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View Full Version : Difficult latch on Lowes Stack-On 14 gun safe...anybody else??


ncpatriot
12-01-2012, 5:52 PM
Anybody else having issues with a balky and sticky lever on the 14-gun combination safe that was a Lowes Black friday sale?

It only opens about 1 out of 3-5 times and only then with a really hard twist of the handle and a thump of the mechanism. Just about makes it useless in a emergency yet alone a wife or gun-educated kid trying to access under duress.

G** D*** China crap.
Oh I'm gonna just love returning this 300# monster after dragging it up two flights of stairs.

I can take off the carpet cover from the door and see if there's anything to lube but I'm thinking this thing is 1 foot into the grave and I'll just be postponing the inevitable.

aaaslayer
12-01-2012, 6:21 PM
I bought one for black Friday and love it. most everything nowadays is made in China. look around your house. not all Chinese goods are crap

Yugo
12-01-2012, 6:23 PM
I thought mine had a problem but I was turning the dial 1 number off (like 20 times in a row) :facepalp: other wise it works fine you might have gotten a bad unit call them they have a good warranty.

smokinskul
12-01-2012, 6:24 PM
Before you return it, call the store manager and tell him your problem. They might send a new one over delivered. If the manager tells you there is nothing he can do, ask him for the DM's name and the corporate number.

ncpatriot
12-02-2012, 6:49 AM
Definitely not dialing it wrong because sometimes I can re-jerk the handle or thump at the mechanism after the 3rd number and then it opens. Seems like the handle to linear bolt action is goofed up.

wellfedirishman
12-02-2012, 7:30 AM
Can you return just the door/lock to the store and switch it out for another one? The door is removable.

A lot easier to do that than move the whole safe.

DirtyLawyer
12-02-2012, 7:59 AM
As the saying goes, you get what you pay for...

tanakasan
12-02-2012, 8:03 AM
Mine's not a Lowes but..

I can open the inside panel and see the mechanical linkage for the bolts. Maybe open it up and see if theres a burr on a latch/link somewhere, something needs a dab of grease or realignment?

Worth a look.

Robert

Darklyte27
12-02-2012, 8:21 AM
thread fail:willy_nilly:

jingerale
12-02-2012, 12:22 PM
I have the same safe from Lowes. no issues so far, it's been over a year now.

good luck.

ncpatriot
12-02-2012, 3:28 PM
I'm going to have to go to Lowes and compare actions since I bought mine sight unseen I don't know what "normal" feels like. Mine takes an extremely hard twist to overcome what feels like a binding and clunky action.

Thanks Irishman, returning just the door sounds like a great idea. I have an email in the queue at Stackon to see what the suggest.

Tactical951
12-02-2012, 9:41 PM
The guy at Lowes told me to the numbers have to be right on or it won't open

ncpatriot
12-03-2012, 3:15 AM
Well the fact that I can sometimes thump it (or multiple retry of the lever) indicates to me that the number is dialed correctly. Even when the action opens there is a real balkyness in the movement of the pins 1/2 way through the pins sliding. Looks like this issue is not global....I'm just the lucky winner.

The War Wagon
12-03-2012, 3:53 AM
Bought mine at Gander Mountain 3 years ago. My latches were a little stiff, but with some judicious bending of the transfer bars, and some lube in the right spots, it now works fine.

I use it to keep little fingers INSIDE my house off of the contents, and to deter the crack-addled, should they ever break in. Someone who KNEW what they were doing and what they were looking for, could defeat it with a crowbar in 30 seconds or less. :o

Bobby Ricigliano
12-03-2012, 10:11 AM
That's a bummer. I bought the same one and it works fine.

SDM44
12-03-2012, 10:15 AM
The guy at Lowes told me to the numbers have to be right on or it won't open

Isn't that the case with any combo dial safe?

indobos72
12-03-2012, 12:02 PM
Remove the carpet off the door and snap some pics. I had a Sentry safe that bound up after a couple years. I originally thought I forgot the combo and after much stress and frustration, I was able to get it open. It happened to be the alignment of the locking posts. I had to lube align and adjust. Took a bit to figure out but got it smooth now. Just have to remember to lube every year or it can cause problems. Thing is these are relatively cheap safes and the locking posts are on weaker rods.

ncpatriot
12-04-2012, 10:51 AM
Stack-on non responsive so far.

Lowes mgr said they'd have a crew move in a new safe which sounded good but then I thought do I really want a crew of strangers knowing that I need a safe for my goodies.

So I'm thinking i'm just gonna remove the carpet and see what i can tune up. If that doesn't work I'm going to counter Lowes with just doing a door swap that I carry back to store. They didn't like that idea the first time I floated it.

ncpatriot
12-04-2012, 8:11 PM
Fixed it myself.

Took off carpet from inside of door.
You can clearly see how the lever is permitted to twist and open the pins of the door by a slide that enters into the cams of the combo lock.
With door open I redialed the combination and could see that the three cams were not cleanly aligned due to sloppy tolerance of cam assembly.
I then redialed the combination slowly and watched each cam opening approach the proper alignment position and noted the actual combination value on dial.
It resulted with all three numbers being off by +/-2 from the number that was printed in manual.
With my new slightly modified combo number, it now opens cleanly and error free.

The bad news is after seeing the interior mechanics and sheet steel, I believe I could pry open this safe with a 20$ crowbar and sledge and 5-10 minutes.
Oh well, at $260 (I had a 10% coupon and 5% Lowes CC) I knew it couldn't stop a determined and equipped burglar. It would probably deter the majority of the smash and grab types.

ncpatriot
12-05-2012, 2:43 AM
Great video about safe quality and what can be done with middle of the road sub $1000 level. The $2 lock that this guy talks about and holds in his hand looks very similar to the one in the Stack-On.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBVUDCicerA&feature=player_embedded#

tanakasan
12-05-2012, 7:20 AM
Fixed it myself.

Took off carpet from inside of door.
You can clearly see how the lever is permitted to twist and open the pins of the door by a slide that enters into the cams of the combo lock.
With door open I redialed the combination and could see that the three cams were not cleanly aligned due to sloppy tolerance of cam assembly.
I then redialed the combination slowly and watched each cam opening approach the proper alignment position and noted the actual combination value on dial.
It resulted with all three numbers being off by +/-2 from the number that was printed in manual.
With my new slightly modified combo number, it now opens cleanly and error free.

The bad news is after seeing the interior mechanics and sheet steel, I believe I could pry open this safe with a 20$ crowbar and sledge and 5-10 minutes.
Oh well, at $260 (I had a 10% coupon and 5% Lowes CC) I knew it couldn't stop a determined and equipped burglar. It would probably deter the majority of the smash and grab types.

Good on you! A little mechanical forensics can go a long ways!

+1 on the $20 crowbar, but 20 minutes? Probably less. I knew that going in, its more of a deterrent/roadblock to delay not prevent. Its not a safe, more like a locking cabinet. Mine is hidden and camoflaged from even closeup eyes. I believe a BG would walk right by it!

Robert

rayrayz
12-05-2012, 2:21 PM
I have that safe from lowes. I got it 3 years ago. I have not really had any major issues with it. The dial is sloppy but it does what I want it to do. I also went in knowing that this will not stop but deter/slow down the burglar.

billped
12-06-2012, 12:26 PM
Isn't that the case with any combo dial safe?

No it isn't. My safe allows for +/-1 or even +/-2, allowing me to open my safe consistently in under 10 seconds. Yes, it reduces the number of total combinations, but no one's going to try the 500K+ combinations anyway (yes, I calculated it).

ncpatriot
12-06-2012, 6:14 PM
Wow... got the following note from Stack-on....

I have sent the detail, thank you by the way for such detail, over
to our Engineering Dept. They should suggest a fix and then
we can get a locksmith to come in and correct the problem.

Not too bad, 3 business day response.

xibunkrlilkidsx
12-14-2012, 9:05 PM
Fixed it myself.

Took off carpet from inside of door.
You can clearly see how the lever is permitted to twist and open the pins of the door by a slide that enters into the cams of the combo lock.
With door open I redialed the combination and could see that the three cams were not cleanly aligned due to sloppy tolerance of cam assembly.
I then redialed the combination slowly and watched each cam opening approach the proper alignment position and noted the actual combination value on dial.
It resulted with all three numbers being off by +/-2 from the number that was printed in manual.
With my new slightly modified combo number, it now opens cleanly and error free.

The bad news is after seeing the interior mechanics and sheet steel, I believe I could pry open this safe with a 20$ crowbar and sledge and 5-10 minutes.
Oh well, at $260 (I had a 10% coupon and 5% Lowes CC) I knew it couldn't stop a determined and equipped burglar. It would probably deter the majority of the smash and grab types.

What did you expect from a $260 gun cabinet/

xibunkrlilkidsx
12-14-2012, 9:07 PM
Isn't that the case with any combo dial safe?

No it isn't. My safe allows for +/-1 or even +/-2, allowing me to open my safe consistently in under 10 seconds. Yes, it reduces the number of total combinations, but no one's going to try the 500K+ combinations anyway (yes, I calculated it).

S&G group 2 lock have a 1/2-1 number tollelerance. Higher grade locks get into 1/4 number tollerance.

cz75B
12-15-2012, 7:07 PM
I purchased one of those at Blank Friday. It has no problem for me to open it as long as I get the code right.

hochocke
01-13-2015, 12:12 PM
My Stack-On 14 gun safe had a combination dial that was difficult to turn. The door handle was also difficult to turn. Upon removing the carpeted panel on the back of the door I discovered that someone had tried to break into the safe. The mechanism that slides the door bolts was twisted. I took the lock mechanism apart which was easy to accomplish. I just made sure to lay removed pieces in an orderly fashion and mark each of the combination disks. I straightened the twisted piece in my vice. The other pieces were wiped down and relubricated with low temperature grease. Any grease would probably work just fine. I reassembled everything taking care to tighten the handle nut and combination disk nut just enough so the pieces did not bind. If you tighten them too much the dial and handle are hard to turn. I also loosened the four screws that hold the inside dial bushing in place and moved it slightly so the dial stem was better aligned. The dial and door handle now turn smoothly. Don't be intimidated, you will see what to do once the carpeted panel is removed.

billped
01-13-2015, 7:38 PM
Necropost