Adams Rite 4501 Strike – from the Adams Rite web site.
Often we find ourselves involved in someone’s second thoughts about the use of a particular aluminum storefront type opening, wherein someone remembers that, hey, this opening needs access control. Or, perhaps, the idea of access control comes to the opening later in its life. In any case, the door company provided their usual solution for the customer’s parameters: an Adams Rite latch with a lever handle or push paddle and the standard strike shown at right. Extra credit: What hand is the strike in the picture?*
From Adams Rite 4901 and 4902 install instructions
Above is a drawing of the prep for the 4901 double-hole strike. The prep is 4-5/8 x the width of the door frame less 5/32 inch (.15 inches) as shown – or about 1-7/8 inches wide or so, depending on the actual depth of the frame measured from the stop to the edge.
The most common (non-electric) strike that comes with the Adams Rite latch is the 4901 as of this writing. It was called the 4501 years ago, but it remains mostly the same: 4-5/8 inches tall, with two holes to accommodate left- or right-handed doors. It comes with a plastic insert to block off the unused hole as shown in the picture of the 4501 strike above.
Common electric strike face plate heights are 4-7/8 inches, 6-7/8 inches , 7-15/16 inches, and 9 inches, and common widths range from 7/8 to 1-7/16 inches. The problem lies in the differences. None of these common sizes will fully cover the width of the 4901 prep, and after you’ve installed the strike there are ugly gaps left to fill in the aluminum. You can use one of the following retrofit solutions to avoid this problem.
Retrofit Solutions
Trine 3458 electric strike, from the Trine web site.
Two companies have led the way in solutions to this very specific and often-occurring problem: Trine and Adams Rite. Trine has the quick fix and Adams Rite has the relatively heavy-duty fix.
Several years ago Trine redefined itself into a company of innovative solutions from a company that was much more focused on price point. They went from being the cheapest guy on the street (though in many cases they still have the best price) to being a great problem-solver. Case in point, the Trine 3458 electric strike (see pic at left), designed as a drop-in replacement for the Adams Rite 4901 with NO CUTTING. This is a big deal for installers.
Despite its tiny body, the strike boasts an ANSI Grade 1 rating and 1200 lbs. of holding force.
The downsides: not voltage selectable without a line conditioner, not field selectable for fail safe/fail secure, and keeper depth is 1/2 inch – fine for use with the Adams Rite 4510 latch which has a 1/2-inch throw, but could be an issue with the Adams Rite 4900 (5/8-inch throw) if the gap between the door and frame is less than the 1/8 inch it should be.
Adams Rite remains the premier manufacturer of locking hardware for aluminum storefront doors and frames as it has been for decades. They have consistently worked to improve product quality and performance and they have succeeded.
FPK45 Retrofit Kit by Adams Rite
The Adams Rite solution to the 4901 retrofit problem is actually two-fold because it applies to two very different models of strikes: the 7100 and the 7400. For the 7100 series, Adams Rite offers the FPK45-00 face plate kit, and for the 7400 series they offer the FPK7445 face plate kit. Installation of either one is largely the same: enlarging the prep on the top and the bottom, and keeping the bottom screw mounting tab.
At right you can see the overall dimensions of the FPK7445 or FPK45 and how it aligns with the 4901 (or 4501) strike. The mission is to line up the keeper of the electric strike to the active hole of the 4901. You can see that enlarging the prep represents a significant amount of work. You might well ask, “Why would I do this?”
First, as I mentioned, if you have a 4900 latch in the door and/or no gap between door and frame, you are going to want a deeper keeper than the Trine. Like the Trine, the Adams Rite are also ANSI Grade 1 burglary resistant but offer a slightly higher holding force of 1500 lbs. If you do not know the voltage in advance, the 7400 series is completely field selectable for a number of popular voltages – although one can get the Trine LC-100 line conditioner with the Trine strike and accomplish much the same thing. Both the 7400 and 7100 are field selectable for fail safe or fail secure operation whereas the Trine are not.
In the industry there remains a lot of loyalty to the 7100 series. In its time, the 7100 was a revolution in design and remains one of the most reliable and repairable electric strikes on the market today.
*The 4501 strike in the picture is left hand, or right hand reverse.
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