Sticky Sargent & Greenleaf lock

[DRNewcomb]

I have an 11 year-old American Eagle gun safe with a Sargent & Greenleaf electronic combination lock. Over the years the lock has become somewhat recalcitrant. When I was new it would generally open on the first or second try. Recently it takes as many as seven attempts to get it to click, even with a fresh 9 v battery. If you make five unsuccessful attempts, it puts you in the penalty box for about 15 minutes. It's concerning enough that I now only lock the safe when I'll be away overnight.

Has anyone experienced this sort of problem with an S&G electronic combination lock? I wonder if changing the combination would help? I think accessing the inside of the door requires some special tool to lift the fire board on the back of the door.

 

[ebb]

I have had some experience with locks, and this sounds like it needs lubed. Do not use oil, geta dry lube made for locks.

 

[epc308]

I have an 11 year-old American Eagle gun safe with a Sargent & Greenleaf electronic combination lock. Over the years the lock has become somewhat recalcitrant. When I was new it would generally open on the first or second try. Recently it takes as many as seven attempts to get it to click, even with a fresh 9 v battery. If you make five unsuccessful attempts, it puts you in the penalty box for about 15 minutes. It's concerning enough that I now only lock the safe when I'll be away overnight.

Has anyone experienced this sort of problem with an S&G electronic combination lock? I wonder if changing the combination would help? I think accessing the inside of the door requires some special tool to lift the fire board on the back of the door.

I had similar problems a few years back, but mine wouldn't unlock at all. I called Liberty, the safe manufacturer. I was told the electronic lock was on it's way out. I was given instructions on what to try, and if/when it finally did open, to NOT close or lock the safe. The guy said the locks had a life of 5 or 6 years, and if I had 8 or 9 on mine to consider myself fortunate. Liberty was going to send a new lock, free of charge. I asked if I could get a manual, dial type instead. Not a problem, but there is a special tool required to set the tumblers to the desired combination. They wouldn't sell the tool, said I had to use either a certified locksmith to do the install, or buy the tool. I think I found it on Amazon. The installation was painless, took an hour and a half or so. No more batteries to deal with, no more electronics to fail.

 

[DRNewcomb]

...., but there is a special tool required to set the tumblers to the desired combination.....

Did it look sort of like an Allen wrench with a spine on one side? I used to reset mechanical S&G combination locks at work. Every lock came with one of these tools.

I had a mechanical lock refuse to open while inport in Lisbon. Since there wasn't a locksmith who could drill open and repair a GSA two drawer file safe, the chief engineer cut it open with an exothermic torch. That was spectacular. They had pulled that safe out of the warehouse and mounted it in my office without renewing the combination lock. It was probably 30 years old.

 

[epc308]

Did it look sort of like an Allen wrench with a spine on one side? I used to reset mechanical S&G combination locks at work. Every lock came with one of these tools.

I had a mechanical lock refuse to open while inport in Lisbon. Since there wasn't a locksmith who could drill open and repair a GSA two drawer file safe, the chief engineer cut it open with an exothermic torch. That was spectacular. They had pulled that safe out of the warehouse and mounted it in my office without renewing the combination lock. It was probably 30 years old.

Yes, good description of the tool. The guy at Liberty assured me they didn't have them with the locks they had in stock. Seemed odd to me. If memory serves, the tool was $30 some odd dollars.
Exothermic torch? That's a new one on me, but it sounds neat.

 

[shoot4fun]

I have an 11 year-old American Eagle gun safe with a Sargent & Greenleaf electronic combination lock. Over the years the lock has become somewhat recalcitrant. When I was new it would generally open on the first or second try. Recently it takes as many as seven attempts to get it to click, even with a fresh 9 v battery. If you make five unsuccessful attempts, it puts you in the penalty box for about 15 minutes. It's concerning enough that I now only lock the safe when I'll be away overnight.

Has anyone experienced this sort of problem with an S&G electronic combination lock? I wonder if changing the combination would help? I think accessing the inside of the door requires some special tool to lift the fire board on the back of the door.

My experience is that S&G E-Locks SUCK!!!!!
The locksmith that had to come open my safe told me the S&G Electronic Locks are trash plastic that simply cannot hold up to the job over time. What he said I believe to be true because between 2001 and 2017 I had to have three replaced for the same issue. At one point they were telling me it might have to be drilled or (this was hilarious) rolled over upside down!
When the third crapped he came out and changed me back to a mechanical dial and was kind enough to set all three of my safes to the same combination.

 

[DRNewcomb]

Exothermic torch? That's a new one on me, but it sounds neat.

AKA "Thermal Lance"

 

[DirtySteve]

How often have you been changing the batteries? I change mine out a minimum of once a year.. usually twice a year..

 

[DRNewcomb]

How often have you been changing the batteries? I change mine out a minimum of once a year.. usually twice a year..

Battery has been changed in the last 4 months.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

S&G told me to put a new battery in there a minimum of once a year. They said the low voltage drag is hard on em. Out of 5 i only had one go south and i replaced it with a S&G manual lock. These are the style i have

 

[DirtySteve]

Changing batteries twice a year is an easy way to avoid trouble. Once the battery becomes low and you continue to use it, irreversible damage will occur. Even if you stick a new battery in it.

 

[DirtySteve]

My e-lock is 6 years old. Never an issue but I am thinking of getting a S&G Spartan lock to up grade. It is EMP protected not sure that is an issue but what the heck.

 

[msalm]

I’d switch out to mechanical, not even a second thought.

 

[Old Navy]

I change mine once a year and have never had one read under 9 volts but I am only in it a few times a week. Mine came with a manual lock. Had trouble opening it the first time. I left the door open a tried it a few times. No go. I picked mine up at the factory about 60 miles from home. I took the old one back and got a free SG to replace it with. They told me how to remove the inter door panel to replace it. That was over 15 years ago.

 

[PhilC]

Pleased with the manual S&G on my safe and politely declined the E-lock uprade option when I purchased it.

 

[DRNewcomb]

My e-lock is 6 years old. Never an issue but I am thinking of getting a S&G Spartan lock to up grade. It is EMP protected not sure that is an issue but what the heck.

EMP is something that concerns me. DPRK could shut down much of the US with a single stratospheric burst that doesn't even have to do any direct blast damage.

 

[akajun]

It’s the servo/ bolt going out, tgey are all made in China now no matter what brand you buy. When they die, you have to drill the safe.
I’ve rebuilt several flood damaged safes, replaced them all with mechanical combination locks myself. It’s not hard to do, most are direct bolt in with the exception of a few which I had to make/ weld adaptors to work. Setting a combination looks uses a bent sheet metal tool, it comes with the new lock

 

[DRNewcomb]

I’d switch out to mechanical, not even a second thought.

This is what the lock looks like on the inside of the door. Do you think that the screws on a mechanical lock will line up with the plate on the back of the lock? I know that the electronic locks are made to be backward compatible with mechanical locks but I don't know about the other way around. I'm thinking of an S&G 6730-100 lockset. The plate is attached to a spring-loaded deadbolt that appears to be there to lock the safe if someone attempts to drive the lock mechanism out via the dial hole in the door.

 

[msalm]

If it has a deadbolt that retracts on the bottom it should be an even swap with the exception of cutting the dial shaft down to fit through the door. I’ve worked on and replaced a few in the past but it’s been several years.

just talked to a friend that still works on these and he says any S&G has the same footprint, buy a 2937 and call it a day. All you need to do is cut the spindle to length and if the face screws don’t align drill and tap a couple holes, but that would be worse case.

a 6730 is a cheaper alternative also.

 

[DRNewcomb]

I bought a S&G 6730 for $90 on Amazon*. It arrived yesterday and I installed it today. So far, the lock with the new combination has opened successfully four times in a row. After another 6 I might try shutting the door. I feel a lot better getting that finnicky electronic lock off the safe. Now I need to figure out a good way to access the lock change hole through the difficult-to-remove fireboard liner.

*I know there are better locks but they cost about 5X more and I'm pretty sure the lock is not the weakest point in this safe. Now that I've seen inside the door, I'm pretty sure I could get it open in just a few minutes with a cutoff saw.