It is true safe locks are generally forgotten about until the lock fails. Just like the buttered side of freshly toasted bread seems to always land on the floor butter-side down, safe lock failure often happens when the door is closed and securely locked. Save time, money, and aggravation through regularly scheduled safe lock maintenance.
How often should the safe lock be serviced? When will it benefit from being serviced? The answer is the old adage — It depends.
It depends on where the safe is located.
Temperature and humidity levels will affect the special lubrication used in the safe lock. Lubricants dry out over time and lose the ability to keep the parts moving smoothly.
Safes installed in commercial locations are subject to much use and abuse. Chemicals and vapors from those chemicals, grease, and general dirt and grime eventually find a way into the safe and the lock. Wheeled carts and product dollies often damage safe dials or keypads.
How many times each day is the lock used?
End users — you and your employees — introduce damage through misuse. A common problem is simple rapid dial spinning. This action damages the brass part within the lock. These and other factors will cause the mechanical safe lock to fail at some point.
Even safes located in less problematic locations will need servicing. Safes located in cleaner environments do not typically require yearly maintenance. A planned maintenance of once every two or three years is sufficient, unless it is a high-usage safe.
Safe Lock Failure Example
The lock shown in the photo is an example of a high-usage safe lock. No service occurred since its date of manufacture. Note the large deposit of brass shavings at the bottom of the lock case. This lock is near catastrophic failure.
We got to it before it could fail completely. The parts were worn beyond a simple cleaning and lubrication. Worn and well used dial spindle bearings (not shown) made the dial hard to rotate. Just a few more weeks and it would fail completely.
Our technician replaced the lock with a new mechanical lock. He also checked, cleaned, and applied fresh lubricant to the bolt mechanism. It is back in service and working well once again. Our customer will be calling us out once a year to change the combination and to clean it each time.
Give ApexAccess a call to schedule a safe service check on your safe soon. See our home page for our shop phone number and opening hours.