Rotary Dial Combination Safes

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

DRC458

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Mar 1, 2006
Messages
11,939
Reaction score
11,627
Location
Enid, OK.
Most I've seen are:

At least 4 turns left, stop at 1st number
Turn right, pass over 2nd num twice and stop on it the third time around
Turn left, pass 3d num once and stop on it the second time around
Turn right, stop on zero (or, until it won't go any further).Open.

This is how mine works as well. One other 'trick' I learned with mine ... actually go just a tad bit past the next number in your combination. If you stop the least bit short of the number, or what you think is 'right on it,' mine is not gonna' open!
 

ripnbst

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Dec 17, 2010
Messages
4,833
Reaction score
48
Location
Spring, TX
Got it to work, thanks guys!

What it ended up being was sort of a combination of SMS and thinking about how it works.

The procedure is:

1:Spin left several times (4 or more)
2:Stop on first number.
3:Turn right and pass second number once landing on it the second time
4:Turn back left to 3rd number and stop
5:Open Sesame.
 
Joined
Dec 14, 2005
Messages
3,277
Reaction score
179
Location
NE Oklahoma
Never close the door on an open safe, with a questionable combo or functionality, until you have at least triple tested the combo and verified normal operation. It may be necessary to open up the back of the door and get at the mechanism for service. This is sure a lot easier if the door is open.

Be gentle with spinning the dial; "smoothly turning" is much easier on the mechanism than rapidly spinning.

Be very precise on stopping on the number exactly. Pause there a bit in fact.

Some of the less expensive safes will have a 3 digit combo. They run first digit from counter-clock, to 2nd digit clock-bypass it once, to 3rd digit clock-wise, open door.

Better safes will have a 4 digit. They run: clear counter-clock 4-6 times (remember gentle and smooth) to first digit. Clock to 2nd digit, stopping on it at end of 3rd turn. Counter-clock to 3rd digit, stopping on it at end of 2nd turn. Then clock to zero, open by operating handle. Be gentle and smooth at all times. Stop precisely on the number and pause. If anywhere in the opening sequence you mess up, you might as well clear 4-6 times, gently counter-clock, and start over.

Once upon a time, late in the evening, I decided that I needed to change the combo on a 4 digit, due to potentially compromising, before going out of town. I took the provided combo change key, sorta looked at the instructions and had at it. BAD IDEA! I had resent the combo, but to who knows what combo. Two hours later, after taking the time to carefully study the change instructions, as well as considerable time looking over the mechanism and how it was engineered to work, I had it set to a combo that works.

Be gentle, be precise and be patient, at all times, with your dial-type safes.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom