How do I clean and maintain my safe lock?

[Bob Jim Bob]

I bought a safe at a garage sale, a basic Sentry with 3 number combination. The dial is rather stiff to turn, so I removed the inside cover and I'm wondering if I should remove the lock nut and disassemble the wheel pack in order to clean and lube it, or just spray something inside the wheel pack.

[lunchb0x]

The way that I do my safe locks is completely disassemble the lock, spray WD40 on to a rag and wipe down the parts then wipe of the WD40 with a dry rag, this leaves a very thin film on the parts. Apply a small amount of Silicon lubricant where the bolt slides in the lock body and also around the dial where it sits in the dial ring.

Don't spray anything into the lock, dirt, dust etc will stick to it and build up causing the lock to wear out quicker and stop working properly, and don't use other greases/ lubricants as these harden over time and stop the lock from working properly.

[Squelchtone]

Please dont discuss safes in open forum, it leads down the road to cracking and manipluating very quickly.

You qualify to apply for Advanced access, I recommend you do, then you can talk about safes in the Safe sub forum all you want. =)

That said, it's a Sentry, so I'm not overly concerned, but I will say that those locks are not very good, usually direct drive, and the dial and spindle is usually plastic, so it may just be worn out. You seem hands on enough though, so I bet you can take it apart and figure out where the dragging is coming from.

Thanks for not diving any deeper into safe lock conversation in this sub forum,
Squelchtone