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Hi,

I am helping my parents-in-law fix their villa up in Torrox Costa so that they can rent it out as a holiday home.

My mother-in-law told me that I needed to properly screw a piece of furniture to the wall where a safe was hidden. I took a look at the safe and gave the dial a twist as a curious person like myself does! The father-in-law then walks in and says “I only use the key with that safe - you didn’t touch the dial did you?”

Anyhow I have basically locked him out of his safe that he doesn’t have the combination for!

Any advice would be appreciated!

Th brand of the safe is Fecor.

Kind regards

This is quite normal. It happens to thousands of safes every year.

If you want to have it open there are obviously two ways. You can either do it yourself or get someone else to do it, just like with the installation of a new toilet bowl.

I thought you were from US, like most people here, but it seems you are from Spain. In the US they have SAVTA, the organization of safe technicians. For a tech in near you have to do a web search. I expect the safe tech (even if you find a specialized one and not just a basic locksmith) will drill. Very few will open such locks without damage. If the tech is good, than he will drill one 6mm hole. If he is not that good then two holes and perhaps 8mm. I would not accept anything more damaging.

If you choose the path of opening it yourself you can also try with drilling, but I won't help you with that. I hate doing damage to perfectly good safes. If you want to do it without damage it takes more time, persistence, some manual dexterity and some brains, but I and probably also others here will help you. First step is to find out, how the lock works. The easiest is if you would find an open safe with that same lock.

Have you tried reversing the exact number and directions of spins? Slim chance, but maybe you were stopped before you moved all wheels off their gates. Turn the key, applying light pressure, while turning the dial back to where it was.

Looks like it is probalby a direct-gate lock.
If you turned the dial less than a full turn, there is a chance that only the last wheel has moved. In that case, turn the key and turn the dial in the opposite direction than before. It may hit the gate and open.
If you find that at some point the key moves a bit further, you have the gate on the last wheel. If the safe doesn't open at that point, the other wheels were also moved.

It might also be a false gate and so you should continue until you have one full turn.

True. I have only had one of these with false gates, so i didn't think about that.

Thanks for the interesting insights guys.

I am actually visiting the in-laws holiday place in now locked down Spain to help them with some property renovations. I am trying to escape back to New Zealand on Wednesday! If I get out I shall be back with my own family at some point in the future and have another crack at the safe. My father-in-law is threatening to get it cut open which I think I have convinced him to hold back on!

Currently the key allows me to turn it a quarter. When I apply pressure on the key in that position and turn the dial it makes a clunk and the dial will not move between 35-40 position. If I release pressure the dial can be turned freely.

Thanks
Adam

Once you get here you're going to need to "self isolate" for a fortnight mate. Jacinda says so. Stock up on books and a few locks to pick and you'll be fine...

I think now is a perfectly good time to socialize with a safe.

I did eventually make it back to New Zealand and will be done with my 2 weeks self-isolation in 2 more days - although we have a stay at home lockdown of at least 3 more weeks.

I have been trying research this safe and can't find anything on the web on this brand - Fecor. I have even googled the spanish word for combination safe (combinación segura) in case it is a spanish brand and changed my search settings to spain but absolutely no reference to such a brand. Anyone else heard of it?

I will get back to Spain one day and will have another crack at it then!

"fecor caja fuerte" gives some hit. Here is someone selling the same safe model: https://es.wallapop.com/item/caja-fuert ... -458648973
But there is nothing really helpful, unless you can have a look at the lock of that safe, which is on sale.