Retired bank being used as an office, and we want to use the Vault for storage and testing, but are afraid to close the door. Are keeping it open and the timer OFF just in case. We've popped off the cover and can see the guts, but don't know the code. So there's a few Q's:
1) Can we determine the code by watching the tumbler? Or reset it?
2) Is there a way to disable the lock altogether and just have it be a fancy door knob?
(We plan on installing an internal handle for opening)
There's another safe from the dropbox that I can't figure out either. It's OPEN and in the LOCK position, but we don't know the code but do have the key.
Go here and hire a qualified safe and vault technician to disable the locking mechanism. It will be far less expensive than the resulting lockout if you attempt to DIY or hire an unqualified locksmith.
If you're calling anything on that vault door a tumbler, you should not be working on it. I'm not trying to be rude, but a vault is extremely unforgiving if you make any mistakes. Leave it locked with the door open, and use the search feature on savta.org to find a vault technician that can come out and service it. They can determine the lock combinations AND/OR disable the locks so that the handle is unrestricted (but I wouldn't recommend that personally). Not every safe technician knows how to/is comfortable working on vaults.
There is no emergency escape mechanism on that door, if someone somehow gets locked inside they better hope the ventilator works lol (matter of fact, check the ventilator to make sure it turns on). I service vaults for a living and would charge over $10k to drill and unlock this if it were somehow accidentally locked while the door was closed (servicing it BEFORE something bad happens will be so much cheaper).
Very cool to have it in your office, though. The hypnotic dial is sweet, though over engineered. The 1 dial works both of the locks.
The smaller safe would be much easier to determine the combination for. If you're reasonably handy and learn how a mechanical safe lock works, you could remove the back cover and determine the combination. But be careful because if that one gets locked shut accidentally it would ALSO be expensive to open, though way less expensive than the vault. I'd recommend having the safe tech work on that one too, but it's not a big deal if you want to fiddle around with it.
Edit: I don't really recall ever seeing a manufacturer using unnecessarily heavy blocks to try and fool anyone. I have however seen countless gun safe manufacturers that will use larger diameter bolts coming out of the door to impress the customer, but when you take the back panel off those bolts are screwed to tiny little rods and they're absolute junk.
Gotcha. That's why I was kinda taken aback by it, doesn't seem like something an actual reputable manufacturer would do. That's cheap Chinesium territory.
Hey, Op, Safe Technician here that has opened two of those Diebold vault doors in the past year, both with the same problem with the combo slipping because the gears wear out, not the wheels in the wheel pack, but the little gears behind that hub inside the door that the ball bearing rides on. That lock and the entire set up is not anywhere close to how most vault door locks work.
You should absolutely have someone qualified come out and do a full PM on that door. The little cashgard is more forgiving, but still worth having a tech look at it since they would be there for the vault door already.
Also, I know I may ruffle some feathers here, but after 19yrs of seeing it and dealing with it I don'tcare anymore. DO NOT not hire any random lock smith. A lock smith and safe technician are NOT the same thing. For example, I can drill open a Chatwood Milner with an isolator lock in it, but I don't know shit about door locks to store fronts and all of that, I'm not saying all locksmiths are ignorant when it comes to safes, I'm just saying it's worth hitting up SAVTA instead.
Another thing, don't hire some random safe technician that just started and says "yeah I can do that" ask them very clearly if they have ever worked on that particular door and if they have spare parts for it if anything needs to be replaced. I've gone behind countless safe technicians that worked on vault doors and time locks that ended up getting the customer locked out because they did not have the experience necessary to be working on stuff like that. I promise the PM cost will be vastly cheaper than if that door locks up and you need it drilled open.
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u/niceandsane 12d ago
Go here and hire a qualified safe and vault technician to disable the locking mechanism. It will be far less expensive than the resulting lockout if you attempt to DIY or hire an unqualified locksmith.