Pistol safe for truck1/3/2024 ![]() ![]() In the few years I’ve been in this house, both fridges died (kitchen and garage), as well as the washing machine, dishwasher, automatic coffee machine, and the 5-year-old “high-efficiency” water heater nearly exploded. ![]() A German study found the same thing, including an 85% increase between 20 in large household appliances that needed to be replaced within the first 5 years. Many new household electronic items we buy are apart on my bench within a year or two. I design and repair electronics at home and work. By this I mean today’s average battery-powered device that works for a few months/years before it gets flaky or fails. Unrated electronic handgun safe “locks” use inexpensive electronic parts and assembly technology that you find on “disposable” consumer gadgets. Handgun Safe Lock ReliabilityĮven if a model can’t be opened by a paper clip (a very low bar for a “safe”), these “locks” are also unreliable compared to a real safe lock or the pistol inside. But, rather than bring any more attention on a suffering family, let’s continue in the interest of preventing a future tragedy. I previously included links to that news video here, but it has been taken down by the news station. ![]() In one high-profile case, an officer’s toddler and/or his babysitter somehow got into his police-department-issued handgun safe. However, they still have other issues below… Gun Safety and Handgun Safe Locksĭo children ever actually break into small gun safes? While not frequently, tragically yes. To be fair, there are a few electronic handgun “safes” that can’t be violated by a loud belch. They all have pretty much the same issues. Spoiler Alert: Watching videos breaking into electronic handgun safes gets pretty repetitive. There’s a chance your children might run across one of these videos on the internet. There are dozens more of these “lock picking” and “safe cracking” tutorials online. But, by then, the “safe” was already opened.ĭave at Handgun Safe Research has been making lock picking test videos for a variety of handgun safes. This type of attack permanently changes the combination, so it is detectable after the fact. If the reset button can be poked, the door will open, as shown below. The buttons can often be reached through a hole, or by prying open the door a little bit. After pushing the reset button, typing in any keypad code will open the handgun safe. Most electronic handgun safes have an electronic combination reset button inside. The worst part, is that this type of tampering will usually open the safe without indication it was opened, or any permanent damage. Any holes can be used to poke inside to the latching mechanism or electronics, as shown in these videos. Regardless of why they’re there, holes are a liability to electronic handgun safe latches. Holes are included for routing wires, attaching plastic parts, for sound (beeps), security cable slots, where un-welded metal seams come together, etc. Some holes may be covered, but are easy to access by peeling up or popping off exterior pieces. The vast majority of small electronic handgun safes have too many holes in their steel exterior. If you expect a deadbolt on your exterior doors, you probably want one on your handgun safe, too. Most homeowners demand deadbolt exterior locks in addition to traditional latching door handles. You can see this in the videos above and below, and many others on the internet. UL 768 rated electronic locks generally use a motor with a reduction gearbox to actuate a deadbolt, making them more expensive than small-gun-safe latch-“locks”.Īnother issue with spring latches is that they can be unlatched by poking various areas of the mechanism. UL safe experts test for this type of obvious design flaw before approving them. UL rated safe locks cannot be bumped in this way. For example, Harbor Freight handgun safes were recalled in 2018 because they will “ can open without the use of a key or combination upon impact“. Simply bumping the worst of handgun safes can overcome the spring holding the plunger, opening the door. There is a direct trade-off between the strength of the spring and battery life of the “lock”. On solenoid latches especially, this spring must be weak to allow the battery-powered magnet to overpower the spring without draining the battery too quickly. When no electricity is applied, the only thing holding the latch plunger locked, and the safe locked, is a small spring. The mechanisms vary, but these models have one thing in common. This can be directly as shown in the illustration, or through a mechanism.Įntering the combination on the keypad energizes a solenoid coil or motor to retract the latch plunger. Like a screen door, a spring loaded plunger protrudes to the door latch. The “lock” on most cheap electronic handgun safes is a battery-powered latch, similar to the latch on a screen door. Conceptual Diagram of Handgun Safe Solenoid Latch ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |