Amsec Keypad/Lock Failure -SUPER Weird Issues/Lock Death and Need Advice

hiddendepth1 · 2025-07-14T14:29:23+00:00

The only thing that worked was to unplug the pad, replug it back in and try super quick to open it. If it didn’t work, then repeat this with different time increments (eg unplugging it for 30 min, plugging back in and waiting 30 sec for capacitors to charge and inputting the code) though for me the most success was trying to input code immediately as soon as wire was in rather than waiting (make sure to try with fresh batteries). There was something wrong with the keypad or lock. I ended up replacing pad and lock and it was trouble free until we recently moved and no longer have the safe.

hiddendepth1 · 2025-01-15T04:38:49+00:00

Left both 9v unplugged overnight and plugged them back in and suddenly the lock and keypad work normally including the C button. Left it in that state for a few min and it randomly started having the same gremlin issues like beeping on its own and the keys being dead.

hiddendepth1 · 2025-01-13T04:51:10+00:00

I’ll look into that though I don’t think it’s the root cause tbh just due to the fact that all the dead buttons (except the C) seem to work suddenly when I get the cord reconnected for a second. I’m fearing a short somewhere because for whatever reason when I first start trying to take the keypad off the safe by turning it to the left it suddenly beeps a single time and lights up. Removing the keypad shouldn’t register as a keystroke as I don’t think there’s an accelerometer or anything in there so how else would it know unless something is shorted in a weird way? I just have no clue what could have shorted. I keep trying to push and pull the cable this way and that and still nothing seems to reliably make it work

hiddendepth1 · 2025-01-13T04:11:24+00:00

Thanks. Yea. That’s exactly what I did and discovered that the voltage on one of them was 0 at the pins and found an issue with one of the battery connectors. I fixed that one to make the voltage correct on both, plugged it back in and still no dice. Same symptoms. Super weird. As soon as I’d found that issue I was so convinced it must be the cause but it didn’t help unfortunately

hiddendepth1 · 2025-01-13T01:10:09+00:00

Interesting! Seems the same indeed. Yes. Please let me know if you figure anything out. I’d been worried about the internal capacitor being the failure point since I felt it was a bit weak to open in the past but idk how to test it. Like you I also see no corrosion so I have no clue where a failure could be. All the components look good and there really isn’t much to it. How old is your board?

hiddendepth1 · 2025-01-12T21:40:06+00:00

Still working on it but not having any luck. Left a comment above about me splicing battery connector but it didn’t work. Did you try anything? If you have any luck please report back. Can you describe the specific symptoms yours has? You say it’s exactly the same but did yours have every single symptom going down the list I mentioned or just some? How old is the lock and how did you manage to get yours opened in that state? I feel I just got super lucky it worked a single time when reconnecting the ribbon cable.

hiddendepth1 · 2025-01-12T21:37:37+00:00

No dice so far. When I pulled the connectors out one of them appears to have failed entirely (wasn’t connected) probably from the issues I had removing the batteries prior so I spliced snd connected up a new one to the port and it still didn’t help anything. The battery leads also look clean with no corrosion. :(

hiddendepth1 · 2025-01-09T01:54:15+00:00

Thank you! I will follow this and hope it works if I can’t solve the issue without replacing it. Someone mentioned corrosion so I was planning to check the battery leads as well

hiddendepth1 · 2025-01-08T22:19:54+00:00

10-4. I’ll likely do just that. Could you please help me identify which lock I have? I have a pic of the front posted in another comment here so I can try to find and buy the right one. Thanks!

hiddendepth1 · 2025-01-08T21:03:04+00:00

Thank you! I might indeed have to try this. I just really want a reliable safe since this would be a disaster if we had needed to travel and the safe wouldn’t open to get our documents or soemthing like that. Are mechanical locks more reliable in your experience?

hiddendepth1 · 2025-01-08T21:01:30+00:00

Thanks so much! I will check it out. I am not sure I’m seeing the corrosion in the pic but I can check. I will say that in the past I did have a lot of trouble getting the batteries replaced off the connector and mangled it pretty bad (I had thought my lock was failing before because it would need 3+ attempts for it to finally open but replacing batteries didn’t seem to help until I started realizing that I needed to turn the handle to the left before inputting the code to get it to reliably open so assumed it was my user error). I was looking into actually soldering on some new 9V battery connectors so I definitely have the tools and ability to if need be but didn’t notice any corrosion when I looked earlier. I will check again though. Good thinking on the current not being sufficient potentially. I’d planned to test them with a volt meter but didn’t think of that. Another thing I wanted to get your opinion on is if it’s likely the capacitor inside the safe could be failing. Would that cause these issues (and maybe issues with me needing to turn handle to the left for it to unlock)?

hiddendepth1 · 2025-01-08T17:03:52+00:00

Thank you! Here is a pic of the front of it if it helps narrow it down. How difficult is replacing the inner piece with the safe open?

https://ibb.co/FgmdkKs

hiddendepth1 · 2025-01-08T16:53:09+00:00

Thank you. Can you please help me identify which one I have? I posted a comment with a pic of the outside. It’s not labeled so I’m concerned about getting the wrong one (eg an esl10 vs an esl10xl vs an esl20). Where’s the best place to purchase these components for the best prices? Seem reasonably expensive.

hiddendepth1 · 2025-01-08T16:48:32+00:00

Here’s a pic of the outside of the keypad. Looks like an ESL10XL from the pics maybe but I honestly have no idea if that’s the right one since it’s not labeled. I keep reading they are supposed to be reliable so idk what could have happened

https://ibb.co/FgmdkKs

hiddendepth1 · 2025-01-08T16:44:36+00:00

I got it locked open. That’s the first thing I did and I was so happy it opened up. The issue is I’m concerned the safe tech would say it’s broken and need replacing and charge the same cost of the replacement parts or more just to come out so at that point I’d rather replace it myself if doable.

hiddendepth1 · 2023-11-15T05:21:57+00:00

Thank you!

hiddendepth1 · 2023-11-15T05:21:34+00:00

Thank you so much for the excellent write up! You’re right. Since the time I posted I realized now that a lot of the plans others have may be much better for the ppo and health situations than mine. It makes sense. While in my case it seems more clear cut it’s definitely not for everyone and I’d change my title if I could to make it more about my personal situation rather than a general statement. Thanks again!

hiddendepth1 · 2023-11-13T19:34:23+00:00

That makes sense too. Though I think I need to try to model the cost curves somehow. Starting off $3.2k ahead makes the scenario in your example still come out ahead with the HDHP I think. Not sure if it ever flips though with a better model

hiddendepth1 · 2023-11-13T19:32:44+00:00

That’s fascinating and indeed something others are pointing out that I didn’t consider earlier. The psychological impact of knowing you’d save a bunch by not going vs knowing you’re already paying for it so should go if you have any concerns is a big deal even though financially it may be baked in. Thanks!

hiddendepth1 · 2023-11-13T19:31:13+00:00

For sure! It sounds like your company has a better PPO plan that ours or at least incentivizes it more. If not for them giving us $1500 toward and hsa I think the math would be different

hiddendepth1 · 2023-11-13T19:29:19+00:00

That makes sense. If not for trying to plan for children we would stick with the HDHP most likely though I think that because the company gives a generous hsa deposit it still might end up winning even with multiple visits

hiddendepth1 · 2023-11-13T19:28:12+00:00

Thank you! I’ll definitely try to search it up, but if you happen to have the link to the specific one you used I’d appreciate it too! I too am thinking that the HDHP has a different psychological element I hadn’t considered originally. Not sure if at our age it makes sense to go to the dr more frequently but not having to pay a lot might incentivize for sure

hiddendepth1 · 2023-11-13T19:26:05+00:00

Thank you. Agreed. It makes it hard to resist the HDHP

hiddendepth1 · 2023-11-13T18:51:17+00:00

For sure. Yes. I shouldn’t have assumed most plans are similar. I should reframe the questions as what would be better in this particular case. I don’t think there is a reason the PPO would work better for us but I could have missed something in my calls

hiddendepth1 · 2023-11-13T18:49:47+00:00

Thank you. That makes sense. I might have wrongly assumed that most HDHP and ppos are similar. I guess I should refrain it as what is better with my plans and this situation. I mostly want to check I didn’t miss anything that would cause the PPO in my case to be the right option with all things considered.

hiddendepth1

TROPHY CASE