I realize I'm too late with this response but it might help others.
1. There are now rekeyable disc type locks. That way the locks can be saved even if a key to the keyed alike models gets lost or stolen. Of course they are more expensive from the get go but could be cheaper in the long run, right?
2. Why have 80 keyed alike? To me there needs to be priorities. For example: We used disc type locks, always with
lock guards, on almost all items. The ones on vac clean out
doors were low security and they were all keyed one way.
Any
lock, the removal of which would allow the person to get small amounts of money (vendor) was clearly a notch up in importance and so they were keyed alike but differently from the ones on vac clean out
doors.
Locks allowing entry to the equipment room and/or the extra security locks on my bill
changers were the very high security/rekeyable type. To risk 80 locks all at once seems unusually risky.
3. I did the original article exposing the Abus discs as having very few keyed alike different locks. If memory serves there were about a dozen different keys. I caught on to this when I saw a man with a bunch of those keys. I went to a locksmith I knew and he confirmed my suspicion. After hours of calls and research the article ran front page (though years ago) in a car wash journal.
High security and rekeyable locks followed. I was able to get a partial refund on some recently purchased ones. I was also able to sell some of the older ones but warned the buyers of the potential risks.
4. In a later piece I exposed the inherent flaws in the so called plug type locks from Medco. Thought to be 100% secure they proved to be anything but and major additional protection was (is) needed for these locks on vaults.
To sum up:
lock security is a critical concern. The crooks are constantly experimenting and the need to keep one step ahead in paramount.
Patrick H. Crowe
