Subscriber Discussion

Most Reliable Door Strike With Constant Power Applied?

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Scott Napier
Dec 12, 2017

I am just looking for your opinions on strikes that hold up when they are held in a powered state for several hours at a time.  We have a few areas where fail secure strikes are required, but they will manually unlock these doors for a few hours per day to facilitate staff movement for load-in, load out or a variety of other reasons.  In your experience what will hold up to that sort of regular abuse?

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #2
Dec 12, 2017

I understand the application although it is not ideal for most strikes.   When we do have strikes that will be energized for longer periods of time we use HES Smartpaks.  We have had them burn out first and save the strike in a couple of instances. 

https://www.hesinnovations.com/en/site/hesinnovations/old/accessories/smart-pac-iii/

But our use case is at most to be energized for up to 8 hours in a small handful of applications.   Looking forward to seeing what others suggest.

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DT
Damon Tarquinio
Dec 12, 2017

Is your application for a surface mount electric strike or a recessed (cut-in) style of electric strike?  The reason I ask is that there are different options depending on which style of electric strike you would use.  

That being said, we have used a lot of HES electric strikes, mainly the 1006, the 5200/5000 series, and the 9400/9500/9600 Series surface mounts and I've not been totally happy with the reliability of the 1006 or 9600/9500 surface mount strikes over time.  We've replaced 1006's after 1-3 years that fail in that either the keeper doesn't release when power is applied, or the spring that pulls a released keeper back into place fails and the keeper doesn't return all the way to the locked (secure) position.

I've had good luck in constant power applications with most RCI and Trine electric strikes, as well as all of the Von Duprin 6210/6211 Series (heavy duty).  Von Duprin costs a bit more, but it has external replaceable solenoid canisters should the solenoid ever fail.  The only caveat with Von Duprin, is that the extended length of the strike may require a little extra installation effort/care to ensure that the entire strike fits inside the hollow metal door frame. Solenoid failure is one of the more common issues I've experienced with electric strikes, although that would be more often for the surface mount varieties like the HES 9500/9600, which do not have field replaceable parts.

If you are using surface mount electric strikes, like for a panic bar style door/Pullman latch, I have found the Trine 4800/4850 to work well, and they have a low current model that is great for POE systems, where you want the current draw of the lock to be as low as possible. I don't have any empirical proof of this, but I would tend to think that a solenoid that has a low current draw just might last longer than one that requires more current to stay in the "unlocked" state.  Minor point on the current draw is that the strikes that require more current to stay unlocked will tend to get warmer than ones that need less juice.  Not a big deal until someone calls you to report that "the lock is really hot!" (and there is really nothing wrong with it .. lol).

So, RCI or Von Duprin for Cylindrical Lever Set style door, Trine for surface mount applications, and Von Duprin for mortise style lever sets.  HES has a couple of new strike series, the 1500 and the 1600 that look to be an improvement over the 1006 and draw about half the current of the 1006.  So .... I would also take a look the the HES 1500/1600 electric strikes and perhaps give it a try.

 

 

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Scott Napier
Dec 12, 2017

Sorry, these will be recessed style strikes, mainly used with mortise lock sets.  I wish I could just put in electric mortise assemblies, but I have been told that is not an option for a variety of reasons.  

DT
Damon Tarquinio
Dec 12, 2017

Yes, electrified mortise locks would look nice and clean, and getting a model with a built-in REX switch eliminates the need to mount/wire an external motion sensor or button ... but making a penetration in and core drilling across the door and installing the power transfer hinge adds a bit of complexity and cost.  Take a look at the HES 1500 for the electric strike ... the fact it is field-selectable for 12 or 24 volts as well as fail secure/fail safe eliminates all the surprises when opening the box and finding the wrong voltage model, etc.

https://www.hesinnovations.com/en/site/hesinnovations/products/electric-strikes/1500-series/

 

 

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