Vprbite
04-18-2016, 04:02 AM
So my gun safe was starting to get to where the lever didn't want to open and pull the bolts back. It felt like the mechanism was filled with silly putty or something. To turn the dial on the combination I had to push the lever and hold it at the 6 o'clock position to be able to dial in the combination.
So I took the back of the door off. It was that fuzzy material (same as lines the interior walls) with attachments for hanging things on it, attached by some screws and "hooks" that went into slots on the door. Probably pretty standard. And then I saw the mechanism that pushes the bolts into the side of the safe. It looked like it was greased with some kind of permanent lube. It had dried up or perhaps over the years a little bit of dust had worked its way in there and turned it into almost a gum. So even looking right at the mechanism I could barely turn that lever to move the bolts.
Since its metal on metal, I just cleaned it like I was cleaning a gun and relubed it lightly, but did not slather it in grease. Works like a charm now. I was telling a friend of mine about it and he said that he had a similar problem on a much more expensive safe and had done the same thing. So, maybe less of an issue in more humid/less dusty climates? But if you feel your lever start to feel like it's turning through mud, (it got worse over time till it got to almost non functioning) give this a try.
Without a working safe, where would I keep my beanie baby collection? Those things have nowhere to go but up in value!
So I took the back of the door off. It was that fuzzy material (same as lines the interior walls) with attachments for hanging things on it, attached by some screws and "hooks" that went into slots on the door. Probably pretty standard. And then I saw the mechanism that pushes the bolts into the side of the safe. It looked like it was greased with some kind of permanent lube. It had dried up or perhaps over the years a little bit of dust had worked its way in there and turned it into almost a gum. So even looking right at the mechanism I could barely turn that lever to move the bolts.
Since its metal on metal, I just cleaned it like I was cleaning a gun and relubed it lightly, but did not slather it in grease. Works like a charm now. I was telling a friend of mine about it and he said that he had a similar problem on a much more expensive safe and had done the same thing. So, maybe less of an issue in more humid/less dusty climates? But if you feel your lever start to feel like it's turning through mud, (it got worse over time till it got to almost non functioning) give this a try.
Without a working safe, where would I keep my beanie baby collection? Those things have nowhere to go but up in value!