Customer Reviews for Kwikset SmartKey Security Reset Cradle Tool

The tool works fine, but you really need to have the tumbler removal tool (see online videos) to easily remove the tumbler. There are two springs that hold the tumbler in place and without this tool, I broke one off trying to get it out.

I was skeptical reading some of the other reviews but this worked perfectly and wasn't difficult at all. Search the web for a good video and get the Kwikset cylinder remover if you have knobs. I did 6 locks, the first one took a bit but by the 6th it took longer to remove from the door. I did a Kwikset keypad lock too.

Makes re-keying mistakes on Kwikset locks easy to correct.

Worked perfectly. Was able to rekey three door lock cylinders without having the original keys and it was very easy to do.

Did not work for me. When I inserted the cylinder it was loose. Followed the instructions and the movement was sloppy. Didn’t reset. Then when I pulled the cylinder out it fell apart. Luckily I found how to reassemble on YouTube and was able to reset. Returned for refund. Go to https://youtu.be/advY

Awesome tool. Simple instructions and easy to follow.

Bought this to rekey 3 entry doors and it worked great on the first cylinder. After that it malfunctioned and did not work on any of the other cylinders. Save your money

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Thanks to you 800# I called you. So helpful in telling me I can order a new cylinder with direction. It save my new door knob from the trash!!

We have​ one of these at Lowe's and I have succeeded in fixing 3 smartkey locks. The screw kept falling out so I superglued it in. Work again for a bit but now a cylinder is trapped in the cradle and I can't get it out. Hard to impress customers this way.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I purchased one of these for use on my new house doors as the old owner lost all keys except front door key. It worked on one cylinder, then the screw holding the spring came loose and will no longer stay in place rendering the cradle completely useless. For the money this should work on more than 1 cylinder.

I have purchased two of these cradles and both lasted for less than 10 cylinders before it quit working. As much as I hate, I just take the locks apart and reset them that way. I have no clue to why these cradles fail after limited use at the price they cost.

Didn't work and almost messed up the lock. Get a locksmith to reset the lock.

Didn't work. Returned to local store (online order); smooth and easy return is all I can say positively about this experience.

So, I had a kwickset key cylinder that I borked the re-key proceedure on, I saw that this was cheaper than buying a new cylinder and as a property owner/landlord with a number of these locks I decided it might be worth having incase I borked the re-key proceedure again. Unfortunately this thing didn't really work for me. I followed and re-followed the directions annd it just wouldn't re-key the cylinder. BUT, the good news is that by looking inside and seeing what this device wanted to do, I was able to (very) carefully disassemble the lock cyinder and set the 'pins' (they're not really pins on these type of locks but the same concept) to a 'no key' position where I could then re-key from 'no key' to the new key I wanted. So, in the end it was a lot more fussy work to do than I wanted but I never would have gotten it done without this thing to see the proceedure.

I thought I was out of luck when my son rekeyed one of our deadbolts and 'lost' the key. This got the lock back and worked perfectly. The instructions could have been more helpful on the removal of the lock cylinder.

The cradle worked once on a SmartKey deadbolt. Would not work on round knob SmartKey entry lock or a "lever" style SmartKey entry lock. Customer service was slow to understand, but eventually did promise a replacement. They are currently back ordered.

Good idea but will fall apart while using. Screw holding spring needs to be in metal not plastic.broke on second lock.

Be warned that this tool may not work for you. And if the Smarkey lock cylinder has been corrupted during the standard re-key procedure, the tool may also be damaged. It is relative easy for a skilled person to disassemble the Smartkey lock cylinder to reset and re-key without this bogus tool. Kiwkset once made good reliable products that delivered years of reliable service. Now their locks are as cheap as the protection they provide.

Makes it easy to reset the lock if you miskey the lock.

This does what it says it does. When I have a misfire on programming a lock or someone else programs a lock and doesn't give me the key, this gizmo is just the thing to fix it.

In order to use this product another tool is required to further disassemble lock housing rendering this item useless for the novice trying to fix a kwickset rekeying problem. This in itself would not have bothered me had the Kwickset made that clear before purchasing the item.

Product has failed to work as specified, reset process does not function seamlessly. Eventually took lock cylinder to retailer to be reset. Retailer had similar problem reseting lock with his reset cradle. Appears to be a poorly designed/engineered product.

Excellent product. Change all my kwikset smart key cylinder with one master key with ease. Highly recommended.

The product worked great. I messed up when re-keying my kwikset lock, and this product easily fixed my screw up. Very easy and quick to use!

You need to strip down the lock assembly, right down to the tiny barrel within. No instructions are provided to do this. A YouTube search resulted in the info I needed. Its a lot of messing around and a lot of work. Also on YouTube are instructions to reset the lock without using this. Not worth the money, time, or effort.

I had messed up while rekeying a lock so NO key would work. This item made it easy to fix the problem and key the lock properly. Instructions are clear and the process is simple once the cylinder has been removed from the lock. Only works with Kwikset smartkey locks.

I wholeheartedly recommend the Kwikset lock sets and the smartkey system allows you to rekey all the locks in your home by yourself in seconds. But you need to make sure to follow the steps and keep an extra key. If you don't have a key or the lock jams because you fouled up the rekey process, this item will do the trick. However, I don't recommend it. The locksmith desk at Home Depot will already have one, and if you are going to the store you might as well take your cylinder or handle with you. They will do it for free for any customer and it's doubtful that they would even ask for a receipt since they are not charging you. If you do it yourself, you need to remove the cylinder, which requires a special tool. If you call Kwikset and tell them that you need the cylinder removal tool, they will send you one for free. Another reviewer mentioned that Home Depot did not have this tool, but that's only partly true. They certainly have them for their own use, but probably don't have them for sale. The bottom line is that Home Depot can cut keys, service locks (in case the customer wants the cylinder flipped on a new purchase) and when the cylinder is out, they can use this tool to fix your lock in seconds. So I recommend Home Depot as a place to get all of your locks and get them serviced. You will have the added comfort that they will know you are a customer when you need service.

This tool works great on Kwikset Smartkey locks that you lose keys for, but we couldn't get it to work when the lock was stuck in the "locked" position. We didn't need a special tool to remove the cylinder from the knob, we googled it and were able to remove the cylinders without damaging them using screwdriver, pliers, etc. This has saved us a lot of money since we were rekeying many locks.

This product saved my customers the expense of buying another lock by reseting the lock.

The reset tool only works with a removed cylinder. That requires a cylinder removal tool, which costs about $5.00 on Amazon, as Home Depot doesn't carry this simple piece of flat steel. Still the cost of both tools is less than a new lock, and using these re-keyable locks on my home and rental properties is smart business. And using the two tools let me reset a lock in less than 10 minutes from removing to reinstalling.