Gun Safe Won't Open

[BobFromBucks]

That's an interesting solution, but I have to wonder why it failed and what you did "fixed" it. I wonder if it has a circuit that determines the position of the locking mechanism, and if it's out of position it rejects all combinations. Or it's just crap chinese lead free solder and there's intermittent contacts and jiggling the handle got them to reconnect for the time being.

I wonder if re-flowing the solder at certain joints would fix it permanently.

The locksmith who I spoke with just a little it ago mentioned the solenoid is often the culprit on these locks. Like you, I wondered if about intermittent contact and the jiggling fixed the connection. However, it is locking and unlocking fine now (door open of course) which makes me think it's more than cracked solder.

One of the strange fixes the factory suggests is to turn the handle all the way to the right and put some pressure on it as you enter the code and then quickly turn to the left. That never came close to working as it would lock out instantly upon putting in the last digit. But the right left turning idea got me to thinking what if I did it quickly and constantly as I entered the numbers and that did the job.

There is something different about the lock though. Once I turn the handle to close and the bolts come out of the door, I hear the motor working but not until about 2-3 seconds after turning it close. I don't recall ever hearing the motor before this all happened.

The good news is the locksmith seems like a great guy (recommended by a friend who knows and trusts him) and he's coming tomorrow to put a new lock in for me.

One more strange story to wrap this up. I'm sure it must be a coincidence, but we've had a few other strange things happen here with electronic devices in recent weeks. Stuff that just doesn't make sense working or not working for no apparent reason. Two days ago, a database we host on a server here just got scrambled and we've yet to find the cause. The hardware tests fine. We reinstalled the backup and it is back up now but it was a PITA for part of yesterday.

Finally, this morning at 3AM our doorbell rang and, of course, woke my wife and me up. It rang again while I was making my way to the front door. And, once more while I was checking the porch only to find nobody was there. The doorbell is electronic and wireless.

[Walleye Hunter]

You have Russians, Bob, Russians.

[sota]

[sota]

so this looks exactly like the setup on mine. Is there a direct swap I can do with an electronic keypad with backup key capability?

[Parrisk]

That's an interesting solution, but I have to wonder why it failed and what you did "fixed" it. I wonder if it has a circuit that determines the position of the locking mechanism, and if it's out of position it rejects all combinations. Or it's just crap chinese lead free solder and there's intermittent contacts and jiggling the handle got them to reconnect for the time being.

I wonder if re-flowing the solder at certain joints would fix it permanently.

I reflowed the solder joints to the motor (it is not really a solenoid) then placed rubber padding to prevent the motor and IC board from rocking and twisting.

Here is a how to video for replacing a Cannon Gun Safe lock.. super easy.. you only need a large Phillips screw driver and about 15 minutes MAX

I really wish I had taken pics.. but the little spring on the motor was pissing me off... maybe when I replace the lock, new one finally arrived, I will take pics

[Pilot321]

Shoot the Server
Shoot the doorbell
Shoot the lock

Problens solved.

[Walleye Hunter]

I reflowed the solder joints to the motor (it is not really a solenoid) then placed rubber padding to prevent the motor from rocking and twisting.

Here is a how to video for replacing a Cannon Gun Safe lock.. super easy.. you only need a large Phillips screw driver and about 15 minutes MAX

That's easy enough but that lock does not look like the ones JustinHEMI pointed us towards. Are they interchangeable?

[Parrisk]

LAGard.jpg

LAGard.jpg

Sorry about the size and quality by cut and pasted offline.
Lock should look like this..
remove 3 mounting screws
remove cover screws.. one is below the ID lable
Gently lift cover off.. DO NOT ALLOW the motor or assemblies to fall out of their place.. there is a tiny spring on the front of the motor about the size of a hair.. real PIA
the motor should be connected to the tiny circuit board by 2 solder bridges.. reflow these with a bit of fresh solder. circled in red
Support the IC board and motor so they can no longer move and flex..
reassemble

[Parrisk]

That's easy enough but that lock does not look like the ones JustinHEMI pointed us towards. Are they interchangeable?

The Cannon safes are pretty much the same.. well the new replacement lock is much smaller mounted to sheet metal.. super cheesy looking, but does the job.

There are not that many different lock footprints... just remove the inner door liner and you will see which one you have.. amazingly simple designs

You will also find that the companies that make looks are only a few with multiple names.. Cannon uses a lock by Rotobolt as does Winchester and multiple other companies

[streaker69]

The locksmith who I spoke with just a little it ago mentioned the solenoid is often the culprit on these locks. Like you, I wondered if about intermittent contact and the jiggling fixed the connection. However, it is locking and unlocking fine now (door open of course) which makes me think it's more than cracked solder.

You'd be surprised how cracked solder and components can work for a while. If the solenoid is a problem, then jiggling the handle shouldn't have fixed anything. A solenoid is just a coil of wire with a moveable ferrous core. The coil is energized and it pulls or pushes the core. There really isn't much that can go wrong with them.

One of the defense contractors I worked for, we had a PCB that was really weird. When we had the board in the test jig it would work, but take it out of the jig and put it inside the actual unit and it wouldn't work. It confounded us for a couple of days until we finally found the problem. The tech that was looking at it started to probe around and found that it would stop working if you pressed on the board in a certain spot. Looking at the solder joints, even under a microscope didn't show any cracked joints, all the solder looked perfect. Then we found it, a 1N914 Germanium diode was split, cleanly in the middle, apparently right at the junction. The test jig flexed the PCB just enough to make the diode connect, taking it out of the jig and into the unit it would release that pressure. When he pressed down on it, it would open the junction again. Sent it back for rework and got it back with a new diode and the old on in a bag. It was a perfectly clean split. It shouldn't have worked at all, but it did.