Rusting Medeco plug lock housings

[OurTown]

How long do these typically last in the self serve bays for you guys? These were new and have been in service since October 20, 2024. Pretty sad in my opinion. They have been replaced by new ones today from Medeco under warranty. They told me they do not make stainless versions.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Since My round Vault Doors were mostly brown rust colored and I had a Hockey puck lock on top of these they seemed to match perfectly. They were decades old and no functional issues but I would shoot some WD40 in them monthly.

 

[Overachiever]

I've never replaced them unless forced to, like due to vandalism. In that case it was a major pain in the ass cuz the nut that holds it to the housing couldn't spin due to all the rust on the threads and something I thought would take me 2 minutes took much much longer, I had to bust the nut off. WD-40/PB blaster has been able to get me by otherwise.

But yea, this is a pain point I feel like I shouldn't have to deal with. Same with my rusty safe heads, I probably should have bought the stainless versions but instead I'm occasionally grinding rust off of them.

 

[Rudy]

Like you, I wish I had paid extra for the stainless safe heads.

On the same subject, I wished I had purchased the stainless version of my security cage for my vending machine. The steel one lasted 15 years before completely rotting. The new cage is stainless....but oh how I wished I'd spent the extra bucks 15 years ago. Pay once, and be done with it......

 

[I.B. Washincars]

FWIW, I had the Ra-Lock hockey puck kit on my machines. In their kit, that part is stainless. It has the tab for the lock on it, but maybe you should contact them and see if the have it without the tab.

 

[Randy]

That look a lot older than a year old. I don't think Medeco lock housing on my coin vault heads look that bad. It looks like the plating process failed at some point. I some years ago that were made brass and then plated.

 

[Blanco]

How long do these typically last in the self serve bays for you guys? These were new and have been in service since October 20, 2024. Pretty sad in my opinion. They have been replaced by new ones today from Medeco under warranty. They told me they do not make stainless versions.

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On the Hamiltnon HTK's and Commanders there is clear shield that covers them and spins out the way when needed. You could get some of those from Hamilton and put on your meter boxes to help with them lasting longer and also won't let water freeze in them in winter. .

 

[Randy]

I wonder if you could clean those housing up, sandblast them and have them re-chromed? Have you ever looked at LAI locks

https://www.laigroup.com/pdf/600-camlocks-pluglocks.pdf

 

[Randy]

On the Hamiltnon HTK's and Commanders there is clear shield that covers them and spins out the way when needed. You could get some of those from Hamilton and put on your meter boxes to help with them lasting longer and also won't let water freeze in them in winter. .

That little slide cover costs $9.03 each.

 

[Blanco]

That little slide cover costs $9.03 each.

Does not surprise me at all. It does work great though. I looked at a 6 year old paystation today after remembering our towns post and the housing/plug lock had no rust at all. Yes the self serve bay probably gets hit with a lot more water but the entrance wheel blasters I have and overspray from touchless do a pretty good job of hitting that pay station.

 

[OurTown]

I wonder if you could clean those housing up, sandblast them and have them re-chromed? Have you ever looked at LAI locks

https://www.laigroup.com/pdf/600-camlocks-pluglocks.pdf

I looked there and they appear to only have the chrome plated steel housings.

 

[David Rolf]

Having spent years in aerospace, I would look into electroless nickel plating with passivation. It will far outlast any plating. I have located a company near you that you may want to look into.

Electroless Nickel Plating | Nickel Plating | TM133 | Industrial Coatings

Techmetals' TM133 Electroless Nickel (EN) with Boron has low internal stress. This coating is uniform and has excellent wear resistance.

techmetals.com

 

[OurTown]

Having spent years in aerospace, I would look into electroless nickel plating with passivation. It will far outlast any plating. I have located a company near you that you may want to look into.

Electroless Nickel Plating | Nickel Plating | TM133 | Industrial Coatings

Techmetals' TM133 Electroless Nickel (EN) with Boron has low internal stress. This coating is uniform and has excellent wear resistance.

techmetals.com

When I was in the tool trade we used to use that company for hard chrome plating. I have a couple of bolt carrier groups, a normal sized one and a large sized one (if you know, you know) with nickel boron plating and they feel really slick.

 

[OurTown]

After looking at the original ones laying around that I took out over a year ago, I threw them away. Didn't even cross my mind that I could've had them replated.