Electric strikes, maglocks and electrified hardware

Electrified hardware for existing openings

Electrified door hardware locks and releases a door with electric power: an electric strike releases the latch at the frame, and a magnetic lock holds the door shut with an electromagnet.

Electric strikes, magnetic locks, electrified locks and the hinges and power supplies that run them, for doors released by a keypad, a push button or an access control system you already have.

We supply the hardware at the door. We do not sell networked access control systems, card readers, intercoms or app, wifi or Bluetooth smart locks.

How it is specified

• Fail safe or fail secure. Fail safe releases when power is removed; fail secure stays locked from outside.
• Electric strikes. An electric strike replaces the strike in the frame and releases the latch, at 12 or 24 VDC to match the supply.
• Magnetic locks. Holds with an electromagnet and no latch, so it always needs a release for people leaving.
• Standalone keypad locks. A standalone keypad or touchscreen lock stores its codes in the lock and runs on batteries, with no wiring and no network.
• Power and wiring. Strikes, magnetic locks and electromechanical locks need a power supply sized to the load, and an electrified hinge or power transfer to carry the wire into the door.

Fail safe vs fail secure: electric strikes and maglocks

Electric latches and electric latch retraction

Electric latch retraction, which buyers also call an electric latch or electronic latch, pulls the latch back by power: a motor or solenoid in the exit device retracts it on a signal from an access control system, a keypad or a door operator, and the door then opens push and pull. Sargent's 80 Series catalog describes its 56- option this way.

An electric strike works at the frame instead. The latch stays mechanical and the strike's keeper releases it, so the device in the door needs no power. Latch retraction needs power carried into the door, which Sargent does through an electric hinge.

If the latch can stay mechanical, a strike is the alternative: the HES 9600 surface strike takes the 3/4 in Pullman latch of a rim device such as the Accentra 2100 exit device, and HES electric strikes for cylindrical and mortise locks have their own page. HES lists the 9600 as not fire rated, and whether a strike may go on a fire-rated door is your AHJ's call.

To add latch retraction to an exit device already on the door, SDC's LR100 QuietDuo retrofit kits fit the Adams Rite, Arrow, Cal-Royal, Detex, Jackson, PHI (Precision) and Yale devices SDC lists for each kit, and run on 24 V DC. SDC lists no LR100 kit for the Accentra 2100.

Other retrofit kits and exit devices with latch retraction are quoted on request: send the make and model of the exit device.

What usually fails

A strike that buzzes but does not release is often a latch bearing against the keeper, a door that has dropped, or a power supply that sags under load. A magnetic lock that will not hold is usually a misaligned armature plate. A keypad lock that goes dead is batteries first.

Photograph the strike or lock, the frame, and any label on the power supply, and tell us the voltage if it is marked.