Diebold 177 woes

[Mikeh727]

It looks like your spindle is too short. Does the spindle come right up to the top edge of the drive cam like it does in my picture? It doesn't appear that it does. I would guess that with a short spindle, the spline key can disengage and allow the dial to spin freely without moving the drive cam, which will cause the dial to tighten up.

You might be able to fix this by changing your spline key so that the flag is over the spindle instead of riding on the drive cam so that you can push it in a little further, but you have to be sure that it stays friction fit into the spindle but still engages the notch in the drive cam. This way you'll have just a little bit more of the spline key engaged in the spindle. That would be okay for manipulation but I wouldn't install it on anything else that way, and I'm not sure it will do the trick but might be worth trying. Don't go to deep either...you need to be able to get it back out so proceed with caution!

-Mike

[nsquidc]

Yeah, I think that's the problem. The spindle came cut to this length so not much I can do about that.

I contacted the seller and asked him about it. He acknowledged this was a problem with the lock and recommended I put some spacing washers between the dial and the ring. I'll give that a whirl to see how it works I guess.

[Mikeh727]

I contacted the seller and asked him about it. He acknowledged this was a problem with the lock and recommended I put some spacing washers between the dial and the ring. I'll give that a whirl to see how it works I guess.

All that's going to do is pull the spindle deeper into the lock and further away from where it should be. I don't think that will solve the problem. You may have to find a new dial and spindle.

-Mike

[nsquidc]

Yeah, I have my doubts, but it's worth a shot. Caveat emptor

[Riyame]

If the spindle is indeed too short then ask him to replace it. That one looks like it was cut off with a hacksaw. These were all mounted to 1/2" steel doors so there should be plenty of spindle there unless somebody mucked with that particular one.

[nsquidc]

Tried the spacer washers. It works in the sense that the dial doesn't lock up entirely, but now the dial tightens to almost no movement, then finally has a huge slip as the washers slip against each other. Ugh. I contacted the seller to see about swapping dials. We'll see what happens. Kind of a bum way to start learning about combination locks.

Oh, I should mention that this seller is different than the one you posted about. Didn't want people to get scared off if they were reading this post.

[Oldfast]

nsquidc,

If it isn't too much trouble.... could post a pic of the front?

Also, take a measurement of the spindle (only the threaded portion).

[nsquidc]

Spindle is 1.06 inches long, mounted on a 0.5 inch plexiglass sheet. When I got it, the dial interior was caked with old and hardened grease. My theory is that this problem occurred before, the past owners kept slabbing on grease to try to get the dial to turn, and finally called to get the lock replaced.

Sorry for the poor image orientation, snapped these on the fly:

[Oldfast]

Hmmm. Sorry, I was going to make some comparisons on one I have.
Or maybe offer a trade for one that has a longer spindle....but I see now,
yours is different. I unfortunately don't have a dial/dial ring of that type :/

Maybe now, with pictures and measurements, someone will have some thoughts.
I hate to say it (because I KNOW how much time is invested in mounting), but your
only other option might be to find a thinner material to mount it on. Ideally, you want
the end of the spindle flush or just beyond the drive cam (just like Mike pictured in his).

If the spindle is too long, it's easy enough to cut to length. Too short.... and you have limited options.

I'm still a little surprised though that it's freely threading on and off like that.
Looking at your photo, even though you're quite short, it seems like the key
should still be grabbing at least a little.

EDIT: Don't get too discouraged though... you have no idea what I went through to mount my first dial. lol

[nsquidc]

I'm pretty sure the key does grab. When installed, the dial does not thread off, but it does tighten on. Heck, if it's just the dial on the dial ring (sans lock), spinning CW screws the dial onto the dial ring. Funky design.

The seller has offered to possibly send a new dial. We'll see how this plays out, but at least some light at the end of the tunnel.

[Oldfast]

....I'm pretty sure the key does grab. When installed, the dial does not thread off, but it does tighten on....

Hmmm. *scratches his head* And the plot thickens

[nsquidc]

The moral of the story: "Beware of buying any lock with lots of previous grease. Chances are, it was there for a reason."

[Riyame]

Yea, I would try using a 3/8 mount instead of a 1/2" one.

[Mikeh727]

The moral of the story: "Beware of buying any lock with lots of previous grease. Chances are, it was there for a reason."

Yeah, but you still might be able to use this dial.

I have the same dial on my 177-23 and frankly I love it. This is the smoothest spinning lock that I have, to the point where you can't feel the wheels pick up. I made a video a while ago to demonstrate that it had to be mounted with a little slop in order to avoid the type of grinding that you describe;





I think this is probably the best way to mount these because I couldn't find a way to mount it any tighter and not have the dial grind in the dial ring. And it really isn't that much slop, but it's more than with other locks that I've mounted.

Now, I measured my spindle today, and it is 1 3/8 inches long, so essentially 3/8 of an inch longer than yours. I have mine mounted on 1/2 inch plywood and there is no way I could go any thicker. That means that your mounting material needs to be at least 3/8 of an inch thinner than what it is. Basically you need to find something 1/8 of an inch or thinner.

I have an idea that might work if you have access to a few tools. Keep in mind that I have NOT made this type of mount, but I got to thinking about your problem and how you could overcome the short spindle. If you're interested, I can try to put it to paper and send it to you.

The easiest would be to just get a new dial and spindle if you can.

-Mike

[nsquidc]

So you were the one who posted that video

Contacted the seller and he is sending a new dial / spindle. Overall, he communicates very well and seems genuinely interested in providing good service.