That was fun

Non-Technical Threads Chatting over the Back Fence
1

About 10 years ago, my wife and I bought a SentrySafe fire safe to keep
stuff in. About 3 weeks ago, I tried to open the safe, and it wouldn’t
open. I’ve run into a situation where I might need some legal
documentation, so the need was somewhat pressing.

I’d been e-mailing, and in the end, I had to call to get help. Today was
the day (they’re only open until 6 PM ET, so I had to take time out).

I talked to a support rep, and went through basic troubleshooting steps.
No dice. So I got escalated to a senior technician (after I got
disconnected and reconnected once at the front-line support). We tried a
few things, and then she suggested whacking the safe with a rubber
mallet. 5 times above the keypad, 5 times to the right of the keypad.

Whap whap whap whap whap

Whap whap whap whap whap

entered the code, aaaand…

Nope.

OK, try 10 times in each location, and a little harder.

Whap whap whap whap whap whap whap whap whap whap

Whap whap whap whap whap whap whap whap whap whap

entered the code…

[click]

Dammed if it didn’t open.

And the document I needed wasn’t in the safe. It was in my wallet.

m-/

But they’re sending me a replacement keypad and solenoid since it sounds
like the one we have is sticking. Apparently it’s a known issue.

It was amusing, though, to be escalated to a “senior technician”, whose
instructions (after reviewing everything we’d already done) were to hit
it with a hammer. This was what I spent about 20 minutes on hold for.

Jim

Jim Henderson, CNA6, CDE, CNI, LPIC-1, CLA10, CLP10
Novell/SUSE/NetIQ Knowledge Partner

2

LOL

–
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3

HAHAHAHAHA!!! That’s hilarious! I’ve been tempted to suggest that as
steps to take when on the phone helping a user…

–
Stevo

4

Jim,

I guess your safe is running Windows. I use rubber mallets to
troubleshoot AD.

JayZ.

5

Thanks Jim! I needed a chuckle today. :slight_smile:

6

LOL! That reminds me of that old anecdote about the company that
couldn’t fix a machine so they called a consultant/engineer. He came
in, hit the machine with a hammer, and handed them a bill for $5,000.
They were outraged and demanded an itemized invoice. Here’s what it
said:

1 - Hitting the machine with a hammer: $10
2 - Knowing where and how hard to hit the machine with a hammer: $4,990

I’ll stick with my tumbler safes. :slight_smile:

–
Kim - 8/20/2013 9:44:05 AM

7

Kgroneman,
[color=blue]

I’ll stick with my tumbler safes. :-)[/color]

circus performer-based security never really caught on in this
country…

–

Shaun Pond

8

On 20/08/2013 16:55, Shaun Pond wrote:[color=blue]

circus performer-based security never really caught on in this
country…[/color]

Oh, I dunno. those white faced clowns are more scary than any guard dog
I ever saw…

9

On 20/08/2013 17:21, Dave Howe wrote:
[color=blue]

white faced clowns[/color]

… and now we’re back to the support reps! :wink:

Simon
Novell Knowledge Partner

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10

On Tue, 20 Aug 2013 16:36:07 +0000, Simon Flood wrote:
[color=blue]

On 20/08/2013 17:21, Dave Howe wrote:
[color=green]

white faced clowns[/color]

… and now we’re back to the support reps! ;-)[/color]

How, Pale face.

11

On Tue, 20 Aug 2013 15:48:13 +0000, kgroneman wrote:
[color=blue]

LOL! That reminds me of that old anecdote about the company that
couldn’t fix a machine so they called a consultant/engineer. He came
in, hit the machine with a hammer, and handed them a bill for $5,000.
They were outraged and demanded an itemized invoice. Here’s what it
said:

1 - Hitting the machine with a hammer: $10 2 - Knowing where and how
hard to hit the machine with a hammer: $4,990

I’ll stick with my tumbler safes. :-)[/color]

While they are replacing the faulty component at no charge, I think I may
well be looking for a totally mechanical safe the next time around.

When I have the instructions for replacing the parts (I get to do that
myself), I’ll see how the mechanism works - who knows, maybe I’ll figure
out how to hotwire the thing and just apply current to the solenoid if it
develops another problem.

But as a “fire safe”, I’m a little surprised that the keypad is plastic.
That seems like a recipe for it not opening after a fire. Seems that
electronic backups stored offsite might be called for. :slight_smile:

Jim

–
Jim Henderson, CNA6, CDE, CNI, LPIC-1, CLA10, CLP10
Novell/SUSE/NetIQ Knowledge Partner

12

On 20/08/2013 17:36, Simon Flood wrote:[color=blue]

On 20/08/2013 17:21, Dave Howe wrote:
[color=green]

white faced clowns[/color]

… and now we’re back to the support reps! ;-)[/color]

no, they are red-faced clowns. Easy mistake to make though :slight_smile:

13

Ah - the good old “when all else fails hit it” trick.

“Jim Henderson” wrote in message
news:%OxQt.1930$4h.227@kozak.provo.novell.com…

About 10 years ago, my wife and I bought a SentrySafe fire safe to keep
stuff in. About 3 weeks ago, I tried to open the safe, and it wouldn’t
open. I’ve run into a situation where I might need some legal
documentation, so the need was somewhat pressing.

I’d been e-mailing, and in the end, I had to call to get help. Today was
the day (they’re only open until 6 PM ET, so I had to take time out).

I talked to a support rep, and went through basic troubleshooting steps.
No dice. So I got escalated to a senior technician (after I got
disconnected and reconnected once at the front-line support). We tried a
few things, and then she suggested whacking the safe with a rubber
mallet. 5 times above the keypad, 5 times to the right of the keypad.

Whap whap whap whap whap

Whap whap whap whap whap

entered the code, aaaand…

Nope.

OK, try 10 times in each location, and a little harder.

Whap whap whap whap whap whap whap whap whap whap

Whap whap whap whap whap whap whap whap whap whap

entered the code…

[click]

Dammed if it didn’t open.

And the document I needed wasn’t in the safe. It was in my wallet.

m-/

But they’re sending me a replacement keypad and solenoid since it sounds
like the one we have is sticking. Apparently it’s a known issue.

It was amusing, though, to be escalated to a “senior technician”, whose
instructions (after reviewing everything we’d already done) were to hit
it with a hammer. This was what I spent about 20 minutes on hold for.

Jim

Jim Henderson, CNA6, CDE, CNI, LPIC-1, CLA10, CLP10
Novell/SUSE/NetIQ Knowledge Partner

14

Arthur,

also known as “percussive maintenance”

–

Shaun Pond

15

persussive maintenance, I thought that was only for sewing machine
technicians

(friend of mine is a sewing machine tech and he’s the only guy who has
ever said that)

let’s not also forget the ‘calibrated tap’ :slight_smile:

–
gleach1

gleach1’s Profile: https://forums.novell.com/member.php?userid=934
View this thread: https://forums.novell.com/showthread.php?t=469052

16

Gleach1,
[color=blue]

I thought that was only for sewing machine
technicians[/color]

well-known amongst TV repairers, especially back in the days of
valves…

–

Shaun Pond

17

On Fri, 23 Aug 2013 03:56:01 +0000, gleach1 wrote:
[color=blue]

persussive maintenance, I thought that was only for sewing machine
technicians

(friend of mine is a sewing machine tech and he’s the only guy who has
ever said that)

let’s not also forget the ‘calibrated tap’ :)[/color]

I got the replacement keypad and solenoid yesterday, and installed both.
The funny thing was that in order to keep the door from closing (and
potentially locking again - there’s a mechanical switch that allows it to
do that even with the battery disconnected), I locked it with the door
open.

When I went to do replace the components, the door wouldn’t unlock
again. Fortunately, I still had my hammer handy. :wink:

Jim

–
Jim Henderson, CNA6, CDE, CNI, LPIC-1, CLA10, CLP10
Novell/SUSE/NetIQ Knowledge Partner