Brumberger safe needs fixing?

[Dave Martiny]

I have an opportunity to purchase a 5 drawer 8x10 Brumberger paper safe on Craigslist. Though the rolltop will fully articulate, the seller confirms that it hangs up in the full open position and once again half-way down. Otherwise from the photos, it appears to be in good shape.

Before I drive 35 miles to check it out myself, does anyone know what my chances are of tinkering with it to get it to work correctly?

Thanks!

Dave

 

[Ronald Moravec]

Nothing worse than flipping on the lights and seeing the paper safe still open. Mine is 11x14 Bromberger. I have learned to be very careful

 

[Barry S]

I've got one and thought they were supposed to stay open when the door is fully opened--in order to select your paper. Maybe that's not right, but i like it that way. Mine also occasionally hangs up when closing, but it's not a big issue--I just make sure it's fully closed. They're great paper safes--just go get it. I'm sure you can clean/lube it so it works perfectly.

 

[Dan Williams]

I agree with Barry. I bought mine used several years ago and really like it. One time, when I first got it, it hung up and I lost a small amount of RC paper. I consider that an inexpensive lesson learned. Since then, I have always been careful tomake sure it is fully closed.

Dan

 

[snapshot2000]

I have had several of these that hung up a bit. I just cleaned the tracks and lubricated them with some WD-40 on a paper towel. They worked just fine after that. That should take care of any sticking, unless the door has been dented or banged up.

Dan

 

[Dave Martiny]

Thanks to all for the replies.

I did purchase the safe, it's an 8x10, and is in very good condition, no dents, good finish, etc. It stays open at the top, needs just a bit of encouragement again about half way down, and then closes on its own from there. I tried coaxing a little fine grease with a toothpick into where the sides of the roll top panels disappear into the track, and that may have helped some, but not a lot.

I think the answer would be to turn the safe upside down with the rolltop open, and then spray or drop some kind of liquid oil right into the track, so that it gets up into the radius between the top of the safe and the front where the rolltop has to turn the corner. I hesitate to do this, however, for concern that the lubricant might somehow migrate and contaminate the paper.

It's not really such a problem to just close it each time, and I'm already quite into the habit of doing that with my paper boxes up till now. I'll try it for a while and see if it bugs me to the point where I'm bold enough to squirt oil into it.

 

[snapshot2000]

Dave,

Something else that should work would be to simply stick a weighty bar magnet on the last slat of the door (at the bottom) to help pull it closed.

It is possible that the side rails of the door itself are gummy -- you could also find a way to stick a sponge with cleaner in the track while you run the door up and down about a dozen times.

Dan