Another side of the coin- Winchester Safes
montanajoe
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Some of you will remember this story, but here goes again.
The keypad on my Winchester safe was eating batteries weekly. After being told a couple times by @BobJudy I called Winchester safe to learn they had a run of bad keypads and have since fixed and upgraded the problem. They gave me contact info of their vendor, L P Locks out of Ca.
Spoke with a rep there and a new keypad was shipped to me no charge. When the package arrived it contained a personal cell phone number to the rep herself with a note to call her for a walk through of change out.
It's the weekend but I called and a very nice helpful lady walked me through the change out of the keypad to the new upgraded one. I learned from her the combination is retained within the lock mechanism and not the keypad. Got the new pad in with new battery and has worked flawlessly for 4 years now, WITH same battery. I did go ahead and change combo at that time though.
Both Winchester and LP Locks were very helpful in my situation.
Comments
Joe, sounds like you lucked out and got some help. I think Winchester started to feel the heat. They really stonewalled me 6-8 years ago. It was a nightmare being locked out of my safe for I guess six months. I was almost to the point of having a locksmith drill it or take it on my self. All was not lost since I learned a lot in the process and have had no problems since I replaced and upgraded Key Pad myself. Patience is Virtue--------------------------------Ray
Glad it worked out @montanajoe. Sounds like they really fixed the problem if you've gotten 4 years so far on the same battery. I retired in 2010 but watched digital safes go through quite an evolution for the 10 years or so before retirement. I know they have improved by leaps and bounds, but I am still glad my safes have dials. Just one less thing to worry about. Bob
Bobjudy, hindsight is great but looking forward my next safe will probably have a dial.----------------------Ray
Wonder what effect an EMP burst will/ would have on a electronic lock safe ?
Some are protected against an EMP, others are not.
I have a Canon safe. It also has a keyboard w/9volt battery power. Every time I tried to open up the safe the battery was drained. I had a 9V wall wart so I plugged that into the 9V socket and it has been working fine for over 20 years.
Joe
This is exactly why I built a faraday cage around my house.
Joe, I change the battery on my lock, every new years day. I set this date because, every year on January 1st, my dad, son and I go to the club to do some competitive shooting. It became a ritual for us. So every year on that morning, when I go to get my guns out, I change the battery.