Customer Reviews

Master Lock 1500iD Speed Dial Combination Lock, Assorted Colors

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(64)

 

 

I was concerned about all the poor reviews complaining about not being able to open the lock and messing up when you set the combination causing a lock that can't be opened.

What I find is you need to understand this lock to use it well.

Pressing on the shank resets the combination unlike normal master locks which are reset by turning several times. So if you hold the lock wrong while entering the combination you will be reseting it as you enter the combo and clearly it will not open.

Secondly, you need to be deliberate when entering the combination especially when setting a new combination. A little care will prevent you from miss entering the combo. If you realize you might have messed up while setting your own combination, reset it before relocking it and do it more carefully. You want to hold the button firmly and move the button in the direction and back to center. Don't just let it spring back to the center because sometimes it will spring back so hard it goes the other way registering another move. If you hold the button firmly as you enter the combo you will find you get much better accuracy. I can open my lock 100% of the time if I do this. When I first got the lock I thought everyone was right, I could only open it once in several tries. I was using my thumb to move the lock in the direction and letting it spring back. Now that I grab onto the button and move it in the direction and back I have no issues. I like to hold the lock in my left hand making sure I don't reset it by pressing up on the shank. Then I used a firm grip on the button with my right hand to open the lock.

One thing I like about this lock is you don't have to look at it while entering the combo. So it's easy to look around an make sure nobody is watching you enter the combo. You can also shield the lock with your hand as you enter since you don't need to see the lock yourself.

The fact that this lock can't be shimmed open is also very nice.

The only reason I don't give this lock 5 stars is I would prefer to see a more solid construction. I have read that the gears inside are plastic and the lock seems like it might be weak so perhaps easily snapped. I would be willing to pay double for a more rugged version of this lock. Another reason is I would prefer if they used individual buttons rather then a single button. 4 simple buttons for left, right, up and down would be very nice. This would prevent the issues with the toggle button springing back making it much more accurate to enter the combination.

The Speed Dial is a very unique and looks amazing. Unfortunately, as others have complained, the lock works when it wants to work. I think I know why. When entering just 4 combination codes that do not repeat, the lock works like a charm. For Example if the code was up,down,left,right then the code works. But I did not want a short combination. When I first saw this product the code that automatically came to mind was the first 8 combinations of the famous Konami video game code which is up,up,down,down,left,right,left,right.(Look up Konami Code if you want to see websites where the code works)
The code worked like a charm the first time but I wanted to make sure so I clamped down twice and inputted the code again. The combo didnt work. It took me 4 tries until I got it to open. It did this repeated for 5 mins. Just in case I reset the code back to the original code that came with it, unlocked it, then I relocked it and finally I inputted my custom code. I did this resetting several times. Finally I decided to shorten the code to just Up,UP,Down,Down,Right. Again I met with the same problems but I noticed that whenever I did repeated motions in the same direction it would sometimes not finish correctly.So I changed to the code to the simple Up,Down,Left,Right,Up,down,left,right combination. 5 times out of 10 the lock worked.(That was an improvement by the way). I then changed the left to up,down,left,right. Once I did that I noticed that 9 times out of ten the code worked. I didnt want to have that short of a code because someone would eventually get it if they just played around so I finally changed it to up,down,right,right,left. My code still does the double motion so sometimes it gets stuck but its complex enough that I can use it at the gym. So bascially remember two things: Keep the code short and try to avoid too many double motion combinations Ex. Right Right Left Left

I had the problem that several reviewers had - after setting the new combo, the lock failed to open. I did some research and discovered that if you miss a step in the combo reset, all you end up doing is adding the default combo and your newly created combo in one long string. Try running through the entire series and see if it works for you, I was able to open the lock and avoid returning a second lock.

This is a great lock. It combines the convenience of a keyless lock, the security of an impossible to guess combination and a very easy way to enter the code into the lock. I have used mine for months, with excellent results. Once you have used it, you would not want any other kind of lock. Congratulations Master!

I'VE CRACKED THE CODE! All you have to do is mash it while you're doing the code!
(more concise instructions after "So:" below!)


So, I just bought this lock for use in hostels in an international trip I'm leaving for in two days. Two things attracted me to it:
-The design
-The security of having a new way to unlock a combination. (Thieves tend to stick to things they know, it's easier work)
-(ok there's a third)The fact that instead of numbers all I essentially have to memorize is a nintendo style cheat code! I'm 25, I mean holy eff, this lock was built for people like me!

BUT! I was dissapointed because just like about half of the reviewers here my lock would only actually unlock about once every 5-12 times I tried it. I looked on here to see if anyone had come up with a solution and didn't come accross any, so I just played with it for a bit.

So:

Is your lock only opening some of the times no matter how many times you do the code right? Here's the solution (finally)!!!

Keep constant pressure on the middle button/joystick while you're doing it! That's it. Simple mechanical nuance. If you think about it, that's kind of a beautiful thing.

A few years of ipod touch screens have turned me from a button masher to a button tapper. Don't tap this sucker, MASH it.

If you are reading this you did it again, yep, bought another American designed, Chinese piece of junk. In theory it should work, in practice it is full of bugs. I think they dreamed this one up to get a new patent, but what ever the mechanism is this time, it does not work consistently. I had sufficient problems setting the new combo and when I tried to open it, it wouldn't. Moreover, I was always able to pull the latch up high enough to see the beginning of the hasp-notch in the back, thinking that if I wanted to I could insert a strong screwdriver in there and leverage the thing up. Not very safe at all. Even if someone did not succeed I would expect the lock not to work once you came back to it to open it up.

IMHO, buy the old reliable technology for half the price, especially if its just for your child's locker. I is not worth the headache.

I'm a gadget geek; I love gadgets, and this lock really appealed to me when I ran across it. Unfortunately, the lock has turned out to be as tempermental as many of the other reviews have noted. I had no trouble getting mine out of the package and setting a new combination. For the first month or so that I used it, opening it two or three times per week, it was OK, maybe the occasional miss. But since then it has become increasingly difficult to open. Finally today, it won't open at all (and yes, I know the combination exactly, and I've done it slowly are carefully). No joy. The security screws on the back were trivial to remove, even the center one, so taking the lock apart to remove it was easy. I won't be buying another of these. It seems like a really good concept, but I think the execution of the idea fails.

I work in a facility that employees 200+ blind and visually impaired people and we supply them with lockers. Traditional key style padlocks have always presented a problem with people loseing the key and combination locks were out of the question. The Speed Dial lock is very blind friendly and have been well recieved by blind and sighted employees. The ability to change the combination is very convinent and many employees have purchased mutiple locks to replaced traditional keyed locks around there homes. At a recent city wide event that catered to the visually impaired, we sold out of the locks in the first few hours and have had many inqueries. Amazon proved to be the least expensive option for this lock.

I have six of these, and continue to purchase more as needed. These have become my padlock of choice. They are easy to use, and can be as secure as you wish to make the combinations. I use most of them to secure firearms cases and ammuntion boxes, and use one for a gate in my yard. After a few months, the one on the gate was siezing up, but a quick squirt of WD40 cured that, and hasn't been a problem in the last six months. The colors let me organize and group boxes so I can tell what is what without having to open them. Not needed multiple keys (or having single keyed sets of locks created), or memorizing multiple number combinations makes these locks perfect, epecially if you need to lock multiple containers like I do.

I purchased this lock to use on my locker at work ( I'm a Deputy Sheriff) I have been joking that I must be getting close to retirement if I can't see the numbers on the dial of my combination lock. I have been looking for a solution for the usual combination type locks (the numbers are too small). I happened upon the Master Lock web page and saw this unique combination lock "1500iD Speed Dial".
I practiced opening the lock several times I even reset the combination. This lock is AWESOME. To the Engineers at Master Lock "Great Job"

Thanks Again
Walter