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"Safe deposit boxes" and "security boxes" differ by only one character in their names, and their appearance and color are virtually identical. They also use locks similar to security boxes, incorporating mechanical and electronic combination locks. It's not only difficult for the average consumer to distinguish them, but even some industry professionals can easily confuse the two. Because safe deposit boxes are much cheaper than security boxes, some manufacturers use ambiguous language in their product manuals or promotional materials to confuse consumers and induce them to buy. However, "security boxes" and "safe deposit boxes" differ significantly in materials used and basic anti-theft functions. So, how can one distinguish between a "safe deposit box" and a "safe deposit box"? Below, using Yongfa security boxes as an example, we can compare them with other safe deposit boxes on the market and identify them through the following key points:
1. Does the enclosure have a CCC mark?
Safes: Yes
Safe deposit box: None
In 2004, safes were included in the national mandatory product catalog. From October 1, 2005, safes without a mandatory certification certificate and without the CCC mark were prohibited from being manufactured, sold, exported, or used in other business activities. Therefore, safes sold on the market now must have the CCC mark on them; otherwise, they are considered storage boxes or collectible boxes. Storage boxes do not meet the national mandatory certification standards and cannot obtain a mandatory certification certificate; naturally, they cannot have the CCC mark on them.
II. Differences in the use of materials
Safe: Excellent
Safe deposit box: No standard
According to national standards, safes must be made of high-quality steel. The door panel should be at least 8-10mm thick, and the body should be at least 6mm thick. Yongfa safes have door panels at least 10mm thick and body panels at least 6mm thick, using only high-quality low-carbon alloy steel. The body is manufactured using a one-piece forming technique, and the door frame and panel are processed using state-of-the-art laser cutting technology. In contrast, storage boxes lack corresponding standards, only having company-specific standards. The materials used vary greatly, with no uniform standard for door panel thickness, ranging from 10mm to less than 1mm. The body steel is even thinner. Some unscrupulous manufacturers even use steel plates less than 2mm thick, with 8-10mm steel plates around the edges to imitate 10-12mm thick steel door panels. The body is made of thin steel plates wrapped in the shape of a box, filled with a mixture of cement, sand, and gravel. The protective function provided by such products is questionable.
III. Differences in Anti-theft Performance
Safe: Strong
Safe Deposit Box: Weak
National standards stipulate that key components of safes (boxes) such as door locks, combination locks, and handles must be effectively protected with drill-resistant plates boasting a hardness of HRC550 and high drill resistance. Door panel gaps must be tight, not exceeding 2mm. Mandatory standards for resistance to breaching (including resistance to opening holes and resistance to door opening) require that even the lowest security level, A1, safes must be able to withstand the use of ordinary hand tools, portable power tools, and grinding heads, as well as the combined use of these tools, and must not be able to open the door or create a hole larger than 38 square centimeters in the door or box within a 15-minute net working time. For the highest security level, Class C, the resistance to breaching must be at least 60 minutes.
IV. Price Differences
Safes: Generally priced above 1000 yuan.
Safe deposit boxes: ranging from several hundred yuan
The steel plates and manufacturing processes used in the production of safes have high requirements, resulting in higher costs. Therefore, the retail price of safes is generally above 1000 yuan. To achieve better protection, Huadu safes invest more in research and development compared to other manufacturers, have more stringent requirements for materials, and use more patented technologies in addition to national standards for products of the same specifications. It's understandable that their price is slightly higher than other brands. Deposit boxes, on the other hand, do not have the same material and technical requirements, so their production costs are naturally lower. To capture market share, their prices are also lower, generally below 1000 yuan, and some even only cost one or two hundred yuan. However, the protective effect of such products is predictable.
V. Differences in weight
Safe: Heavy
Safe deposit box: Lighter
Because they use high-quality, thick steel, and to prevent easy movement, safes are generally quite heavy or have fixed attachments that make them difficult to move. However, some safes use thinner steel plates of varying quality, with some even having less than 1mm of steel in the body-essentially just "sheet metal"-making them lighter than regular safes. But some "clever" safe manufacturers pour cement into the bottom of the safe, making them quite heavy as well.
VI. Does the product quality insurance provide coverage?
Safes: Yes
Safe deposit box: None
All safes must possess a national mandatory certification and bear the CCC mark, and come with product quality insurance. Safes sold on the market generally do not offer product quality insurance.
How to Choose a Safe
Anti-theft safes (boxes) are a special type of container. The state has strict requirements for the production of anti-theft safes (boxes), and consumers should have a basic understanding of these requirements when purchasing them.
Anti-theft safes are typically less than 450mm wide, 320mm high, and 300mm deep. They are characterized by their small size, light weight, and basic anti-theft features. They are relatively easy to transport and install, being fixed to the ground or wall using expansion bolts and other securing devices, making them difficult for thieves to move. Built-in anti-theft safes are embedded in the wall, offering a degree of concealment. Anti-theft safes are well-suited for use in hotels and homes.
Anti-theft safes are larger than those specified above and offer higher security than traditional safes, making them more suitable for government agencies and businesses. Anti-theft safes are further classified into Class A, Class B, and Class C based on their protective capabilities. Class C offers the highest level of security, while Class A offers the lowest. The vast majority of safes seen in shopping malls today are Class A.
Based on different password working principles, safes can be divided into two types: mechanical and electronic. Mechanical safes are generally cheaper and more reliable. Early safes were mostly mechanical. Electronic safes utilize electronic locks with intelligent control methods such as electronic passwords and IC cards. They are convenient to use, especially in hotels where passwords need to be changed frequently.
The most important features of a burglarproof safe (box) are its anti-vandalism capabilities, along with alarm functions. The state and the Ministry of Public Security attach great importance to the quality of burglarproof safes (boxes). The Ministry of Public Security has established the Security and Alarm System Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Testing Center and the Security and Police Electronic Product Quality Testing Center in Shanghai and Beijing, respectively, to oversee the quality of burglarproof safes and boxes nationwide. It is essential to purchase only products that have passed inspection to ensure that the safes (boxes) truly fulfill their security function.
What you should know when buying a safe
a) Steel plate selection: Identify the steel plate based on its thickness, material, and origin, as these factors affect the safe's (box's) ability to withstand damage when using specialized tools such as electric drills, cutters, and chainsaws.
b) Forming and welding: This factor relates to the cabinet body and the gap between the cabinet door and the door frame. If the gap is too large, the anti-pry function will be weakened.
c) Rust prevention treatment: If this process is not handled properly, it will affect the appearance of the enclosure, and in severe cases, it will cause functional damage.
d) Anti-theft mechanism: This element is also the most important feature of a safe (box), because it is inside the box and cannot be detected by the user, but it is the fatal weakness to prevent technical opening.
e) Locks: If we consider the anti-theft mechanism as a surface, then the lock is the most important point, because damaging the lock or counterfeiting the key will damage the heart of the anti-theft mechanism.
f) Auxiliary parts: The handling of parts must ensure their reliable performance in order to cope with ever-changing usage environments.
g) Appearance: Safes have gradually shed their bulky and monotonous appearance, and the trend of safe products is to integrate them organically with the home environment.
h) The strength and brand of the manufacturer: The fierce competition in the market leads to the survival of the fittest among products, and only high-quality products can ensure that the manufacturer remains invincible.
I) After-sales service: Safes are a special product. If any problems occur, a dedicated and professional after-sales service team is necessary to ensure that users have no worries at any time.
How to determine if a safe is qualified
1. The paint film (or powder coating film) on the outer surface of the anti-theft safe should have a uniform color and should not have obvious cracks, bubbles, spots or other defects.
2. Electronic security boxes should be equipped with at least one electronic security lock, but magnetic card locks are not allowed.
3. When using carbon structural steel plates to construct the enclosure (and door panels), the tensile strength of the steel plates shall not be less than 345 MPa. The thickness of the steel plates: Grade A, not less than 6 mm; Grade B, not less than 8 mm. When using low-alloy high-strength structural steel plates to construct the enclosure (and door panels), the thickness of the steel plates: Grade A, not less than 4 mm; Grade B, not less than 6 mm.
4. The opening angle of the safe door shall not be less than 90 degrees. The maximum gap between the door leaf and the door frame shall not exceed 2mm. The flatness of the upper surface and both side surfaces of the safe shall not exceed 2.5mm, and the flatness of the door leaf surface shall not exceed 1.5mm.
5. The electronic combination lock can be changed at will, and multiple passwords and multi-level management can be used. If the wrong password is entered 3 times, it will automatically lock or alarm.
Consumers can refer to the above technical data when making a purchase, ask the store for inquiries and compare the data to further determine whether the product quality is up to standard.
How to identify the 3C mark
The method for identifying the 3C mark when purchasing a safe is as follows:
1. The 3C mark is destroyed as soon as it is peeled off.
2. The 3C mark has a white background with black patterns.
3. The "S", "EMC", and "S&E" to the left of the "CCC" lettering appear dark red under fluorescence. Upon closer inspection of the "CCC" graphic, multiple small diamond-shaped "CCC" marks can also be found.
4. Check the random number. This is the most difficult part of the "CCC" mark to counterfeit. Each mandatory product certification mark has a unique code. When issuing mandatory product certification marks, the certification mark issuance and management center has entered the product corresponding to the code into the computer database. Consumers can query the code through the National Certification and Accreditation Administration's mandatory product certification mark anti-counterfeiting query system.
Several hidden dangers of safe theft
Currently, some companies or individuals equipped with safes still experience thefts. A closer examination reveals that many of these thefts stem from numerous hidden problems in the use and management of the safes by these companies or individuals.
1. Safe users: When many people use a safe, security is poor, and password keys can easily be leaked, leading to loss of valuables. Dedicated users and personnel should be assigned to open the safe.
2. Safe Password Setting: Some property managers and safe users believe that setting a password for a safe eliminates the risk of theft. However, the security of the password directly affects the safe's defense capabilities. Longer passwords with a low rate of digit repetition are more secure and harder to crack, while shorter, simpler passwords are easier for others to recognize and easily bypass the safe's defenses. For example, some safe users use house numbers or phone numbers as passwords for ease of memorization, which can be easily cracked by thieves with a little thought.
3. Safe Password Management: Safe passwords should not remain unchanged. If the safe does not have a fixed password structure, the password should be changed at appropriate times, such as when the cashier changes jobs, the custodian leaves, or for valuables requiring high-security protection, the password should be changed periodically. Failure to change the password after it leaves the factory, frequent changes in the personnel responsible for the safe, or opening the safe in multiple locations can easily lead to password leaks.
4. Safe Key Management: Keys can be separately entrusted to the department using the safe and the company's security department for safekeeping. Keys entrusted to the security department should be sealed. For example, some companies have focused only on the security management of the finance department, while the security department lacked a proper sealing system. This gave some criminals an opportunity to steal the control key and easily bypass the password to open the safe.
5. Establish a sound daily usage system for safes: Only with established systems can they be effectively implemented. For example, if someone is away for more than two days during holidays or if a replacement is not sent to take over their duties for more than two days, a seal should be affixed to the safe's lock. The seal should only be removed upon their return to work. Some companies have suffered thefts that went undiscovered for several days due to a lack of this management system.
6. Inadequate secure placement of safes: Some organizations and individuals place safes haphazardly after purchase, failing to secure them according to installation requirements, allowing thieves to steal them along with the valuables. Therefore, if a safe weighs less than 340 kg, it should be secured to a wall or other stable object using the required mounting holes and fasteners to ensure its safety.
7. Failure to purchase a safe that meets appropriate requirements: Some organizations and individuals believe that safes are a panacea, and even use deposit boxes as safes due to price considerations, unaware of the significant security risks involved. Safes come in different security levels. When purchasing and using a safe, you should choose the appropriate security level based on the value of the valuables you intend to store. It is recommended to choose a Class C safe according to national standards for storage under 5 million yuan, Class B3 for storage under 2 million yuan, Class B2 for storage under 1 million yuan, Class B1 for storage under 500,000 yuan, Class A2 for storage under 300,000 yuan, Class A1 for storage under 100,000 yuan, and a deposit box standard for storage under 10,000 yuan.
A safe is a special type of container. Based on their function, they are mainly divided into fireproof safes, anti-theft safes, anti-magnetic safes, fireproof and anti-magnetic safes, and fireproof and anti-theft safes, etc. Each type of safe has its own national standard. Most safes on the market are the first two types. Based on different password working principles, anti-theft safes can also be divided into mechanical safes and electronic safes. The former is characterized by its lower price and more reliable performance. Early safes were mostly mechanical safes. Electronic safes apply electronic locks with intelligent control methods such as electronic passwords and IC cards. Their advantage is ease of use, especially in hotels where passwords need to be changed frequently; therefore, electronic safes are more convenient.