Mon Mar 12, 2018 11:43 am by madsamurai
That word "theoretical" is the key... if you have a 100 number dial, minimum 5 digit difference between consecutive numbers in combo, and 10-digit forbidden zone on 3rd no., you're actually looking at around 720,000 legit combination possibilities (plus a few hundred or so if the 2nd digit is inside or within 4 digits of the fz... the math gets complicated there). If you take out the minimum 5 digit difference, you can squeak out 900,000 dialable combos, however some of those combinations will actually be somewhat different internally than what is actually being dialed... for example if you dialed 25-25-25, due to the overlap of the flys the second and third number would be pushing the previous number off by a digit or two, and you would actually be dialing something more like 24-27-25. So technically speaking, that 900,000 number is higher than the true number of combos that can be actually achieved internally (closer to 890,000ish I think).
I can only assume UL uses the theoretical number to qualify locks, since it's impossible to get a full million from a mechanical dial with 100 digits and any restrictions. Not positive, as it seems the only way to read the actual text of the UL 768 standard is to pay $500+ for it... am I wrong there?