I had 8 misses this year, by that I mean the Coyote was all over the pan but the trap did not fire. I contribute some of the misses to my inexperience at setting up K9 Extremes, too much pan tension and a possibly being frozen in. I have some Bridgers that are night latched set at 3lb, I noticed when I set them off to pull the pans were all but locked up. After moving the pan up and down it became free. The traps were dyed and waxed prior to being in the set. These sets had been in the ground untouched for up to 5 weeks. I used Calcium Chloride to freezeproof. Could it be possible the pan corroded? Or am I doing something wrong? T

I use the k9 extremes. I set them to have 4-5 lbs just by feel. I have not had that issue. I use waxed sand for bedding now. If a trap is frozen in, it could definitely act like that. I used to use calcium chloride before with victor and Montgomery dog on traps years ago. It would cause a lot of rust compared to using waxed sand. I think it’s quite possible that you had rust develop in the pan pivot. Wax can also stiffen up in the cold if there’s too much wax as well. I have not had wax make as big a difference as you described though.

I won't use calcium chloride, when I tried it years ago I had the exact issue you described, plus the traps actually firing really slow. It causes terrible corrosion aka rust.

Thanks. Thats what I was thinking but wanted opinions.
I didnt have an issue with the K9 extremes other than me.

A properly waxed trap will be protected from calcium chloride all season. That said, if anyone uses calcium chloride, make sure you’re not putting the trap right on a bed of it. Ensure there’s a layer of peat or dirt.

To the OP, minor rust developing on the trap won’t increase the pan tension so dramatically that animals are able to do the Mexican hat dance on the pan.

Ensure you start out with a desired pan tension (3lbs-5lbs is fine), work the pan to get excess wax out from the screw, ensure there’s not excessive wax on the dog and pan contact, and let’er rip.

And also ensure you’re using a pan cover to keep anything from going under the pan.

I think you answered my question Jarhead. I believe that I put the trap right on the calcium chloride and/or sprinkled around/on it. Did I mention I am a rookie at this?
I know there wasnt anything blocking the pan. After the traps were out of the ground it took some effort to get the pan free, like it was when I bedded the trap.

I think setting pan tension is the most imprecise thing we do in trapping. Consider that it is adjusted by increasing or decreasing the amount of friction between pieces of metal with a tightening bolt. Every time the pan gets moved during handling, setting or firing, the amount of friction changes. Not to mention changes in temperature expanding or contracting metal. As long as the pan doesn't wobble, I don't pay much attention to pan tension.

Saw a Miranda video recently (somewhere here) where he said not to create ANY friction with that screw. Just use it to keep the wobble to a minimum but with NO interference. The pan should fall under its own weight.
Adjust the actual trip resistance ie: tension by bending the dog angle where it engages the pan. It is more consistent and is less affected by changing conditions.

As part of my tune of dog on traps I pull the pan bolt upsize the bolt/drill post, file inside the post to remove burrs, flatten/deburr sides of pan, reassemble with brass washers either side of pan shank.

post/brass/pan/brass/post

That's the set up that stays the most consistent to me short of the montgomery dogless system.

I like to set each trap and make sure it works the way I want it to before I bed it. Sometimes here in the Midwest even though my trap is set into waxed dirt or sand there will be frost and ice on the bottom of the pan and under the screen when I pull the trap. I think this ice in this space can affect my trap's performance. I have used regular dry dirt for years and found the regular dry dirt will suck moisture from the surrounding soil and eventually it will freeze the trap down. I switched to calcium chloride like lots of people did trying different techniques bust was never satisfied with the wet looking pattern and the rust on my traps. Sometimes the calcium would collect too much water in it when I used too much and it would make the soil like pudding making the trap vault out of the bed. My corn field in front of my house has 11 types of soil in it. My point is that it could be your soil and how your trap works in it. For me I now collect sandy soil and wax it and now have a consistent way to keep my traps working and just top dress with whatever soil I am working with.
I stopped using all salt products.
I used Bridger #3 dogless and the K9 Extremes also. Both are good traps. I never had any issues after I figured out my soil. The water issues are tough here. Sometimes I dig a bed and water comes filtering into the trap bed and the next day it's a puddle. Sometimes you can find a different spot ten feet away ad it will stay dry for a month.
Make sure your wax is hot and it gets into the working mechanism of the trap. A waxed trap is smooth. If your wax is cold or if you do not leave it in the wax long enough for the trap to become the temperature of the wax sometimes the wax will not get into the area where the bolt is tight against the post and pan. A little Calcium can get in there and expand that area with corrosion and make your trap harder to set off.

The more moving of waxed parts of the trap pan components, the more change in pan tension when used in the cold temps. All of my traps are checked and adjusted for final pan in prep for setting at 3.5-4lbs. I found in that in single digit temps my pan tension doubled even though encapsulated properly in waxed sand.

Finding this, I did some testing out my back door on my deck with overnight temps of 6*F just to verify it was the waxed components themselves. I duplicated and verified my original finding of doubled pan tension!