Tech Talk: Brian
Who better to ask about locks than the knowledgeable technicians who work on them every day? This month, we’re featuring Brian. He has 21 years of industry experience, starting as a technician and working his way up to General Manager. He’s a registered safe technician and certified to work on LKM and X-series locks.
Q: What is your favorite type of lock to repair/replace? Why?
A: I always enjoyed installing safe locks. Safe lock installations generally aren’t too exciting but getting into the safe is always the fun part. Everything you see through the scope is backwards, which makes you exercise your brain to flip those images around to understand what you are up against in the failed lock. We once found a method to gain entry to safe without drilling, modifying or damaging the safe in any way. It really makes you think.
Q: What advice would you give about home locks and why?
A: If you want to add an electronic lock to your door, I always recommend replacing the deadbolt with an electronic deadbolt and leave the bottom lock either as a passage lock or a keyed/mechanical lockset. Some people will replace the lever or knob with an electronic version but when you are making trips in and out of the house for groceries or yard work, it may require you to enter the code every time which can be frustrating and wear down the batteries. Also, upgrade your mechanical safe lock to an electronic version to allow you the ease of changing your combination 24/7/365.
Q: What is the most memorable job you’ve completed?
A: My most memorable jobs was my very first safe opening. After months of coming in early to train on opening locked out safes, I finally was able to go on my first scheduled safe job in 2002. We arrived at a federal law enforcement office and I went down the standard checklist on what to do before drilling. I did my dialing diagnostics to ensure the safe lock was functional and I opened the safe right up on the factory-set combination because it was never changed by the end user. For a second, I was disappointed but then I felt rewarded for the countless hours spent training that allowed us to open the safe in less than 15 minutes. This saved the client a lot of time, frustration and money. It also instilled confidence and trust in our team with the client.