S&G safe lock damaged by abuse?

[1985jim]

I have a friend who has a safe with a S&G lock that is giving him trouble. The lock will not always open when the combination is dialed. Turns out that for the past several years when he has closed the safe he has given the dial a mighty spin. What is the chance that there is actual damage to the lock? Will a combination change bring it back to working order? Thanks, Jim

[tarboxb]

It is pretty unlikely the lock is actually significantly damaged. It is possible that a drive pin is slightly bent or something which caused the combo to drift slightly. A combo change will almost certainly rectify the problem.

[tarboxb]

He could even reset the "current" combination and it should fix the issue.

[MartinHewitt]

From what I read here the clashing of the pins can damage them, but a "reinitialization" of the combo could indeed help with this problem.

[mastersmith]

I agree with all of the above, unless....the lock is not a key change lock. A key change lock will correct for problems like this (normally) a hand change lock will not. The odds are that being a S&G lock it will be key change, but there is always that slim chance....

[Jaakko Fagerlund]

Will a combination change bring it back to working order? Thanks, Jim

Nope. Someone knowledgeable should look through the locks intenals to see if something is damaged and repair/replace it before it fails in use.

[1985jim]

The lock is a S&G 6741 which is a key change lock.
Thanks, Jim