keys with no matching locks, or locks with no matching keys. Common in Long Beach’s 1920s-1950s housing stock where previous owners installed Medeco on the front door but left side doors on Kwikset or Schlage. We rekey to a single keyway or master-key the set so one key operates every door.
• The lock was rekeyed by a non-Medeco dealer and now malfunctions. We have opened cylinders in Bixby Knolls where standard .003-inch tolerance pins were substituted for Medeco’s .0015-inch spec. The lock worked for six months, then began dropping pins into the keyway. Proper rekeying requires Medeco-specific pinning kits; generic .003 kits do not maintain the sidebar geometry.

Replacement Cost & What’s Included

Medeco rekeying cost in Long Beach breaks down as follows:

• Residential key-in-knob or deadbolt cylinder: $45-$65 per cylinder
• High-security rim cylinder (Biaxial or M3): $65-$85 per cylinder
• Commercial mortise cylinder with master-keying: $75-$140 per cylinder
• Additional keys beyond two included: $8-$12 each (Medeco restricted blanks)
• Travel to Long Beach locations outside our standard zone: $0 (no call-out surcharge)

The range reflects cylinder type, not guesswork. A single Biaxial deadbolt rekey with two keys is a $45 job if we are already on-site; a six-cylinder master-key system for a Belmont Heights apartment building runs toward the top of the range due to pinning complexity and key scheduling. Every quote includes parts, labor, and the documented photo record we leave with you. The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers the rekey: if a pin drops, a key sticks, or the combination does not match what we documented, we return and correct it.

We do not add a “trip charge” or “diagnostic fee” on arrival. The price quoted by our dispatcher is the price on the invoice. Haven Standard Clause 1.

DIY or Call Us?

Medeco cylinders can be removed from most residential deadbolts with two Phillips screws and a working key. If you have mechanical aptitude and a clean workspace, removing the cylinder and bringing it to our Long Beach shop saves the service call. We will rekey it while you wait, typically twenty minutes, and test every key before you leave.

Where DIY goes wrong: Medeco sidebar springs are under tension and will launch across a room if the cylinder plug is removed without a follower tool. The pins are also chisel-shaped and directional; one reversed pin disables the sidebar and leaves you with a cylinder that accepts any key. We have rebuilt cylinders in Naples where the owner got three pins deep, lost orientation, and forced the plug back together. The repair cost more than the original rekey would have.

If your cylinder is in the door and you do not have a working key, drilling or picking to remove it risks damaging the $80-$140 cylinder you are trying to save. Call (424) 340-6795. We will quote the rekey on the phone and arrive with the correct pin kit already pulled.

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