What Phoenix heat does to locks and fobs

Days at 110°F or hotter each year, Phoenix Sky Harbor

A fob that dies in the summer

Coin-cell batteries wear out faster when they are kept hot, and a fob left in a parked car or on a dashboard sits well above the shade temperature. Try these first:

• Replace the battery. It costs a few dollars and fixes most "dead" fobs.
• Use the hidden metal key blade for the door; most fobs have one.
• On many push-button cars, holding the fob against the start button starts the car even with a weak battery. The owner's manual shows where.
• Keep the spare fob in the house, not in the glove box.

If a fresh battery doesn't help, the fob may need reprogramming or replacing. Fob programming.

Keypads and smart locks in the sun

• A keypad on a west- or south-facing door can sit in direct afternoon sun, much hotter than the air. Check the maker's rated operating temperature before you buy.
• Change batteries before summer, not when the low-battery chirp starts in July.
• Pick a model with a physical key or an emergency battery contact, and keep that key somewhere you can reach from outside, not on the kitchen counter.
• A screen that fades or keys that stop responding in the afternoon and work again at night usually means heat, not a broken lock.

Deadbolts that bind in August

A door in full sun expands, and a frame can shift as the house moves. If the bolt throws easily with the door open but drags when it is shut, the fix is usually moving or filing the strike plate, not a new lock. Use a dry lubricant made for locks; oil collects the dust. In the old central neighborhoods, where 50% of homes in the Capitol and Grant Park area predate 1960 (Census ACS), a worn original lock may be worth replacing.

Car door locks

Keys rarely get used on a car door until the fob dies, and by then the lock may be full of dust. If the key won't turn, don't force it: a snapped key is a bigger job. A dry lubricant in the cylinder often frees it.