Safe Luxury

Design Flaws: Why don't personal electronic (digital) safes have the battery bay located OUTSIDE?

Design Flaws: Why don't personal electronic (digital) safes have the battery bay located OUTSIDE? Have you seen those electronic (digital) safes for personal storage of your valuables? It's a safe with a keypad (number pad) that can unlock when you enter the correct code. A physical metal key also comes with some models, in case you forget your code. HOWEVER, as an owner of one of these safes, I notice that the BATTERY slots are located INSIDE the safe. Not actually a problem, but what happens in the worst scenario when you loose your physical key AND the battery power has been depleted?!?! That means you can't even open the damn thing up to replace the batteries, and you can't enter the correct code because this operation itself requires battery power. An easy solution to this problem is simple: manufacture the battery slots OUTSIDE the safe, somehow integreate it by sinking it on the front side and allow for easy access, much lifting open a petrol tank on your car. Therefore this means you can replace the batteries and not compromise the possiblity that it will be flat, thereby preventing you from typing into the correct numbers. The problem I have is that, yes, the batteries in my safe really do get flat after a few weeks of constantly opening the safe. When it gets flat, I don't even bother replacing it, and prefer to use the conventional key. It seems the traditional way sometimes wins over modern digitized gadgets. [Sigh...] Just fascinated (and frustrated) at how those engineers didn't notice this design flaw - we're only human after all...

Public Comments

1. With the batteries outside, a thief might be able to remove them, and use the terminals to possibly fool the unlock mechanism. Overall, it sounds like a marketing gimmick, the electronic part is totally useless and may as well be removed. .
2. The obvious reason the batteries are inside is to stop somebody stealing the batteries, or connecting a high voltage to blow the electronics and destroy the electronic lock. Any external weakness in the case of a safe is a bad idea. Actually the easy way to steal the contents from these is just steal the whole safe. I bet you could break the average one off the wall it was bolted to in less than a minute.