Driver pin

The driver pin, “contrapitón” in Spanish, is the upper pin in each chamber of the cylinder. It sits above the key pin, pushed by a spring, and its job is to block: with no key, it crosses the shear line between housing and plug and stops the plug turning.

With the correct key, the key pin rises just enough for the driver pin to sit entirely in the housing and leave the plug free. In many catalogues and locksmith shops in Spain it is also called “contrapín”; it is the same part.

This is where much of the security of the cylinder lies. Specially shaped driver pins, such as mushroom or spool pins, catch in false positions when someone tries to manipulate them, and that makes opening with a pick much harder.

From the outside you cannot see which driver pins your cylinder has, but the technical sheet usually says. If you want more protection, take a look at our security cylinders or our cylinder replacement service.