Abused - Major Floor Safe

[Safecrackin Sammy]

With two hands, on the dial + cam, did not budge it. It seems that it's being held up solid beneath the cam. The main plate holding the locking bolts is not under tension.

Washed mechanism w Kroil penetrating oil. Did not loosen it.

I'm going to cautiously start taking it apart. Is there anything that's going to fly apart, and be a problem to re-assemble?

I bought this without the back cover, thinking the lost combo was the only issue. Maybe the issue is larger....

Joe

Edit: I might be wrong; I can see the main cam plate is bearing against one bolt, and that may be a sticking point. The bolts are free when touched, but maybe they're reluctant to move when cammed .
Two of the bolt pins are staked in place, and one is free to slip out.
Tomorrow I'll forced out the two staked pins and remove the bolts.
See what happens.

Nothing should come flying out. Take out the bolt pins one at a time starting with the one that is binding and retry after each and see what happens.

Floor safes always got a lot of abuse so this is not abnormal. I spent an hour rebuilding one for a kitchen once. Guy tried the combination, then slid it 30 feet across the kitchen floor to the tube hole like he was olympic curling.

[billdeserthills]

I wound up having to destroy an old AMSEC round lift out door once, the kitchen had flooded & the safe was underwater for several days & wouldn't budge--it was a real bear to get open. I think the company is still mad at me for charging them $1k to spend 4 hours opening their safe & providing a replacement used safe head but I'm sure I didn't charge enough for that backbreaking job. No way would I undertake another one like that

[Safecrackin Sammy]

I wound up having to destroy an old AMSEC round lift out door once, the kitchen had flooded & the safe was underwater for several days & wouldn't budge--it was a real bear to get open. I think the company is still mad at me for charging them $1k to spend 4 hours opening their safe & providing a replacement used safe head but I'm sure I didn't charge enough for that backbreaking job. No way would I undertake another one like that

Floor safes used to be a large part of the market and I agree are a pain to work on. And you are correct a lot of times it was easier trash the lid and open, then get them a replacement.

[sign216]

Found The Problem!
A prior owner, in his futile efforts to discover the combo, took off the back plate. When the relocker tube fell out, he thought it was a crude roller bearing and put it on a post by the cam (red arrow). It just barely touches the cam during the cam's turning, but it's enough to block it. The tube actually depresses the relocker (green arrow).

When the tube is put on the relocker, then the movement works as designed.

Now, I just have to cut out a new back plate out of sheet metal, and buy a huge retaining ring to keep it in place.

While I have your attention, what lubricant is recommended? I'm leaning towards a Teflon spray like Tri-Flow, or a thin gun oil. Or is it better keep it almost dry, w just the thin residue of oil from prior use.

[image] Major Safe - incorrect by sign216, on Flickr[/image]

[image] VLUU L210 / Samsung L210 by sign216, on Flickr [/image]

[MartinHewitt]

For locks less lube is more, because lube attracts dirt and can harden over time. It is recommended to very thinly lube the wheel post and possibly the dial bearing and fence lever bearing. Usually there is grease used for the boltwork. Cheap safes have it distributed all over the boltwork, high quality safes in less amount where there are actually parts moving.

[billdeserthills]

I like to use Superlube grease & I use it sparingly on all moving parts except for the wheels & fence. I've been using Superlube for a couple of decades & it doesn't dry out & turn into paste the way lithium based grease does
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Super-Lube-M ... be&veh=sem

Unfortunately it grows more costly all the time--lucky for me, I bought up a few large tubes for my grease gun years ago & just refill my small tubes with that
https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/14-o ... 20(Neutral)%20-%20%5BHigh%20Priority%20SKUs%5D&utm_term=4583382953268143&utm_content=Janitorial%20-%20Lubricants%20%26%20Rust%20Prevention%20-%20(Neutral)&adlclid=ADL-6d50383b-e32c-4b06-8af0-4128fc423d96

[Safecrackin Sammy]

Found The Problem!
A prior owner, in his futile efforts to discover the combo, took off the back plate. When the relocker tube fell out, he thought it was a crude roller bearing and put it on a post by the cam (red arrow). It just barely touches the cam during the cam's turning, but it's enough to block it. The tube actually depresses the relocker (green arrow).

When the tube is put on the relocker, then the movement works as designed.

Now, I just have to cut out a new back plate out of sheet metal, and buy a huge retaining ring to keep it in place.

While I have your attention, what lubricant is recommended? I'm leaning towards a Teflon spray like Tri-Flow, or a thin gun oil. Or is it better keep it almost dry, w just the thin residue of oil from prior use.

[image] Major Safe - incorrect by sign216, on Flickr[/image]

[image] VLUU L210 / Samsung L210 by sign216, on Flickr [/image]

Cool!

I was wondering about that tube earlier but just figured it was an upgrade since the last time I had worked on one. Goes to show you assume everything is broke if somebody else worked on it first.

For lube I use Sil-Glyde BK4. Its a highly exotic lubricant (disc brake lube) that is very hard to find (any auto parts store) and is very expensive (seven buck tube last a life time). Its close to what was used by some safe lock mfg in the past. Use as little as possible.

[sign216]

Thank you Bill, Martin, and Sammy,

Based your advice I'll sparingly apply a little lube to the bolts and bolt plate, leaving the rest as found, w it's light oil.

Bases for the lock to fit into are more expensive than the used lock! I was hoping to fit it into cast iron pipe, but the lock's 6.5" diameter doesn't match common pipe size (6" or 8").

Any good alternatives?

[Safecrackin Sammy]

You can probably still buy tubes from AMSEC for it. No idea what they would cost.

Finding a used one would be rare.

[sign216]

AMSEC is just showing complete floor safes, at approx. $1,000, not separate bodies. A guy on Ebay is selling the bodies alone for $100.

$100 is a fair price, but given that this is the "dumb" end of the safe, I' hoping to fabricate something.

Well see,
Joe