Odd Lock (to me) - Pick or Drill?

[olePigeon]

Hello,

I work for the local junior high school, and we have two abandoned soda vending machines there. After dozens of calls to the owners over the past 4 or 5 years to have them removed, they've never picked them up. Now the state of California is requiring we remove the vending machines because of the new universal lunch program, even though they haven't been stocked in probably 7 or 8 years. We need to empty the machines before moving them.

I called a locksmith, but he estimated it would be well over $400 to get the locks picked. That's worth more than the machines.

We were going to ask the custodian to drill the locks, but I don't know where (or even if possible) they should be drilled.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Attached below is a picture.

Thanks,

Doug

[stratmando]

Do you need to remove Sodas so School can keep them, or the added weight. If weight is the issue. You could insert a bunch of quarters and empty the machine, trading the weight of Sodas for Quarters? Then if you have Room to store them, your Garage? That would give you time to research the Keys, the vendor, youtube, Google, whatever it takes to open without destroying.
Can you send photo of Machine. Any Name Plates?

[prevariikation]

The lock's warding reminds me of the Abloy Profile. If that's the lock, picking it open would require non-standard tools and would probably be pretty difficult.

Now I think there's a fairly consistent form factor for T-handle locks, but we can't speak to drilling or destructive entry on the open forums. stratmando's suggestions sound pretty good for emptying the machine

[Squelchtone]

OlePigeon,

We have some rules on the forum where we do not discuss ways of getting into vending machines because we do not wish for skme thieves or bored teenagers to fins these posts and use them as instructions. We do have an area for vending lock opening but it is restricted to members we know and trust.

Does the school have a locksmith they use already for other needs or are locks done by the facilities department?

I'm worried about the quote you received, it sounds like you called a scammer locksmith which is a national scam that registers real sounding business names that all route back to one call center and thr person dispatched to open the lock upcharges the price and you end up paying because you're desperate at the time.

Find a real local brick and mortal locksmith shop, tell them you work for the school and need them to come out and drill an LAI or Baton or Abloy (it will be one of those 3 brands) disc detainer T Handle cylinder so you can empty the machine. It honestly should not cost more than $150 to get it done. Dont pick it, just have it drilled out, but by a locksmith, not by Joe maintenance guy who will just cause a mess and still wont be able to unlock the machine.

Look up online how a Vending machine lock and change it, on youtube so you get am idea of how the big chrome handle recessed into the front of the machine works.

Good luck,
Squchtone

[olePigeon]

Sorry, I didn't know. Our facilities doesn't pick locks.

I'll call back the locksmith. Maybe he misunderstood? I don't care about the lock. So drilling it is fine.

I'll also recommend the quarter idea, but we'd need to open it anyway to get the money back for the school.


Thanks.

Edit: We've been discussing moving one of the machines into the staff lounge. So not permanently damaging it would be preferable now.

[Squelchtone]

Sorry, I didn't know. Our facilities doesn't pick locks.

I'll call back the locksmith. Maybe he misunderstood? I don't care about the lock. So drilling it is fine.

I'll also recommend the quarter idea, but we'd need to open it anyway to get the money back for the school.


Thanks.

Edit: We've been discussing moving one of the machines into the staff lounge. So not permanently damaging it would be preferable now.

Drilling the lock cylinder won't permanently damage the machine.. you would just need to buy a replacement T-handle cylinder like this one https://www.ebay.com/itm/222314964511, or worse case the T-Handle assembly as well on ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/134181304532 and you're back in business.

[olePigeon]

Yeah, he's still quoting me $430 to drill both machines.

I'll call around. I may just have to pay it. Maybe I can put the machines somewhere and make the money back and give it to the Student Council.

Thanks.

[olePigeon]

Called around, found another guy who quoted me $68 service call + $50-$75 per lock. He said it looked like a "Cobra" high security lock. Much cheaper than the other guy. The expensive guy is literally down the street from the school. Maybe he thinks he can take advantage of us. I dunno.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I guess we'll just get it drilled out.