When you purchase a safe to keep your valuables in, you do it to
keep them from being accessible to intruders and thieves. But when a
safe gets jammed, the owner is the one who ends up unable to access his
own property. It’s an experience that can range from mildly annoying
to wildly frustrating. What should you do if this happens to you?
The first thing you need to do is to determine, if you
can, the cause of the safe jamming. You can do that by a process of
elimination and if you figure it out, there might be some steps you can
take on your own to solve the problem. If you can’t determine why a safe is jammed, it’s time to call the experts from Quick Barberton Locksmith to fix the safe and retrieve your valuables for you.
Here are several potential causes for a safe to jam and the actions that you can take to solve the problem on your own first.
CAUSE: Dead batteries in keypad
ACTION: Replace batteries
This is the simplest problem of all to fix. If the light
indicators for the keypad aren’t even turning on, it’s time to change
the batteries. When you do, make sure you replace all the batteries and
not just one or two so that you know you’re getting good power. Even if
the light indicators on the keypad are on, you should still replace
the batteries as a first step towards trying to fix a jammed safe.
Sometimes there is enough power to run the keypad but not enough power
to operate the boltwork.
CAUSE: Jammed Boltwork
ACTION: Blunt force to the safe
If you can hear the bolt trying to function, jammed
boltwork might be the reason you can’t get into your safe. Believe it or
not, experts recommend giving the safe a solid kick or pounding it a
few times with a rubber mallet – just remember to avoid the keypad and
only hit the safe!! It’s clear that this can easily go wrong, so be
careful and don’t force anything. If one good kick or several swings of
the mallet don’t do the trick, call the locksmith before you damage
your safe beyond the jammed state it’s currently in.
CAUSE: Lockout or time delay mode
ACTION: Wait 10-20 minutes before trying to get in again
As a safety precaution, a safe is usually set up to only
allow a certain number of combination tries on the keypad before it
goes into lockout mode. If you surpass that number of tries, you’ll need
to take a break from trying to get into the safe. Usually waiting
10-20 minutes will do the trick, but you can consult your owner’s
manual for the guidelines for your specific safe. Once the waiting
period is over, try your combination again and see if it works this
time.
