Loose combination dial?

by **RangerF150** » 26 Feb 2005 14:25

Hi all .
I am just starting to play with my Le Gard 3330 combination lock.
It's mounted on a plastic stand.
However the dial and the index "ring?" is pretty loose.
You can move them about quite a bit .

I can't see if i can remove the dial and tighten it up a bit, i did remove the screws on the back of the lock and insert spacers , but that seemed to make it a bit tight .

However reading the Matt Blaze tut he mentioned some locks are a "bit loose" , just pull on the dial a bit .

Any ideas ?

Thanks :-)

by **acl** » 26 Feb 2005 19:13

Ranger,take the dial of and tighten screws on dial ring
Andy

by **RangerF150** » 26 Feb 2005 19:26

Sorry to be thick !
1) how do i take the dial off?
2) the ring ain't screwed at all to the mount ?
3) if i take off the dial ring do i have to put it "exactly" in the same postition as it was before ? can it only go on one way ?

I know nothing about these thing's , i don't want to screw it up , not just yet !

Thanks :-)

by **acl** » 27 Feb 2005 3:55

Ranger,im asuming youve brought this mount to try and master manipulation,if this is correct then i would advise you to forget about that for the moment and learn how the the lock works/is put together etc.Its no good diving straight in with manipulation if you dont even know how to get the dial off.Its the same as trying to pick a mortice lock without evenknowing what the levers look like or how to take it apart.
Dont take this as criticism i admire you for wanting to have a go.Just learn to walk before you can run.
In answer to your question(and i think this will be ok but if not can a mod edit)
What you need to do is take the cap off the lock ,youll then see the wheels,drive cam etc.Look for the bit nearest the top of the lock this should have VD,VU,LH and RH stamped on it.In the midddle of this you will see the end of the dial spindle which has a groove running down it in this youll see a small spline key.Pull that out carefully with a pair of pliers.
You can now unscrew the dial,once the dials off screw the ring to the mount with the opening index at 12 oclock.Then repeat the procedure in reverse to reassemble.
Hope this helps a bit.
Andy

by **RangerF150** » 27 Feb 2005 6:15

Many thanks acl :-)

I removed that pin and just turned the dial on a bit tighter , now it's perfect !
I agree with you about knowing about the lock , i am attempting to do that.

More questions !
What are the marking's LH , RH, VU, and VD ?

The pin was in the RH slot , i presume the RH and LH are Right hand and Left hand ? But in reference to what, would this reverse the dialing procedure? , and i ain't got the faintest idea about the VU or VD markings .

I would figure your advice is OK to give as it's requires an open safe/ or like i have ,a cutaway lock.
I am only interested in manipulation, which i have failed at so far, but i ain't done yet :-)

Thanks for your advice :-)

by **digital_blue** » 27 Feb 2005 11:34

Matt Blaze wrote:However, depending on the container, the lock may also be mounted with the bolt facing downward, upward, or to the left. Most locks allow the dial to be attached at any of four 90 rotations so that the opening position remains near zero (with the index at 12 oâ€™clock) even when the lock is mounted in one of these ways. (A removable spline key attaches the spindle to the cam inside the lock case; it is installed in one of the four slots marked RH, VU, LH or VD to determine the dial orientation with respect to the cam.)

Hope this helps.

db

by **RangerF150** » 27 Feb 2005 11:42

Hmmmm..... i think i may read the Mat Blaze tut again!
And stop asking stupid questions :-(

Thanks digital_blue :-)

by **digital_blue** » 27 Feb 2005 11:50

No prob. I only remembered that because I rememberd wondering where the V came from in VU and VD. Vertical maybe? I don't know. Anyway, I don't think it was a stupid question, plus, if I didn't have questions I could answer I'd have to go back to real life. :lol:

db

by **acl** » 28 Feb 2005 2:16

Yes Vertical

by **32768** » 28 Feb 2005 10:40

I found the training info at S&G's website very helpful getting started.
http://www.sglocks.com/sup_pdf.php

The "Combination Lock Training Booklet" is particularly good. It has a glossary with pictures of all the parts and descriptions of how they work. I learned a lot from the troubleshooting section- if you can think through how to open a lock with a sticking fly then you've got a pretty good understanding of how it works.

There's nothing on manipulation in there, but lots of good background that will also apply to other brands.

by **RangerF150** » 28 Feb 2005 14:01

Thanks

I found some helpfull info there , as acl pointed out , i should know how they work before i try messing about with them.
Some of that info is great , gives part name's etc.

Nice one :-)

by **RangerF150** » 28 Feb 2005 17:46

Eh, simple question !
Does it make a "sound" as it passes the gate?
I think it does, or at least i can hear a sound as it passes it.
Pretty faint, but everytime i hear it and i check , yup, it's on a gate!

Pretty interesting , as i did'nt think it would , or am i just plain mad and hearing things :-)

Oh, and sorry if i am asking question's on the "open" forum that i should not.

I did ask "what type" of question's i could ask about this, in another thread, and got no response, so i don't know how much i can ask.

Id rather not offend the mods :-)

Thanks all !

by **MrB** » 28 Feb 2005 18:34

Perhaps the mods will tell us off if we say too much, but you are really piquing my curiosity so much that I wish I had a similar toy to play with.

I always suspected there would be a sound. Unless the lock was machined with perfect tolerances, the gates would have to make a sound when they pass. If I'm right, the sound will get louder if you spin the dial faster (more energy in the wheels, louder tick at the gates). I think perhaps expert manipulators can spin the dial really really fast to make loud ticks and manage to read the dial at the exact point they hear the tick. That's the only explanation for how that guy on the TV program could open the locks so quickly.

by **rakemaster** » 28 Feb 2005 18:40

I dont understand where the sound would come from. Is the lagard 3330
a group 2 lock like the SG6730 which is what I've got? In the SG the
fence is pushed off the gates by the cam while you spin the wheel. I can
hear the contact points with the cam, but I dont see what would cause
sound when the fence passes the gates? Air turbulance?

Rakemaster

by **MrB** » 28 Feb 2005 19:02

Good point. I guess I spoke too soon.

Loose combination dial?

Loose combination dial?

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