Chubb Safes – Anatomy of a Burglar Proof Security and Fire Safe That Keeps Villains Out
Anatomy of a Burglar Proof Security and Fire Safe that Keeps Villains and Fire Out
1. Metal Technology – The thick outer armour of modern Chubb safes is made of blowpipe and drill-resisting manganese steel, previously only available on the strongest and most expensive four-ton plus, treasury safes. A pure fire safe will compromise on the strength of steel and core filling. On burglar proof safes, the thick manganese steel takes forever to drill through even with the most powerful modern blowpipe torches and diamond-drill cutting equipment. And the armour doesn’t stop there. Inner casings comprise hardened Siemens steel plate. Deep flanged corners are electrically welded and beautifully rounded into a solid unit while the back is set in flush. What looks like old technology is far from old.
2. The Sandwich Filling – essentially, modern branded Chubb safes are a sandwich. Between the steel is a filling of special high density and virtually impregnable reinforced concrete, as if the outer steel wasn’t enough. The concrete contains insulating and reinforcing additives to protect against the hottest fire and defy the toughest, most high-powered drills and diamond blades. It also adds to the weight of the safe – a big deterrent to removing the safe for cracking off-site. A burglar proof security safe is not an outright fire safe but will still offer 90 minutes protection of paper documents against destruction from fire.
3. Lock Options– Lock mechanisms on maximum security Chubb safes and fire safes can vary. Options available with the Chubb range vary from conventional keys to combination lock, dynamo powered digital lock or a time-delay-lock. With time-locks, the safe only opens when a pre-set time has been reached, even if the correct combination is known. Mounted on the inside of the safe door, time-locks were originally developed to prevent staff being kidnapped or tortured to get the combination code. Time-locks also prevent entry by staff at unauthorized times and have a lot of built-in functionality such as multiple different codes (as in an electronic lock), owner-set time delays, pre-set vacation dates and multi-code facility. They will even provide a full audit-trail with detailed record of the lock history showing when the lock was opened, who opened it and for how long it was opened. The memory feature retains data even if the batteries run down and new batteries are installed.
4. Service – So, “what can go wrong with a Chubb safe?” Very little, so why is service important? Well, a variety of different user situations could arise. You might lose your key, forget your combination or the safe could be disfigured after an attempted robbery or fire. Safes may have to be moved from time to time due to renovations, be upgraded or traded in. Safe service specialists are therefore essential in case any of these situations need to be addressed.
