Reduce, Reuse and Recycling Transponder keys.

Well, with the latest “Stay at home” order, I have found myself with some free time on my hands.  I’m still working as our services are seen as essential and if someone gets locked-out I’m definitely going to go help, but work has slowed down a bit, So I figured it was time to reorganize my transponder keys and recycle some miss cut keys.

After 11 years of doing automotive I have saved up quite a stash of keys and I always knew one day I would have the time to recover (or as they say in the locksmith trade “Harvest”) those chip keys.

Cutting the chips out is sometimes a challenge and I recommend using eye protection. The tool I use is a PVC pipe cutter and a gasket puller to pry or pull the chips. More than a few chips were cut damaged or shattered (the little glass tubes) but I was able to recover most of them and sort them to be reused.

Once the chips are sorted, they can later be placed in key shells. These are transponder style plastic headed keys that are ready for different chip types. Just pick the correct key-way, the correct chip and your ready to program the transponder key to the vehicle.

In theory, this should reduce the overall inventory space needed in the van as I won’t need to stock, for example, 10 each of Toyota D, G, H and the earlier 4C chipped keys.  I can stock 10 or 15 Toyota key shells (as they are all the same) and stock 5 or 10 of the different transponder chips that work on a variety of different vehicles.  The overall mix and match should reduce inventory and waste.  If I miss cut a key, I can easily pull the chip out and move it to a new shell key blank.  If I correctly cut the key, but the vehicle is a split year and I accidentally load the wrong chip, I can reuse the shell and insert the correct chip.

Reducing inventory should help with better vehicle fuel mileage, less shipping and handling charges and more efficiency in the van (in theory).

The biggest bonus to all of this is I get to play – err I mean use – my new VVDI Key tool that arrived last week.  This will not only help me identify transponder chip types it can check remotes, unlock remotes like the Dodge Fobik and Dodge Prox keys and ti can also do a whole bunch of other things that I’m learning about.

Well, I hope you all are staying safe and healthy. Have a great month and remover to get outside and get some exercise during the lock-in, but don’t get locked-out.

Thank you for reading, I am at your service.  Michael