Commercial safes are useful for keeping all kinds of valuable, sentimental, hazardous and mission-critical thing secure. In fact, they’re so good that if you forget the combination to your safe, getting access can seem impossible.
It’s not – if you happen to be a highly experienced commercial safe locksmith. Cracking a safe is no easy feat, but we do have a few techniques at our disposal to retrieve your valuables without resorting to Hollywood tactics.
(Spoilers: it’s not as easy as putting your ear to the safe and turning the knob, and we’re not going to blow your safe sky-high to open it).
Why a commercial safe isn’t opening
Forgotten code or lost key
It happens to the best of us. Codes disappear from our heads and keys go missing. This might be the most common reason a safe won’t open. Digital safe locks will shut you out after too many incorrect attempts, where a mechanical safe simply won’t budge.
If you forgot the code and the safe is closed, a locksmith will first try to pick the lock. This requires experience and patience because getting it wrong can cause irreparable damage.
If the safe is locked open, then you’re in luck. A commercial safe locksmith can help you find the code and set a new combination or install a new safe to move your valuables.
Mechanical fault
Did you forget to schedule maintenance on your safe? Jammed bolts and frozen lock mechanisms are a frustrating problem arising from poor servicing or physical damage.
Even the right code won’t help you here, unfortunately. But by calling a locksmith, you can get the safe open and serviced at the same time if there is no lasting damage to the lock mechanism. (Also Read: Keep Your Valuables Secure with Reliable Safe Servicing and Maintenance)
Unknown codes
Bequeathed, inherited and discovered safes are always an interesting case. Sometimes the person bequeathing the safe may be thinking about what’s inside, not how to access it – and they forget to pass on the code.
Provided you can prove ownership (more on that below) and the safe is relatively undamaged, a locksmith should be able to get it open for you.
How to open a locked safe
Attempting to pick a commercial safe lock without the right training, experience and tools is a recipe for disaster. Not only will the task prove fruitless, but the risks of damaging either the locking mechanism or contents run high.
Professional safe locksmiths like Askwith Safe Company use specialist tools to open locked safes. We are in contact with the manufacturers and highly experienced with the different brands, lock mechanisms, digital lock systems and common faults.
Picking, cutting, drilling and scoping
Our preference is to gain access with non-destructive lock picking. This is much simpler with small safes brought to our Perth or Adelaide locations, however we are happy to come to you anywhere around Australia for lock picking on commercial safes.
If picking is pointless, we may attempt to cut or drill through the lock mechanism. Keep in mind your lock will need to be replaced, if not the entire safe. Sometimes a small drill hole can be used to insert a borescope, which allows us to find a solution by looking inside the lock.
What information you need to collect
Is your commercial safe locked, jammed, or unresponsive? Before you call Askwith Safe Company to come out and work our magic, you will need to get a few things together:
- Proof of ownership
- Warranty information
- Safe make and model
- Lock size
- Details of attachments (to the floor, wall etc)
- Previous combinations
- Service history
Once you have all the details you can reasonably find, call us to arrange a visit from the most reliable commercial safe locksmiths in Perth and around Australia.