Sentry Safe is open - combination?

[bjele]

Sorry - I can't seem to post this in the right forum because I don't have rights.

There is an old Sentry floor safe in our house. The previous owner could not move it out. They did give me the combination, but I never used the safe and lost the combination. The safe is currently open.

I understand that if I can find the model number, I can send a notarized letter to Sentry and they will send me the combination for $30. I don't know the model number. It looks like this one: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/imag ... BhUaBCfeFw

The safe is currently open. I removed the four screws from inside the door. I can see three spinning disks inside. By turning these disks with the flat blade of a screwdriver, I can line everything up so the latch will open & close. I wasn't watching the dial when I did this, but it seems like someone could possibly figure out the combination.

The safe/locksmith company 4 miles from me could probably come over and solve it in no time. They have a minimum $75 service call price (I've used them before for rekeying a house).

But before I go either of the above routes, is there some logic to figuring this out? Can I spin the dial right, left, right, each time going until some particular thing happens? Since I can see the wheels on the inside, it seems that if I knew what to look for, it should be possible to figure out the combination. Working with the screwdriver, I worked to line up the innermost and middle disks first, then the disk closest to the front of the safe. But when spinning the dial, I am not sure what I am trying to get to line up first. Are you looking for the disk closest to the door to line up with the middle disk first?

We move out of the house in 26 days. There is no particular hurry. I have no problem sending the serial number and a picture to Sentry and waiting for them to send the combination. I want to provide the house buyer with the combination. (Or, if anyone happens to recognize the model number from the picture above, that would be enough to get me started.)

Many thanks in advance.

Bill J

[keysman]

Take the safe door to your local locksmith... they will do the work for no service call just labor.

[Evan]

As keysman advised take the door with you to the locksmith if you feel like wasting money...

The new homeowner is only going to have the combination changed anyway if they end up using the safe, just explain you don't have the combination and that it could be easily changed when they have the house locks re-keyed after they move in...

~~ Evan

[bjele]

Interesting - never thought of pulling the hinge pins out to remove the door. Excellent. Thanks.

[MBI]

Good luck with it. I hope the suggestions given here help you out.

[Squelchtone]

In after the lock!

Many Sentry cannot have the combination changed. You can figure out the combo yourself, just use the Left-Right-Left model while dialing the dial, and I would dial left 3 times till all wheels are moving and then stop when the one closest to the door has the gate facing the aluminum bar, then reverse dialing direction and dial a couple times until the middle wheel's gate is facing the fence, then reverse direction once more and dial one time or two until the last wheel's gate is also aligned.

As each wheel becomes aligned, write down the number that was on the dial at that moment before you reverse direction in dialing.

And no need to remove hinge pins, just lift the door up, it comes off (but you dont have to worry about this, as I just gave you the instructions for getting the combination figured out, so no need to drive to locksmith.

Squelchtone