Digital Safes Shown to be Insecure

**dux** · 25-09-2014, 10:57

I read through the SABS certificate that is supplied with the safe, and it appears (to me) that they only check the construction and that the safe complies with the law regarding metal thickness, etc.. No attempt to open it is made.

I followed the supplied link to Makro and that safe is going for R2250 now. I'm pretty sure I didn't pay more than R1K.

Mods don't shoot please: A certain local 4 wheel drive community forum had a similar thread. Can I post a link to it?

**HvR** · 25-09-2014, 11:01

Originally Posted by h0stag3

www.gunsite.co.za/forums/showthread.php?53227-Yale-Handgun-Safe-issue&p=733652#post733652

For the guys who have these. Let's get a whole bunch of us complaining and hopefully something can be done about this.

Think this is your best course of action.

Really pisses me off, this is what gives a lot of electronic products (especially electronic security products) a bad name. If they just use a stepper motor instead of a solenoid this design can work.

**h0stag3** · 25-09-2014, 11:15

Originally Posted by dux

I read through the SABS certificate that is supplied with the safe, and it appears (to me) that they only check the construction and that the safe complies with the law regarding metal thickness, etc.. No attempt to open it is made.

I followed the supplied link to Makro and that safe is going for R2250 now. I'm pretty sure I didn't pay more than R1K.

Mods don't shoot please: A certain local 4 wheel drive community forum had a similar thread. Can I post a link to it?

I think the more we can get with this concern, the harder the manufacturer must listen :-).

These safes were primarily designed for guns and ammunition. Very restricted property IMO. How do you explain to the police that your guns and ammunition are missing and that all that is wrong with the safe is possibly some paint that is off at the top or whatnot...

You WILL have a tough time explaining this I am sure.

Similar to when stuff gets stolen from your car because the signal was jammed. How will you convince them that it was not negligence and that your safe was locked?

**Gleock** · 25-09-2014, 11:21

Originally Posted by dux

haha, here's a couple of pics of the assembled internals.

Locked:

Unlocked:

Mounting this safe under a shelf will not protect you.

If you break the front cover off, you can pull those blue wires through the slot for the ribbon and put a power source on them to energize the solenoid.

**h0stag3** · 25-09-2014, 11:24

Originally Posted by Gleock

Mounting this safe under a shelf will not protect you.

If you break the front cover off, you can pull those blue wires through the slot for the ribbon and put a power source on them to energize the solenoid.

With effort, DIY conduit and glue one could sort this problem out. Good point though!

**lithium** · 25-09-2014, 14:07

The batteries leaked in my Yale electronic handgun safe (same as the one being discussed), and the locksmith that came to open it took about 5 minutes to open it with a hammer and a screwdriver. I subsequently have just kept it as a decoy safe and moved on to other safes.

lithium.

**h0stag3** · 25-09-2014, 14:26

Originally Posted by lithium

The batteries leaked in my Yale electronic handgun safe (same as the one being discussed), and the locksmith that came to open it took about 5 minutes to open it with a hammer and a screwdriver. I subsequently have just kept it as a decoy safe and moved on to other safes.

lithium.

Do you think it was because of this weakness? (5 minutes)

Either way, Yale should be confronted about this.

**Prodigal** · 25-09-2014, 14:50

from the pictures dux gave of the pin/solenoid assembly, it looks to me a stronger spring will overcome the issue, but not too strong the solenoid won't be able to operate it.