Door Hardware Genius

Card In / Card Out Access Control

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“Card-in / Card-out” refers to an access control system that is also an egress control system. Users are required to present their credential both when they enter and when they exit. Requiring employees to card in and out can simplify time and attendance tracking, Requiring a credential to exit a secured space can reduce the risk of theft and help prevent unauthorized visitors from entering and exiting restricted areas.

When card-in/card-out systems are used to track employee hours, employees must present their credential to gain entry to their workplace and again when exiting to record their hours at work. In this case there is no impediment to egress and life safety code is not affected. When the purpose of the system is to only allow egress with presentation of a valid credential, this is where complication often sets in.

Frequently life safety codes and building security are seemingly at odds in their hardware requirements, and card-in/card-out systems can be one of those situations due to the ‘card-out’ side of the equation. Life safety code demands that door hardware provide free egress with one motion with no prior knowledge required. Therefore, a card-in / card-out system is potentially two violations in one, requiring prior knowledge (knowing that you need to bring your credential) and two motions (1. Present your credential, and 2. Push the door open); so it is a good idea to consult with your local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) before installing a card-in / card-out system that impedes free egress by demanding a credential.

The components necessary to create a card-in / card-out system are:

Access Control Panel
Exterior credential reader
Interior credential reader

If the system will allow free egress this is all you need. Most existing access control systems can be configured to accommodate card-in / card-out operation. If the object is to record employee time and attendance, check with your access control company to see how their software can provide your Human Resources department or payroll service with attendance data.

If the system must restrict egress, one way to do so is to program the system to sound an alarm when a user attempts to exit without presenting their credential. The alarm provides a deterrent to motivate compliance, and the alarm event can be time-stamped in the access control audit trail record. If video surveillance is in service at the opening, the access control system can signal the CCTV system and images of the non-compliance event can be captured. The alarm could be programmed to reset automatically when the door closes, or only when a valid credential is presented. There are many options.

To further restrict egress, a delayed egress system can be added. Delayed egress systems are highly regulated by fire safety code, so all delayed egress systems behave in similar ways: after pressure is applied to the door or device for two or three seconds, an alarm sounds for fifteen seconds and then the system allows the user to exit. The alarm continues to sound until the system is reset. To comply with fire safety code the system will have signage on the door:

Von Duprin Chexit door label from Chexit installation instructions.

There are some variations. For example, instead of two or three seconds of pressure on the door, some jurisdictions allow the fifteen-second alarmed delay to begin sounding right away; with written permission from the local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) it is possible to have a thirty-second alarmed delay instead of fifteen seconds; some jurisdictions will allow the delayed egress system to self reset, others demand that the system be reset at the door. Consult with your local AHJ for details.

The effectiveness of delayed egress as a prevention of unauthorized egress is dependent upon how fast personnel can respond, especially if the intent of the system is to inhibit theft. I imagine that fifteen seconds seems like a very long time to someone who has just set off the alarm and is waiting to escape with their stolen industrial secrets or whatever, but it is really not a long period of time in which to apprehend a thief. On the other hand, if the thief had to pass a security guard after getting past the delayed egress system, s/he would be less likely to escape.

Life safety is never to be ignored.

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Exit Device Retrofitting Adventures

September 2, 2018 builders hardware / door hardware / Door Repair / Life Safety Hardware / security hardware

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Monarch model 18

As door hardware evolves, new products emerge to replace older products. This may happen because of a design improvement, or because a company changes ownership, but in either case it means that there are older products in the field for which there are no exact replacements. Any door hardware product may become obsolete over time. Today we are talking about exit devices.

Falcon Model 25

In the mid-Twentieth Century mass production of doors was standardized so that the mortise pocket within a door that houses the mortise lock would always be the same size. Before this standardization mortise locks were available in a wide variety of sizes, but from this time forward all architectural grade lock fronts would be eight inches tall by one-and-a-quarter inches wide. Of course this affected mortise exit devices. So when I went to replace a Von Duprin 8875 mortise exit device manufactured sometime between 1897 and 1920, I found that the mortise pocket was only about six inches tall and I had a bit of cutting to do to make the new device fit.

Companies pay varying attention to the ‘retrofit-ability’ of their products. Some companies make it easy to replace an old device with a new one, and some do not. As an installer it is easy to find oneself marooned out in the field, having identified an exit device by its appearance for the purpose of providing an estimate to replace it, only to find out during installation that it is the old version, and installing the new version is either going to be a lot of extra work, or extra hardware that was not on the estimate.

For example, in the late 1990’s Von Duprin redesigned their narrow stile 33 and 35 series exit devices. The rails remained the same, but the heads were completely changed. The old version did not accept a rim cylinder tail piece, and the new one does. This means the old outside trim will by no means work with the new device – a potentially expensive problem if not anticipated.

Similarly the Precision 2000 series Apex devices are not backwards compatible with the old 1000 series trims.

Monarch was bought by Ingersoll Rand and rebranded under the Falcon line of products, now part of Allegion. During these transitions the trims changed part numbers two or maybe three times. Check with your favorite hardware genius as to whether the trim you have will work with the device you need.

The lesson here is not to judge by appearances. The new Von Duprin 33 looks a lot like the old one and the Precision 2000 looks just like the 1000 series. To avoid expensive mistakes, pull the device off the door and positively identify it before you write your estimate.

Both Doromatic and Jackson responded to the need to replace crossbar devices with touch bar devices by creating touch bar versions that fit the same footprint as their crossbar predecessors. The Doromatic 1690 and 1790 devices replace the 1990 and 2090, and the Jackson 2085 and 2095 replace the 1085 and 1095 devices with very little trouble. A big bonus is that a in the case of the 2085 Jackson and the 1690 Doromatic concealed vertical rod devices, you can reuse the exiting concealed vertical rods.

Knowing what you have is the key to knowing what you want.

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Electric Hinge vs. EPT (and oh yeah, Molex)

June 2, 2018 access control / door hardware / electric locking / security hardware

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McKinney Electric Thru Wire Hinge with Molex connectors

I was taking a class on Molex connectors a while ago and the teacher – a manufacturer’s representative from a major hardware manufacturer – expressed the opinion that for high traffic applications, a power transfer is preferable to an electric thru wire hinge. I confess that until that moment I had not actually thought about it much, but what he said made a lot of sense. After all, almost everyone prefers an electric hinge to an EPT because of the relative ease of installation.

But the rep made a good point. The wires that run through an electric through an electric hinge are pretty thin – usually 24 or 26 gauge wire – and every time the door is used these wires are bent back and forth. If you’ve ever bent a copper wire back and forth in your hands until it breaks you will know what I’m getting at here. When you bend a copper wire back and forth, over and over, first it heats up, then it breaks. The same process is going on in the knuckle of that hinge. There’s a whole lot o’ twistin’ goin’ on.

Von Duprin EPT10

When you open a door equipped with an EPT, however, there is less twisting happening. The wires must still bend with the motion, but only a fraction of the bending that occurs with an electric hinge. That’s why the rep always recommends EPT’s over electric hinges if the opening is to have any serious traffic through it. Sure, installing an EPT is a lot more work, but a callback to replace a failed electric hinge is at least as much work, especially considering travel time.

Yes, you’re right, I did mention Molex connector class. A few times now I’ve run into applications where the installer wants to convert a regular removable mullion into an electric mullion so they can install an electric strike on the mullion. Since the advent of the surface mounted electric strike for rim exit devices, it was inevitable that someone would want to do this. The problem? What do you do with the wire at the header? Well, if you just run a continuous wire, the mullion is no longer removable, is it?

But, aha! I said. We’ll use a Molex connector at the header. What is a Molex connector, you ask? Those would be those plastic connectors attached to the ends of the wires on the McKinney hinge above. Molex is a company that has created a system of plug-and-play wire connectors, and these connectors are becoming more and more common in the door hardware industry. Major door hardware manufacturers are now incorporating Molex connectors into all their electrified products and offering what are in effect extension cords with Molex connectors.

So a couple of connector-equipped extension cords would solve the problem of the suddenly non-removable mullion, right? Well, not so fast, buckaroo.

This is what I learned in Molex class. In Molex connectors, which connector will connect to what other connector is determined by the pin crimped onto the end of the wire. They give them genders, “male” and “female”, because the male can be inserted into the female. Okay, great. Where is the problem? The problem is that as of this writing, door hardware manufacturers’ extension cords all have connectors of the same gender on each end, so you cannot plug them into each other. They will only plug into an electric hinge or EPT that has Molex connectors.

The solution to the DIY electrified mullion problem: make your own DIY Molex connector for the wire in the header. To do this you will need a standard wire stripper, some 12-conductor cable, the special Molex crimping tool, Molex connector housings, and Molex male and female pins. There is a service kit available that contains all these parts. It is a fairly time consuming process to make your own Molex connector, and it requires skill, but it is the only solution that I know to the mullion problem.

Get your surface mount electric strike with Molex connectors (several electric strike manufacturers offer these) and an extension cable from Assa Abloy or Allegion to get the wire from the strike to the top of the mullion. Now you have the capability to connect your makeshift electrified mullion into the connector you must make. You can attach your homemade Molex to as long a cable as you like – long enough to reach the power supply or access control panel.

Does this solution comply with code? I do not know. Best check with your local AHJ before embarking on your Molex DIY mullion adventure.

Why is the industry moving to Molex connectors? They do not fall off, look ugly, or take up a lot of space like wire nuts, and if you need to trade out an electric hinge or electric strike they sure do make it a whole lot cleaner and easier.

That’s right. As usual, it all comes down to sex.

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The Wacky World of Wireless Access Control Locks

April 15, 2018 access control / door hardware / electric locking / hardware sales wars / security hardware

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Wireless access control locks are at the leading edge of door hardware evolution, creating hybrid devices that are both credential reader and locking hardware all in one. Some of these locks are designed to integrate with existing access control systems without the need to run cable back to the panel from the door; others interface with their own software on the end user’s computer or computer network using a wifi gateway.

Left: Dorma Kaba Eplex ………… Right: Alarm Lock Networx

The Independent Systems

Alarm Lock and Dorma Kaba are two manufacturers that offer wireless access control locks with proprietary software designed only to control and monitor these locks. This represents a step up from standalone programmable locks that needed to be visited with a notebook computer or handheld programmer for programming and audit trail download purposes. The locks connect via a wireless router or gateway to a single PC or to a server on the end user’s computer network.

The Alarm Lock Networx product can also be integrated into a few access control systems; see the Alarm Lock Networx web site for details. The Dorma Kaba wireless Eplex lock is compatible with Dorma Kaba E-Enterprise software.

These independent solutions are good for folks who want to upgrade from mechanical locking systems to electronic access control, offering full featured access control capabilities, near-instantaneous reporting and monitoring and requiring very little wiring to install.

If, however, the end user has an existing access control system that they would like to expand, using the Alarm Lock Networx software or Dorma Kaba E-Enterprise software would mean adding a second access control system – a complication many end users would like to avoid.

In the past, when a facility wanted to expand their access control system their access control company would be called in to run wire and install credential readers and the door hardware installer might be called in to install electric locks or strikes to be controlled by these new readers. Today, however, the door hardware installer can install wireless access control locks that can be integrated into the end users existing system.

But wait! Not so fast, there, champ.

Left: Schlage AD-400 ………. Right: Sargent IN120

The Integrators

Allegion and Assa Abloy are two major lock manufacturers that offer wireless access control locks that integrate with existing access control systems. This means that the end user can program these locks using the same access control software they are currently using.

Using the Allegion AD series wireless as an example, a single interface panel can allow up to sixty-four of these locks to the panel. There is actually some wiring involved with wireless locks: the interface panel (or wifi gateway) must still be wired to the main access control panel. This is the great attraction: that one can greatly expand an access control system without spending a lot of time and money on wiring. A wire is run from the access control panel to the interface panel in a distant wing of the building, and then the interface panel (or a few of them) communicate with all the locks in that wing.

Conflict arises from the very fact that these locks are designed to integrate with existing systems. Over the last several decades, access control systems have become big business. Traditionally, for every door in the system, the access control company sells a reader. In addition, an expansion module may be needed at the access control panel. If we install sixty-four wireless locks and integrate them into the existing access control system, it can be said that we just deprived the access control company of the sale of sixty-four readers.

Access control does a lot more than control access these days. Access control, environmental control systems, fire and security alarms, elevator control, employee time and attendance, student meal plan administration and other systems may all be incorporated into the same system, run by enterprise level software on a server on the end user’s computer network. You might say the access control company that owns the rights to the software and manufactures the access control panel is in a very secure position. Extricating one access control company to replace it with another could be a monumental task, involving every person whose life the system touches.

What can access control manufacturers do about these wireless locks being attached to their systems? Plenty. They can update their software so that these locks are incompatible. They can charge the end user a licensing fee for every lock that is added. In short, they can make the addition of wireless access control locks to their system expensive or impossible.

Both Allegion and Assa Abloy have made agreements with access control manufacturers that allow their products to be added to existing access control systems. Allegion has a range of agreements with various manufacturers limiting to whom Allegion wireless access control products can be sold. In many cases Allegion wireless products can only be sold to the access control company with whose system they will be integrated. Assa Abloy wireless access control locks can only be sold to their designated Certified Integrators. It is through these channels that wireless access control locks make it onto job sites.

Because of these sales limitations, bidding on jobs that specify these kinds of locks can be complicated. Bidders often find they must exclude specified wireless access control locks from their bid because they are unable to buy them. In the case of Assa Abloy products, some bidders may elect to take the online course and become a Certified Integrator. In the case of Allegion, they might be fortunate enough to be bidding on a job in which the access control manufacturer has no agreement with Allegion, and the job can therefore be freely bid. In either case, however, it is a more complicated process than simply pricing out a piece of door hardware.

Evolution or intelligent design? Wait, did you say, ‘intelligent?’

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Aluminum Door Latch Electric Strike Retrofit

November 4, 2017 access control / door hardware / electric locking

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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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Field Reversing the Precision E2203 SVR Exit Device

October 19, 2017 access control / door hardware / electric locking / Life Safety Hardware / security hardware

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The Precision E2203 is a Surface Vertical Rod exit device with a solenoid in the head that controls the outside lever trim. Ordered complete with trim: part number is E2203 × 4908A, specify door width, finish, handing, fail safe or fail secure. The right thing to do is to order it fail safe or fail secure and handed at the factory for your application.

But… let’s say for the sake of this article that you ordered the device and did not specify handing or fail safe / fail secure. You might find yourself needing to field reverse the handing. Here is what you need to know.

Handing

Changing the hand on the basic 2200 device is not very difficult, but changing the hand on the E2200 is fairly difficult, and requires skill, patience and … tape.
For the non-electric, purely mechanical version of this device, changing the hand is not as simple as it is with some other exit devices, for example, flipping the device over, but it is not all that hard to do. Below are the directions for field handing excerpted from the 2200 Series installation instructions from the Stanley Precision web site. Why they have arranged the steps to be followed in counterclockwise order is a mystery to me, but I am not here to judge, just inform.

At a glance you can see that there is some disassembly of the exit device head required to change the handing of the device. But when you add electrified trim control it complicates things a bit.

In the photo below you see the wires for the solenoid where they pass through the hole in the bracket. That bracket is an integral part of the active head and it does not move. However, the solenoid must be installed at the other end of the active head in order to interface with the working parts of the device and the wires are just long enough to allow it to be installed where it is. There is no play in the wire that would allow the wire to remain where it is and yet allow one to move the solenoid.

In order to move the solenoid to the other side of the active head, one must either cut the wires (a nightmare, do not do it) or to completely disassemble the exit device, bar and all.

Why do you have to completely disassemble the exit device to pull the wire through? Because it is taped to the baseplate of with a piece of filament tape that runs the length of the bar. The tape must be removed to free the wire so you can pull it out through the hole in the bracket.

I could not find the directions for changing the hand of the E2203, but here is a drawing of the solenoid placement for the E2103 rim exit device taken from the installation instructions from the E2103 Kit.

Once you have pulled the wire through the hole, changed the hand of the head, taped the wire back down the length of the bar baseplate and reassembled the device, you’re done.

Below is a picture of the E2203 with handing freshly changed and the device reassembled and ready to install.

Like I said: order it fail safe or fail secure… AND ORDER IT HANDED.

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Compatibility Issues

April 20, 2017 builders hardware / door hardware / hardware sales wars

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What’s wrong with this picture?

When specifying door hardware I understand that it can be like being an kid in a candy store. But like that kid, you may not be able to always get everything you want. Sometimes “this” might not go with “that.” There are some examples that should be obvious, such as fire rated exit devices with cylinder dogging, since fire rated exit devices must positively latch each time they close without exception and any kind of dogging could prevent that. But other combinations of options are less obviously incompatible.

One elusive combination of exit device options that pops up sometimes is delayed egress with electric latch retraction. In most electric exit devices this is almost a contradiction in terms because they use the same mechanism for delayed egress as they do for electric latch retraction, except it works the opposite way. For example, the Von Duprin Chexit uses the same kind of motor that the Von Duprin EL devices use, except that the Chexit motor pushes out on the latch mechanism while the EL motor pulls in. What would be necessary I guess would be to build a little transmission so one could shift gears from push to pull to switch from delayed egress to electric latch retraction and back again.

But since no one has yet invented this miniature transmission neither the Sargent Electroguard nor the Von Duprin Chexit currently offer both delayed egress and electric latch retraction in the same device. The only device I have encountered so far that does offer these two options together in the same device is Detex. There could be others. Check with individual factories to be sure.

Two options that are offered together in many, but not all exit devices, with varying degrees of availability, are cylinder dogging and electric latch retraction. For example, Sargent offers cylinder dogging with electric latch retraction, but only when factory installed. Von Duprin offers “Special Dogging” (SD prefix) with electric latch retraction. In this case the effect of cylinder dogging is accomplished by a cylinder operated latch holdback feature in the center case of the device. (Not quite the same as traditional cylinder dogging.) Precision can offer cylinder dogging and electric latch retraction in the same device without complication because their electric latch retraction and cylinder dogging mechanisms happen in different sections of the rail altogether. Corbin and Yale offer devices with cylinder dogging and electric latch retraction in the same device. Yes, the electric latch retraction and cylinder dogging combo is all over the charts when it comes to availability.

As in all facets of life, when in doubt, contact your friendly door hardware genius.

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Von Duprin QEL Kit Diversity

September 20, 2016 access control / door hardware / electric locking

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QEL and HD-QEL modular conversion kits.

Von Duprin offers several versions of its QEL (Quiet Electric Latch retraction) conversion kits for its 33, 35, 98 and 99 series exit devices. The variations are:

Modular (no baseplate)
Modular, with connectors (Molex)
Modular with hex dogging
Modular with hex dogging and connectors
With baseplate, specify 3-ft. or 4-ft.
With 3- or 4-ft. baseplate and connectors
With 3- or 4-ft. baseplate and hex dogging
With 3- or 4-ft. baseplate, hex dogging and connectors

None of the modular kits come with baseplates. Kits with baseplates offer a small ease-of-installation advantage because replacing the whole baseplate is slightly faster than field installing the modular kit onto an existing baseplate. Modular kits can be installed in either 3- or 4-ft. devices, so if you want to have one kit on your truck, a modular kit would be the logical choice.

Which modular kit should you get? I would suggest the HD-QEL Modular Conversion Kit with Connectors. If you don’t want hex dogging, you can use a blank cover plate or plug the dogging hole in the existing cover plate. If you don’t want the connectors, you can cut them off. And since at the time of this writing there is no price difference between a modular kit with connectors and/or hex dogging, or without connectors and/or hex dogging, you might as well get the one with all the bells and whistles. As I indicated, you can always dial it back.

While Von Duprin recommends any of their PS900 series power supplies together with their 900-2RS relay board to run their QEL devices, many installers are using their own power supplies and this seems to be working just fine. QEL draws a 1-amp inrush. I recommend allowing 2 amps for each QEL on a power supply, and it is always good to isolate them on their own set of contacts in the power supply if possible, using a power distribution or relay board. If these contacts can be protected by a fuses or circuit breakers, so much the better. A regulated and filtered power supply is also a plus.

Unlike many power supplies, I am both unregulated and unfiltered … and I like it that way.

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Door Sag

September 18, 2016 Door Repair / Lock Repair

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Which door is sagging?

I have mentioned this before, but it bears revisiting. Lock problems and door problems are often related. If the door is does not swing or is not hung properly the lock may not work properly either.

I bring this up now because I was recently called upon to go out and do actual work. I am no longer used to this and will usually refuse these opportunities, but my daughter called to say that the restaurant where she is working was having problems with their walk-in wine cooler. This small, chilled room is unfortunately located near the entrance of the restaurant, around the corner from virtually all activity except exiting and entering. Should an unscrupulous patron give the grade one cylindrical storeroom function lock a tug on their way out, the door would swing open, inviting pilferage of some very expensive vintages ranging in the hundreds of dollars. Some might even qualify as grand theft. So she asked if I would come out and have a look, and being the wonderful dad I am I grabbed my toolbox and cordless drill and headed out.

I managed not to hurt myself, so I am grateful.

When I arrived on the scene, I noticed immediately that the door was sagging – that is to say, it was no longer square within the door frame. I could tell because – as in the handy picture I provided above – I could see that the gap between the header and the door was noticeably larger on the lock side than on the hinge side of the door. I checked the top hinge screws – often the culprit in these situations – but all was well up there and all the screws were tight. This could mean only one thing: the door frame had settled with the building and was no longer square. As a result the latch no longer lined up with the electric strike and the lock would no longer latch.

Since the door was wood I could have pulled the door, removed the hinges, planed the hinge edge and re-cut the top and middle hinge mortises to bring the lock edge up and back in line with the frame; or I could broken into the walls on both sides and adjusted the door frame so it would be square again. But because I am old, tired, and was not getting paid I decided to take the easy way out: I shimmed the bottom hinge, forcing the lock side of the door slightly up so that the lock would once again align with the electric strike.

To shim the bottom hinge I simply put a washer behind the hinge at the location shown in the picture at right. Then I explained to the restaurant manager that this was a temporary fix and that later on the door would most likely need attention again because the problem would probably recur.

So I left everyone happy and with a working door, but also with a warning. Since the door frame is no longer square it is likely to continue in the same direction and someone (not me) will have to address it in the future.

And once again I looked like a … Hardware Genius.

Experiencing the New Von Duprin Chexit

August 20, 2016 door hardware / electric locking / Life Safety Hardware / security hardware

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Von Duprin Chexit door label from Chexit installation instructions.

Last year Von Duprin began shipping Chexit self-contained delayed egress exit devices that are motorized instead of solenoid driven. Since they are motorized, the new Chexits draw less current and will probably be more reliable than the previous solenoid-driven version. This means a less serious, less expensive power supply, less need for high capacity, high gauge, high cost wire and greatly increased workable wire run distances – all good things.

The new Chexit will do everything the old Chexit did, including release of the outside lever trim when the external inhibit function is activated by access control or another external switch. That remains a way to get access control out of a Chexit by simply adding a blank escutcheon or other unlocked outside trim to the Chexit exit device.

As of this writing Exit-only function Chexit devices were being shipped less the part number 040193-00 cable used to connect the E996L to the Chexit PC board. The cables are only provided if you order the Chexit from the factory with trim, but that is okay as long as you want to use no trim or non-electric trim. Electrified trim is a means to provide fail secure access control from the trim side, so if the fire alarm goes off and powers down the Chexit, the fail secure electrified trim will stay locked. Entry can still be gained by key.

On another note, recently I was involved in an application where the installer was replacing a mortise exit device and wanted delayed egress from the push side and free ingress from the pull side. Luckily it was a mortise device, so all I had to do was provide a Chexit mortise exit device with blank escutcheon (passage function) trim because THE MORTISE LOCK ACTS INDEPENDENTLY FROM THE CHEXIT ON THE TRIM SIDE. Cool. 🙂

Bear in mind that the Chexit remains active while people are using the passage function trim to get in, so if they happen to depress the touch bar, say by bumping it up against the wall for two seconds, they may activate the Chexit alarm. Von Duprin Tech Support suggested a palm switch on the trim side to activate the inhibit circuit in the Chexit while a person enters from that side.

It was fun, easy, and I looked like a … Hardware Genius.

Card In / Card Out Access Control

Exit Device Retrofitting Adventures

Electric Hinge vs. EPT (and oh yeah, Molex)

The Wacky World of Wireless Access Control Locks

Aluminum Door Latch Electric Strike Retrofit

Retrofit Solutions

Field Reversing the Precision E2203 SVR Exit Device

Handing

Compatibility Issues

Von Duprin QEL Kit Diversity

Door Sag

Experiencing the New Von Duprin Chexit

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