WHAT TO DO IF YOUR SAFE IS JAMMED
Safes are a great solution to safely storing your small, portable valuables. Perhaps you use a safe at home to store your important documents, expensive jewelry, or family valuables. You may also use a safe in your commercial business, to store documents, cash, or expensive inventory such as jewelry and precious stones. While you want your safe to close securely, you also want to be able to open it when you need to. That leads to the question - what do you do if your safe is jammed or won’t open? Keep reading to find out some reasons your safe may not open, and tips to troubleshoot the situation.
CHANGE BATTERIES
Some safes are battery powered. When there is no power going to the safe, the safe’s default is to remain closed. If you cannot open your safe, the first thing you should do is change the batteries. It is recommended that you use brand name batteries, as off brand batteries can lose power more quickly. Even if your keypad lights up and the keypad is making its normal sounds, you should still do a battery change. This is because the installed batteries may have enough power to activate the keypad, but not enough power to unlock the internal mechanisms.
JAMMED BOLT WORK
There are a variety of reasons that your bolts in your safe may become jammed. If you can hear the motor working, trying to unlock the bolts, but nothing is happening - this is likely due a jam. A potential fix to this is to kick the safe. Yes - you read that right. It is suggested you turn around, and give a hard kick to the safe with the flat side of your foot (avoid your toe, and please avoid kicking the keypad or handle). The reason you are doing this is to try to jolt the bolt back into its proper position. After giving the safe a kick, try pulling the safe’s handle in the opposite direction (this is to ease some pressure off the bolt) and enter your code. Hopefully this will allow your safe door to open.
TIME DELAY OR LOCKOUT MODE
Just like if you enter the wrong pin number in your ATM card too many times, safes also have a “lockout” security measure built in. One reason your safe may not open could be because you have entered the incorrect code too many times. Depending on your type of safe, there is usually a set amount of time you have to wait before you can try to enter your code again (many safes have a default time of 20 minutes). There are also time-delay safes which work the same way. The only difference is you may be able to set the time-delay yourself when the safe is installed.
DAMAGED WIRING
Just like any electronic equipment in your home, your safe has internal and external wiring. This wiring can become damaged or disconnected. One reason your safe may not work correctly can be due to disconnected wires (such as the wires leading to your keypad), or damaged or frayed wiring. To troubleshoot this issue, you could remove the faceplate on your keypad. When you do that you can do a visual inspection of your safes wires to see if you notice any damaged wires, or wires that don’t seem to be connected anywhere. Another option is to call in your locksmith at this point to have them correct the issue.
HAMMER TAPPING
If you have a combination safe, this may be an option for you. If you find that your safe is accepting the combination code, but the door will not open, it is possible that the door is jammed. One way you can troubleshoot this issue is to take a hammer and gently tap the sides of the safe. You will want to focus on the side opposite to the hinge, and periodically try the door as you tap. The hope is that you will gently be able to tap the internal mechanisms back into place and the door will open.
PUSH AND PULL ON HANDLE
If you can enter your combination, but are having trouble turning the handle this may indicate that your safes bolts are out of line. You will know this is the case if the handle turns a little and then stops. You can try this to get your safe door open. Enter your combination code. Then take one hand and push in on the door, while with the other hand you try to turn the handle. The hope is that when you push the door in, you are pushing the bolts into a better position for alignment, and then you will be able to turn the handle to open the door.
COMBINATION SHIFTING
This is particularly for combination locks. In older combination locks, the internal tumblers can shift out of position. Meaning, if your combination is 10-30-15, the tumblers can shift to 9-29-14 (one digit down). So if your lock will not open, you can try shifting the number. First go down 5 digits, and then up 5 digits. You will try this method one digit at a time. If your lock ends up opening when you use this technique, then call a technician right away. This is a sign of age and your safes lock will eventually malfunction altogether. You don’t want to wait and end up with a safe door that will not open when you need it to.
There are many reasons your safe could jam. As safes become more sophisticated, you really need expert help to troubleshoot some of the issues that may occur. Your best bet is to call a licensed and insured locksmith to help you. Not only can a locksmith open your safe, they can advise you on what happened to jam your door in the first place.