Electronic Safe Batteries | Q&A

Sep 29
2010

Here at BestBatteryTips.com we get asked a wide variety of questions from our loyal readers and a very popular topic continues to be electronic safe, security

Rechargeable Batteries

Rechargeable Batteries

safes and fireproof safes that are outfitted with electronic locks. Whether you have purchased a home safe, gun safe or a commercial grade security container, the batteries in your lock will eventually wind up dead. Below we have put together our TOP 5 Questions & Answers to help you alleviate the headache of not being able to open your safe when the inevitable happens!

TOP 5 QUESTION OUR READERS ASK US

1) What brand or type of battery should I use in my gun safe?
Comparing rechargeable vs. Alkaline

Electronic gun safes vary from the storage of pistols and handguns to rifles and shotguns. Whether your lock uses biometric fingerprint access or is a digital keypad or electronic lock the type of battery you choose should reflect upon the following:

  • How often you open and close the gun safe
  • Does the safe sit idle for long periods of time with no use

If you access your gun safe on a daily basis you put a different type of ware on your batteries, typcially referred to as “high drainage.”  High drainage means your batteries are low quickly and frequently, if this is the case from repeated opening and closing of your safe you should choose rechargeable batteries. The general rule of thumb is that if you buy batteries more often than once a month you should probably consider rechargeable brands like Duracell or Energizer instead.

2) What are the best batteries for a Sentry Safe?
The manufacturer, SentrySafe recommends the use of Duracell, as do many of the top brand names. These batteries offer great reliability and tremendous value. Fore more information read our previous blog about AA Batteries with your SentrySafe

3) How do I replace my electronic safe batteries?

Every lock is different, just like every safe. To better help you , we’ve written several How-to blog articles for many brands and types of electronic safes HERE

4) My battery is dead in my safe, will it remember the combination?

YES. YES. YES. Both digital and electronic safe locks are designed with internal memory (much like your laptop or notebook computer) to remember the codes and combination.

5) How do I know if my battery is going dead in my safe?

*BEEP*  *BEEP* *BEEP* You can hear it loud and clear, a constant or repeated beeping sound coming from your hidden safe… that means it’s time to change or replace the batteries. Whether your safe uses 9V or AA batteries, safe manufacturers design their safes and electronic locks to beep when the battery needs replaced. A common practice is to replace the batteries every 6 to 12 months regardless if the lock beeps with a low battery warning.

We regularly update our blog with the best tips and tricks for getting the most our of your battery…whether that is Automotive, Cell Phone or laptop batteries, we are your source for Best Battery Tips!

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LaGard Electronic Lock for Safes | FireKing & Schwab Brand

Mar 09
2010

Many business class safes, including the FireKing and Schwab Corp brand (now owned by Sentry Safe) have electronic locks for access control and security. Today we take a look at replacing the batteries on the Keypad Lock for the LaGard Basic 3600 series. These locks are used on many of the media safes and media cabinets, safes that are designed to protect backup computer media such as DLT tapes, LTO tapes and even external hard drives.

Operating the Electronic Lock under Normal Operation

LaGard 3600

LaGard Basic Electronic Lock

1. Type in the 6-digit combination on the keypad.
2. Two beeps means that the combination was enter successfully and the combo was accepted. Three beeps means the combination was not accepted.
3. If you enter four consecutive wrong electronic combiinations you will lockout the keypad for 5 minutes.
4. After the 5 minute lockout of 5 minutes, the  entry of two consecutive wrong combos will start a new 5 minute penalty period.
5. If you enter the 6 digit combination and hear two beeps but the safe or vault door does not unlock, it is time to replace the keypad batteries.

How Do I know when the batteries need replaced? When the batteries in the lock are low the electronic keypad may give the normal two beep signal that the combo is accepted and the safe may be opened, yet the safe will still not open. The reason for this is that weak batteries can still be strong enough to make the beep sound and light the LED, yet are not quite strong enough to pull the solenoid and open the lock on the safe or vault door.

LG 3600

Replacement of 9 Volt batteries

Changing the 9 Volt Batteries on the 3600 Series Electronic Safe Lock

Step 1. Gently place the heel of your hand under the lock keypad.
Step 2. Gently push up until keypad becomes free.
Step 3. Replace the low batteries with quality 9 Volt alkaline batteries.
Step 4. Gently reattach the lock keypad and verify that the lock opens correctly.

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