Security, Correctly Using Safe Dials

We recently had to have one of our safes professionally opened because the combo stopped working.

Safe dials go out of sync and then the combination doesn’t work. This happens when you spin the dial fast. The inner discs slowly get out of alignment. So please don’t ever spin the dials fast either on opening or closing. Sometimes we get in the habit of spinning the dial fast to get to the first number, or when we close the door, we spin the dial fast to clear it.

Just always spin the dial nice and slow.

When they do go out of sync, there is a trick that works to get the safe open and then Leo can come reset the numbers, or we can call someone in to reset it. The trick is to dial in the combo and go over each number by half a number. For example, if the combo was 20-50-30 you would dial 20.5-50.5-30.5.

1. Dial each number a half over (example: 20.5-50.5-30.5).
2. Dial each number a half under.
3. Mix it up: one number a half under, next a half over, next a half under.

This will usually get the safe open. Once the door is open, it is fairly easy to reset the numbers.