Is there any maintenance I should be doing on my safes?
Both have LA GARD electronic locks.
One is 10 years old and the other is about 3.
Work days both get opened twice a days the other 3 only one gets opened twice a day.
Then of course there are other times they are opened. But either way they get used frequently.

Doesn't hurt to keep the moving parts of the safe greased. Nothing for the locks.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
Doesn't hurt to keep the moving parts of the safe greased. Nothing for the locks.

Any particular grease to use?
What is the general life expectancy of the lock. Should they be swapped at a certain interval?

Any general purpose grease that isn't too sticky. You want the parts to slide without much force. Most gun safes have plastic bushings where the bolts come through the door, so no grease there. I'll occasionally use Tri-Flow or similar lube on those if they are sticky. Some of those bushings work better than others. As long as everything slides without binding you're good.

Electronic locks are usually used until the stop working. You could put a brand new electronic lock on and have problems tomorrow whereas your existing lock that is currently functioning may continue doing so for years to come.

Many gun safes use the LaGard Basic. It's not my favorite lock, so I usually end up replacing those with something else.

How much should one expect to pay to replace an electronic lock once it does go bad? What do you suggest it be replaced with?

The locks will typically range in the $150 to $200 range at retail for something basic without a ton of business type features. If you have to hire somebody to come out and change it (which preserves the warranty for both lock and safe), their service call and labor.

For basic electronic locks I use mostly the AMSEC ESL-10, and the S&G Titan D-Drive and Pivotbolt. All of these have been utterly reliable for me, but you'll find different opinions based on different experiences from different techs.

Thanks.

Not sure why but as I was locking up the safe tonight. I thought what happens if this does not open in the morning?

Which got me thinking.

Resurrecting an OLD thread

I have a Liberty Safe that is about 15 years old. I thought it made sense to replace the existing lock (6120) and have maintenance done.

The quote to replace it and do a maintenance was approximately $400.

Is this a reasonable thing to do? I hate to wait until the day it stops working.

Thanks for any thoughts or advice.

I had an S&G 6120 that gave 15 years of trouble free service. Then it started “stuttering” with a correctly entered code. It would sound like it was opening, but wouldn’t. When it took three correct code entries before it actually opened (I’m apparently a slow learner), I took it apart and looked at replacement. I wanted a dual mode lock, like an NL Doomsday or a Securam Xtreme. Unfortunately, that safe was “wrong handed” for either of those and didn’t have enough depth between the lock and the linkage to install the converter. A local SAVTA tech totally refused to install NL and was high on Securam. He felt they were better than S&G. In this case, he recommended just putting an S&G 6120 back in because of the wrong handedness (and probably because he had one in stock). I had him do it and it was near $400.

My other safe was not ”wrong handed” and shortly thereafter started stuttering (after ~5 years in service). I ended up getting a securam xtreme and installing it myself. It was a process, but I like knowing that I can still get it open (albeit much more slowly, with light, and glasses) in the event of an EMP or (probably more likely) battery failure.

Through the process I spoke with several sellers and a few techs. It was interesting how some techs (and some sellers) had very different opinions on the quality and reliability of the different models. As a1abdj points out it probably has to do with personal experience, which may be somewhat random. It was just a little disconcerting because it is a lot more comforting when all the folks you ask say “Brand A is the best, the Cadillac. Brands B & C are fine, call them Chevys or Fords, whichever you prefer, just stay the heck away from Brand Z, because calling them a Yugo or Trabaunt (sp?) would be a grave insult to those lousy cars.” That makes the decision easy. This felt much more like a “pay your money, take your chances.” kind of thing.

That said, both the 6120 and the Securam have been doing fine, the support when installing the Securam was great, and I have no complaints.

Edited to actually answer your question: if your 6120 is still working fine after 15 years, I wouldn’t touch it. One of the techs I spoke with said that between the time I bought the safe with the fifteen year old lock and the time I bought the safe with five year old lock, S&G sent production to China and the quality of the newer locks wasn’t the same. (Note: this is one tech’s opinion and I have no idea whether he’s right or not). He was also high on Securam, and said that while they manufacture in China, they test the heck out of their product and have better QC and reliability in his opinion.

I’d find a SAVTA tech near you, do the research and figure what type of lock you want (electronic only, mechanical only, or dual mode), figure out what he recommends and is comfortable supporting, and standby until your 6120 first hiccups. Once it first hiccups, I’d get it replaced.

Alternatively, do all the research, decide what you want, and do it yourself, but this can be a somewhat complicated project, and not hiring a SAVTA tech may have implications for your warrantee. (It didn’t for the Securam I wanted, which helped make that decision.)

Thanks, slosig! The company I called uses SAVTA techs (after reading one of a1abdj's posts), so I got that part right. The company I called also mentioned that locks similar to the 6120 are made in China, but the S&G 6120 is made in Kentucky.

There have already been a few cases where I put in the code and it hiccuped. Tried it again, hiccup, third time it worked. Could be user error, but it made me think about a maintenance visit and/or new 6120.

Thanks for your input.

Always use jack stands!

Oh.....