Buffalo River Cabinet Problems

[JohnfromUK]

I think here we are seeing the consequence of using an 'electronic' product.  Modern electronics are cheap and reliable, but when they do go wrong it is usually a case of 'replace' (in the case of a safe, obviously the electronic lock, not the whole safe!) rather than 'repair'.  Replacement electronic parts can be very expensive because;

• They are 'high margin' items (as spares usually are)
• They often have regular design changes - and aren't always compatible between different ages of product, so a lot have to be stocked
• They are sourced from the far east (often China) where they won't hold spares.  They just produce new products, no guarantee of 'backwards compatibility' - so spares must be held in the UK bought 'up front'.
• Its hard for the UK stockist to know what and how many to put in stock to support a product family for say 15 years - buy plenty - and few get used - and youv'e wasted the money; buy too few - and you can't support the product in the after sales market.
• Due to the potential failure of the electronic lock (fault, flat battery, corroded battery contacts), a 'fallback' key operated lock is often provided, being a weak point.

The reason electronic locks have become popular is that they are easy, cheap, fairly decent security when working.  Good mechanical locks - both key and even more so - combination are expensive.

I spent a good part of my working life calculating and arranging support of professional electronic items, and predicting future spares usage and arranging suitable stocks/continuing supplies to guarantee future repairs spare parts is complex and expensive.  Accountants and Finance departments don't like having cupboards/warehouses full of spares that you may not sell for years (if ever) - and don't like making small production runs (which are disruptive to main product production and expensive) to support old products.  Hence the 'throwaway' society we live in!

Traditionally older cabinets had 2 separate BS and insurance approved 5 lever mortice locks - and these are both repairable and incredibly reliable.  They can also be opened by a skilled locksmith, but are very difficult to pick/force.  The downside is that these are best part of £80 for a pair (Union (was Chubb) 3G114 locks), and I bet the electronic locks are much cheaper than that.

[Mutiny]

I've spoken to the distributors, and mine is the newer style solenoid  (thankfully) so they're sending me one and a circuit board, which I thought was good of them

[lloydi73]

9 minutes ago, Mutiny said:

I've spoken to the distributors, and mine is the newer style solenoid  (thankfully) so they're sending me one and a circuit board, which I thought was good of them

What FOC?

 

lucky you and we’ll done buddy...

[Mutiny]

Yes no charge, glad it's the newer one or I'd just be removing the electrics altogether and using the key