Choosing an Electric Strike

Tom Rubenoff is a locksmith and technician with many years experience. he is an author of training manuals and systems. The next article was written by him and published at Hubpages.

Criteria for Electric Strike Choice

The first thing you need to know in order to choose an electric strike is what kind of lock you have. A couple of good clues to help you find out what kind of lock you have are the kind of strike and the size of the lock front. Below are some pictures of strikes and lock fronts and a rim exit device.

HES 5900 Electric Strike Installation

Choices

The top-most illustration shows an "ANSI" strike with a centered keeper. That is hardware-speak for, 'The strike is 4-7/8" high and has the latch hole in the middle." This type of strike usually means you have a cylindrical lock and a hollow metal frame. You can confirm this by comparing the latch front in your door to the second illustration from the top. If it is a cylindrical lock it will most likely match. For this type of application, I would suggest the HES 5000 series electric strike with 501 option faceplate, the Adams Rite 7240 electric strike, the Von Duprin 6211, or the RCI 4114.

The third picture down depicts a mortise lock front and its corresponding strike. Notice how the keeper (hole) is offset toward the bottom of the strike. If you have a mortise lock your choices are much more limiited. For ease of installation I would suggest the Von Duprin 6210, the HES 1006 with K, KD, or KM faceplate option, or the HES 4500.

The next picture down shows a mortise lock with a deadbolt. Your best bet is to change out your mortise lock so it looks like the third picture. Typically storeroom function mortise locks are used with electric strikes.

For a rim exit device on a wood or hollow metal door, the easiest installation is the HES 9600 on a single door. A more durable strike is the Von Duprin 6111 or 6112. Less expensive alternatives include the Adams Rite 74R1 and the RCI 0161.

If the rim device is on an aluminum storefront door, your choices are more limited. You would need a strike with a thinner faceplate such as the Von Duprin 6113 or an Adams Rite 74R2.

The last picture above is a little misleading because it depicts an exit device in a double door installation. For a double door you would need a surface mounted strike such as the Von Duprin 6121.

The video above shows the ease of installation of the HES 5900 electric strike. This can be a real time saver for installations with cylindrical locks on hollow metal doors and frames.

Basic Electric Strike System

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Gloating...I Know....sshhh

Testimonials by neighbors or even others in your town, especially if they are unprompted and genuine, sometimes help another consumer decide to choose that company for service.

Many of the testimonials you might see below are from customers who have used our local services and there are a number from satisfied customers across the world who have also written.

We try to make available different products, previously unavailable elsewhere that are intelligent and suitably priced problem solvers.

You might see some of these testimonials repeated.

Danny was very friendly and knowledgeable, although his apprentice seemed to do most of the work, Danny kept an eye on him to make sure it was done right. He had very reasonable pricing for re-keying.

Greg D (St Louis, MO) October 2011

He was extrememly fabulous and helpful and did a wonderful job. He was very professional.

Shannon M. (Arnold, MO) October 2011

Growing up spending so much of my time in Italy, the uniqueness of the Nova Classico left quite an impression on me. To be able to have and enjoy them in my own home here in the states is a nostalgic indulgence I'm enjoying beyond words. Thank you Danny for coordinating this transaction.

Joseph M (Chicago, IL) September 2011

great job. hired on the spot and he did job right then at great price

Ron B (Arnold, MO) July 2011

I searched the internet and found your services. I received three phone calls within several days. A service call was scheduled. Two gentlemen arrived promptly, analyzed the problem and fixed it.

James & Florenc M Saint Louis, MO July 2011

The repairman was on time and did an excellent job of fixing a very stubborn door lock. He was persistent and cleaned up the work area afterwards. I would use this service again.

Brenda F (Saint Peters, MO) June 2011

Danny at Master Key Systems has succeeded in making the purchasing of our Meroni door locks, from Italy, an absolute breeze. Even though I live in Australia with a 16hr time difference and was ordering door knobs from Italy that weren't in stock, the whole process was faultless. Danny was prompt and efficient with all his emails and made sure we had covered every possible variable so that the product I received was exactly as required. I would have no hesitation in recommending Danny for your next purchase.
Patrick Carr (Canberra, Australia)

Your product really helped because I needed to secure a nurse's station adjacent to a waiting room and needed a pocket door. Unfortunately, no real options were available to lock a pocket door effectively that would keep me compliant with HIPAA and secure an area that stores medical supplies. This was vitally important as this particular waiting room was for "waiting detox patients". Thank you very much.

Randall R The Fritz Clinic (Birmingham, Al) March 2011

Danny was very polite and knew what the problem was and how to fix it. He also gave me some information about other issues that could arise with my door and locks. Will hire again if I ever need that type of work done.

Jason M Imperial, MO March 2011

I had an exterior basement door that dragged when opening and closing. The hinges were not fitting properly and the door frame had shifted, probably due to the age of the house.The screwswould not go far enough into the wall without hitting stone...even using a special drill bit. Dan worked a long time drilling and sanding to shore up the door as best as possible. I know it will never be perfect. He could have easily sold me a new door and the same issue would happen. He was honest, thorough, and did an excellent job without charging me a fortune. I'm satisfied with the door now. If you want an honest, experienced man, Then Dan is the man

Roger M Saint Louis, MO March 2011

I purchased the Cowdroy P697 Pocket door lock with key over the internet. I emailed questions before my purchase and was provided with the answers quickly by return email. The purchase was quick and easy and the lock was shipped immediatly. Installation is quick and easy. But you do need to convert millimeters to inches (use the internet) in the installation instructions. And the lock looks great and works great. I will do business with them again. THANK YOU

Ed D (February, 2011)

We were very please. Didn't take that long and was glad to have this task checked off as done. Danny was great! Professional and knew just what to do

Marshall S (Chesterfield, MO) January 2011

Key Cutting VS Key Originating

American Key Supply are a San Francisco based locksmith supply company who specialize in the supply of automotive key machines, supplies and automotive locksmithing knowledge. They serve the locksmith market primarily. To use any or some of their products you need to be a locksmith or affiliated with an industry organization.

The video above shows just how easy and accurate, duplicating a Schlage standard key is. We note here that the operator is actually originating the duplicate key instead of just copying it, using one of the industries latest and greatest key code machines.

The 3D Pro is fast becoming the industries sought after machine because it includes in it's range both automotive and residential/commercial key types. Instead of the traditional duplicating method, this machine is designed to read the actual depth of a lock's working key and then copy the recorded depths on to a keyblank, effectively creating an exact duplicate of the tendered key.

This method of key origination can help consumers to get exact duplicates of their keys, except that their new keys are in fact cut to factory specifications. This can help to protect the lock cylinder from unavoidable wear that occurs when an incorrectly duplicated key enters the key cylinder.

As you would expect, keys that are originated as opposed to duplicated, can be slightly more expensive but having correct original factory specified keys that operate your locks consistently and repeatedly might be more valuable than the down time created when duplicating keys at the independent or big box hardware stores (that often do not work).

This particular machine is definitely on my wish list.

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Bicycle Lock - A New Adaption

The bicycle has always been a favored transport vehicle by green minded individuals.

Securing your bicycle has been a chore in the past, with chains and D locks and versions that are bulky to hold in a backpack or around the bike frame. And that is not considering the actual padlock in some cases.

Kuat (pronounced koo-at) have released a modern take on the bicycle lock with this innovation that houses the cable inside a regular bicycle drink bottle.

Secured with a key lock on top of the bottle, cyclists can rejoice in having their lock already fitted to the bottle clip. Unobtrusive, simple, intelligent and easy to use, this product may make life easier for cyclists.

But where do we put the drink bottle?

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Vehicle Motion Sensor By EMX Industries

EMX Industries is a leading supplier and manufacturer of high quality electronic access control operators designed to maximize efficiency, reduce downtime and make updating programming and maintenance a chore that is simple and quick to complete.

Their newest Driveway Sensor, for operating gates or beams or doors comes with a plug in remote control to allow for the buried sensor (pictured below) to be easily programmed by onsite maintenance without the need to call an expert technician.


The advanced design of this sensor means it can be powered by multiple power supplies, like even a 9v battery to offer up to 6 months wireless use. So, now even remote properties with gates on the outer edge of the land can have automatic sensors without the extra cable power infrastructure required to run other variations.

There is also an option to be able to power the unit using Solar Power.

Access control is often considered expensive to install because usually power needs to be supplied to remote locations requiring significant trench digging to run the needed cables. Whereas many options are available at competitive prices, these prices do not reflect the labor cost to install (sometimes in awkward locations).

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Autoslide - Automatic Sliding Door Opener & Closer

Autoslide is a unique and modern product designed and manufactured by some talented Australians.

Many readers here are aware that I have a fascination with sliding doors, especially pocket or cavity doors. We recently sold out of our very popular keyed pocket door lock.

At last, the automatic sliding door technology that has been the domain of supermarkets, banks and other high profile office buildings and complexes comes to everyday residential and commercial applications at a super-competitive price point.

I am often asked by clients about sliding door closers and in the past have recommended a hydraulic (water powered) device designed for sliding screens. Now I am happy to see that this new product may be the Rolls Royce of sliding door operators.

Bloody good stuff!

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EDIT January 24, 2012

Enquiries are flooding in about this product. In the USA you can get it from http://autoslide-usa.com/

Codehandle By Assa Abloy

Union Lock Mfg Co. in the United Kingdom have been producing locking hardware for a great many years. They are well known for their filing cabinet locks and their residential bit key mortise locks.

This Assa Abloy owned company also produce some innovative entrance handles like described above in the video.

We wrote about a variation of this idea a couple of years ago when it was still a concept.

As the video shows, this design is tailored for internal, light commercial applications. It gives the ability to secure a room with wireless, battery powered technology that is convenient, aesthetically pleasing and simple to operate.

Securing private rooms, cupboards, storerooms etc. would be much simpler thanks to this intelligent solution.

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Battery Electric Strike

The interest in this sensational product is phenomenal. At last, a solution to quality access control at a fraction of the cost of comparable solutions.