Sun Welding V-36T Vault Gun Safe Review

Sun Welding Safe company is based out of Simi Valley, CA and makes all of their products right here in the USA. Overall, they are a relatively small company with very few online dealers and only a small showroom next to the factory. While they make decent quality products from a security standpoint, their safes don’t have tested burglary ratings, fire ratings and the warranty is a joke. In this review, I’ll help you understand what makes the Sun Welding V-36T Vault Gun Safe seem like a great safe but is actually over priced and a risky purchase overall.

Lock – Sun Welding V-36T Vault Gun Safe

S&G UL Rated High Security Mechanical Lock

First and always most important is the lock. Included in the price is the S&G UL Type 2 Mechanical Lock. This is one of only two mechanical locks I recommend as it is high quality, reliable and known for longevity. It uses a three number combination that rotates into the lock body on the inside of the safe. This lock is designed to last for decades and features over 1 million possible combinations.

Securam Basic UL Approved High Security Electronic Lock

The second lock option available is the SecuRam Basic UL approved high security electronic lock. This is an excellent quality lock made by a longstanding and reputable company. SecuRam is the exclusive electronic lock provider of Liberty safe who sells the most safes in the US. UL Approved type 1 is the highest security rating available and has over 1 million possible combinations.

The keypad is metal and durable as well as the battery compartment is very convenient to remove from the outside of the safe. All in all, this is an excellent quality lock and the one I would recommend.

Hard Plate and Re-Locker

This lock is also protected by both a hard plate and two internal spring-loaded re-lockers. The Hard plate is a piece of hardened steel that absolutely destroys drill bits. The internal re-locker fires if the lock is punched through securing the bolts in place. Both of these are essential security features and included on this safe.

Security – Sun Welding V-36T Vault Gun Safe

In terms of security, the Sun Welding V-36T Vault Gun Safe is built tough. It “exceeds” the UL RSC burglary requirements which ensures the safe can withstand an attack on the door with multiple different tools for a minimum of 5 minutes each. However, the safe wasn’t actually tested by UL and Sun Welding is just claiming that it would pass the test. All in all, big Red flag.

For the security, Sun Welding used a 1/2″ steel plate on the door and 1/4″ steel in the body. Finally, securing the door are 1″ thick locking bolts covering two sides of the safe offering excellent pry resistance overall.

Fire Rating – Sun Welding V-36T Vault Gun Safe

The Sun Welding V-36T Vault Gun Safe features a 30 minute fire rating at 1200 degrees. This rating is not verified by an independent company like ETL or UL. It’s also not even mentioned if it has gone through a factory test. They also claim you can double the fire rating just by adding more layers of the 5/8″ fireboard. All in all, this is not a fire rating I would trust by any means.

They do include an intumescent door seal that expands to 7 times its size during a fire to keep smoke and heat from entering the safe.

Style and Function

The Sun Welding Vault Series is available in a variety of matte and gloss color options. Hardware includes a drop down handle or you can upgrade to a 5-spoke handle. One of the better features of this gun safe is that the interior can be customized to your needs since each safe is built to order. Also, interior options are available in beige or gray. There are many accessories available but not included such as an electrical outlet hole, light kit, gun racks and extra shelves. Finally, a door panel organizer is not included.

Warranty

The Sun Welding gun safes come with a lifetime warranty on all components except the lock. This includes break-in and attempted break-in. The big caveat to this is that you must pay for the freight costs to the factory and the safe must be bolted down to concrete to have this warranty honored. This is of course nearly impossible to uninstall a gun safe bolted to the concrete and ship it to their factory for repair which renders the warranty completely useless and just a facade. Always read the fine print.

The Bottom Line

Would I buy the Sun Welding V-36T Vault Gun Safe to protect my firearms and valuables. Unfortunately, no I would not. While I want to like this product due to its high quality lock options and adequate steel thickness, I can not recommend a product with shady business practice in the warranty or the highly unreliable and vague fire rating. Safes are meant to last forever and if a company won’t back their products with a reliable warranty, it likely isn’t going to last forever.

With that said, there are gun safes in this category and price range that I highly recommend. The American Security BFX gun safes feature the same UL rated high security lock, thicker 1/2″ steel plate door, concrete composite insulation in-between two steel plates and have a reliable 2 hour fire rating standard along with a reliable warranty. All things considered, I would buy the American Security BFX gun safes over the Sun Welding Vault series.