access control » Door Hardware Genius

Schlage CO and AD Series Mortise Lock Parts

May 24, 2014 builders hardware / door hardware / Door Repair / electric locking / hardware sales wars / Lock Repair / security hardware

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Schlage AD Series

This just goes to show that there is no substitute for field experience. In the quest to provide the best service to his customer, this locksmith went past my advice and the advice of factory tech support to find the best solution.

The locksmith inquired about a replacement latch for a Schlage CO200MS mortise lock. I called Schlage Tech Support and they said that there were no replacement parts available for that CO-200 Series mortise lock chassis; that the entire mortise chassis had to be replaced for a hefty sum and I relayed this info to the locksmith. The locksmith, however, knew that Schlage advertised that the CO series locksets incorporated the Schlage standard L-series lock chassis “for durability and dependability.” Based on this, the locsksmith took a chance, went to the parts list for the L-Series mortise lock with the same function and ordered the replacement latch. He reports that is identical and works fine.

Good to know! One can assume that many parts from the L Series mortise lock with the same function will work in all AD and CO series mortise lock bodies. Like I said, you learn something new every day.

Thanks for stopping by.

How to Order Door Hardware for Small Commercial Projects

February 12, 2014 builders hardware / door hardware / electric locking / Life Safety Hardware / security hardware

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This article is for facilities or property managers who need to buy hardware for change-of-use projects in which there is no architect involved.

On larger projects that involve build-outs or new construction, along with the doors architects usually specify the door hardware, often with the help of an Authorized Hardware Consultant (AHC). On smaller projects wherein the services of an architect are otherwise not required, hardware choices often fall to you: the facilities or property manager or owner. This article will provide language and concepts that will facilitate communication between you and your hardware dealer and/or installer.

Get Good Advice

If you do not already have one whom you do business with, choose a qualified hardware installer. I may be a little biased, but I think locksmiths make the best hardware installers. Some contractors also have hardware installation specialists on staff who are qualified to do the work. Experienced and qualified hardware installers can help answer your questions as you tackle this project.

Specifying the wrong hardware can be expensive, so your hardware choices can be very important. In addition to your hardware dealer or qualified installer, your local building inspector and fire marshal can be invaluable sources of information. They will be able to tell you, for example, if a particular door needs panic hardware and/or fire rated hardware. Your qualified installer should also be able to help with these choices, but if there is ever a choice you are not sure of you can always consult these governmental authorities.

Know Your Doors

Number Your Doors

Assign each door a number. Stick a label with the door number on every door on the edge on the hinge side, just above the top hinge. List the door numbers across the top of a spreadsheet. Under each door number enter the existing hardware, door dimensions and other characteristics as discussed in the following sections.

Existing Hardware

Do a survey of the property and catalog every door, hinge, kick plate, door closer and lock. Base your notes on the following categories of information in this article and you should be able to answer most questions your hardware installer may have without them having to visit. You get two benefits from this:

Knowledge of what you have and what you want
Savings of time and therefore, money

List every hardware item on every door. Be sure to open the door and look on both the inside and the outside. Below is an illustration of some of the different kinds of hardware one may find on a door.

Don’t forget the wall or floor stops.

You may ultimately decide to reuse your existing hardware if it suits your intended use of the space and is in good working order. You may need to rely on your hardware installer to help you determine what may be kept and what should be discarded.

Fire Rated vs. Non Fire Rated

Fire rated doors are designed to resist the spread of a fire within a structure. Fire rated doors get their fire rating from Underwriters Laboratories and have a UL label on them showing the fire rating. Only fire rated hardware can be used on fire rated doors if the fire rating is to be maintained and your project is to pass inspection. Interior stairwell doors are always fire rated. Other interior doors often may be fire rated as well. Check all doors for fire labels; consult your local Fire Marshal if you are unsure.

Locks for fire doors are UL listed as such and must positively latch whenever the door is closed. Without exception, fire rated doors must be closed and positively latched in the event of a fire. Therefore fire rated doors always have a door closer and some kind of UL listed latching device, such as a mortise lock, fire rated exit device or UL listed cylindrical lock.

Non-fire rated exit devices may have a “dogging” mechanism that keeps the push bar pushed in so that the latch(es) remain retracted. Usually this is apparent as a small hole in the bar where a hex key can be inserted to dog the device down. Sometimes the dogging mechanism is operated by a key cylinder. If your device is equipped with any kind of dogging it is not a fire rated device.

Fire rated doors must be equipped to self-close. This must almost always be accomplished through the use of a door closer.
Exterior doors are not usually fire rated, or if they are labelled may not have to comply with the positive latching rule. Consult your local fire marshal or building inspector if you have any question.

Failure to comply with fire and life safety code can have expensive consequences so use extra care.

Dimensions

Accurate dimensions of door and frame are vital when choosing door hardware. Here are some common door measurements:

Width
Height
Thickness
Reveal
Stile width
Rail height

Door Width and height can be important when you are choosing a door closer or an exit device, and vital in complying with the American Disability Act (ADA) that requires openings to provide 32 inches of passage clearance. This includes the space occupied by the open door.

The Reveal.

Door thickness can be important when ordering door closers, exit devices and locks. Reveal dimension is important for certain types of door closer installations.

As shown in the illustration below, the stile is the vertical part of a door that is made up of the components, stile and rail, whereas the rail is the horizontal part. Most stile and rail type commercial doors are aluminum, although more and more of them are Fiber Reinforced Plastic.

Stile width is important when ordering locks or exit devices. Rail height is important when ordering door closers or electromagnetic locks.

Photos of doors are also good to have, but are not a substitute for accurate measurements.

Handing

The “hand” of a door describes the direction it swings in relation to its hinges. If you imagine yourself being the hinge, and your right hand is on the door while your left hand is on the frame (like the person in the picture), the door is Right Hand.

His right hand shows that this is a right hand door.

Doors are always Left Hand (LH) or Right Hand (RH) however some locks can be Left Hand, Right Hand, Left Hand Reverse (LHR) or Right Hand Reverse RHR). “Reverse” means that the locked side of the door is the pull side. If a ‘reverse’ handed lock is installed on a Right Hand door, the lock is said to be Left Hand Reverse. If it is installed on a Left Hand door it is said to be Right Hand Reverse.

All exit devices are reverse handed.

Location

The location of a door affects the hardware that can be installed on it. For example, locking exterior doors in commercial facilities designed to accommodate a given number of people are usually required to have panic hardware – that is, an exit device with a push bar that goes across the door, the actuating portion of which must measure at least half the width of the door. Most exit devices easily comply with this requirement.

All life safety code compliant buildings have a “path of egress,” that is, a clearly marked escape route in case people need to get out of the building in a hurry if, for example, the building is on fire. Electrically lit exit signs are usually required to be placed along the path of egress to show people where they need to go. Doors located in the path of egress are referred to as “egress doors” and are almost always required to swing in the same direction as the path of egress.

As previously discussed, while exterior doors are rarely fire rated, interior doors are often fire rated. Fire rated doors need to be positively latched in the event of a fire, so if you are using exit devices with electric latch retraction, the latches must be extended in the event of a fire; if you are using fire rated electric strikes, they must be locked in the event of a fire. Usually this is achieved (in both cases) through the use of a fire alarm interface relay, which is a device by which the fire alarm system can interrupt power to locking devices in the event of a fire.

Stairwell doors are unique in that not only are they fire rated – so they must be positively latched in the event of a fire – they must also usually be unlocked in the event of a fire. This is all fine and good if locking the stairwell doors is not required, (passage function mortise or Grade 1 cylindrical locks or fire rated exit devices with passage function trim will all do the job just fine) but when access control is required the range of choices is limited. Electric strikes cannot be used, but electrified fail safe mortise or cylindrical locks can be used as well as electrified fail safe exit device trim. All such devices must be automatically unlocked by the fire alarm system as described above.

Composition

What is your door made of? Doors made of different materials often require different kinds of hardware.

If a magnet is attracted to your door, then it is a hollow metal door. Hollow metal doors are perhaps the most popular doors to be used in commercial facilities.
Is your door mostly glass with a relatively slim frame around it? Then it is probably an aluminum storefront door.
Wooden doors are also common and used in all of the applications as hollow metal doors.
FRP (Fiber Reinforced Plastic) doors are also becoming more popular all the time, and they are available in different configurations to accommodate almost every application.

Lock Prep

Commercial hollow metal or wood doors are usually prepped one of three ways:

Blank – no prep whatsoever
86 Prep – prepared for mortise clock
161 Prep – prepared for cylindrical lock, 2-3/4 inch backset, with ANSI standard 4-7/8 inch tall strike

The 161 Prep is a prep for a cylindrical lock. It can be identified by a 2-1/8 inch diameter hole (called the ‘bore’) centered 2-3/4 inches from the edge of the door and a an opening in the edge of the door that is 2-1/4 inches high by 1-1/8 inches wide. Centered in this edge prep is a 1-inch diameter hole for the latch. The distance between the edge of the door and he centerline of the door is called the “backset.”

Most Grade 1 cylindrical lever locks have through-bolts that must be drilled outside the diameter of the 2-1/8 inch hole. Then it is said that the lockset has through-bolts “outside the prep.”

Aluminum and glass storefront doors have specialized hardware. Most hardware designed for other kinds of doors will not fit on a narrow stile storefront door, but may fit on a wide stile door. Aluminum doors most commonly come with a prep for an Adams Rite MS1850S deadbolt. Adams Rite offers other locks and exit devices that fit this same prep.

Locks

Lock Functions

There are many, many lock functions, but here are a few of the most common. Common lock functions often correspond to door use or location. Office doors are usually equipped with office function locks: locks that can be locked from the outside only by key, but can be locked from the inside by pushbutton or turn knob. Classroom doors get classroom or classroom security function locks. Single occupant bathrooms get privacy locks and/or occupancy indicator deadbolts. Janitors’ closets and storerooms are fitted with storeroom function locks. Non-locking doors get passage function locks: locks that are always unlocked from both sides.

Wherever you use an electric strike you will probably also use a storeroom function lock. You will also need a door closer.

In order to comply with ADA requirements, all locks should be equipped with lever handles. Check with your local building inspector to make sure your choice of lever design is ADA compliant.

Keying

Even if you intend to use electronic access control, your locks will probably still have keys. To determine which key will open which door, determine who will have access to that door. The more doors that are opened by the same key, the greater the convenience and the greater the security risk. Therefore key control must go hand in hand with keying.

If you are only using keys for access and have an existing master key system, it is helpful to have access to the bitting list for your system. If you do not have it on site, perhaps the locksmith who created the system still has it. With the bitting list a locksmith can determine whether it is possible to add more locks (more changes, s/he would say) to your system and may be able to safely add changes without creating keys that open more than one door in the system.

There are software programs on the market that create master key systems, but unless you are a locksmith I suggest you leave the keying (and the software) to a locksmith.

If you are creating a new group within an existing system – for example, you are head of maintenance at a small college that is opening a new department within an existing building – and you already have an institution-wide master key system in place, you may want to create a sub-master key that opens all the doors within this new group. This will be convenient, but remember to keep such a key in a safe place and be careful who you give it to. This is the essence of key control.
In addition to your new sub-master key, it is wise to key doors alike only when they will always be opened by the same people. For example your utility closets may only be opened by your maintenance staff, so you may want to key all your utility closets alike. They will also be accessible via the sub-master and the existing master key.

The important principle here is to realize that you put locks on door to keep people out and you give keys to people so that they can get in. Key control is making sure the people you want to keep out don’t get the keys and the people you want to let in do.

In addition to keying software, key control software is also available. Usually, however, if you are creating a small group of, say, 25 doors or less, a simple spreadsheet or even a hand written ledger may be all you need to keep track of your keys.

Access Control

The same principle applies to access control, but the practice of access control is much simpler. In access control you simply give everyone their own unique credential (magnetic stripe card, proximity card, pin code, etc.). The access control system keeps track of who accesses which door and when. You can have one credential open all the locks, but then you have to be careful who you give that credential to. It acts as your master key.

One advantage of access control is that you will be able to tell who accesses what door and when. If your project will house sensitive or expensive equipment or intellectual property, you may want the ability to keep records of the movements of people who have access to it.

Another advantage of access control is that you can change who has access to a given door without changing the lock. Often one can add and delete users from any given door right from one’s desk using the access control system software.

Other Door Hardware

Hinges

There are many, many varieties of hinges. On small projects I have found that the hinges and doors are often reused if they are in good working condition. But hinges must be replaced if they are damaged or worn. Take the time to identify and learn about the hinges on your job.

The overwhelming majority of hinges in the United States are one size, finish and configuration. They are 4-1/2 inches high and 4-1/2 inches wide; they have ball bearings to reduce friction and increase life; and, by far, most of them are satin chrome plated steel. They are full mortise hinges because both leaves are cut in: one is cut (or mortised) into the frame and one is cut into the door. These are called “butt hinges,” I’m not sure why.

The correct way to measure a hinge is [height] by [width] as shown in the illustration below:

You can check out my full article on hinges here.

Door Closers

I write of door closers at length elsewhere.

For your small commercial project you need to know how you want each door closer to behave on each door. There are some limitations. For example, you cannot have door closers with hold-open arms on fire rated doors unless they are electric and so can be released by the fire alarm. If you restrict your use of hold-open hardware to exterior doors you will be completely safe from code violations, but this is not always practical. Remember, therefore, that hold open hardware on fire doors must be releasable by the fire alarm panel and you should be okay.

As mentioned earlier, the reveal dimension of your header can affect whether or not you can use a closer mounted in top jamb configuration. Other opening idiosyncrasies – arch top doors, transoms, odd widths – can also affect your choice of door closer. My best advice is to take good measurements and consult with your qualified hardware installer.

Auto Operators

Also called power operators or automatic door openers, auto operators are growing more in demand every year as we move toward a more inclusive society. These devices are potentially dangerous if specified or installed incorrectly. Therefore if you need an automatic door opener your best bet is to hire an automatic door company. Your second best bet is to have your qualified hardware installer choose and install a low energy power operator that is designed to exert less force, thereby presenting less of a potential hazard.

Auxiliary / Decorative Hardware

On most openings one finds a door stop. The purpose of the door stop is usually to prevent the hardware on the door from hitting and damaging the wall, but sometimes it is used to prevent the door from opening too far. There is a great variety of door stops designed to accommodate different conditions.

In addition to door stops there may be kick plates or other protection plates, door viewers, lock guards, surface bolts, metal numerals or letters, mail slots, or various and sundry other hardware items to serve a myriad of purposes. Most of these items are fairly self explanatory.

Kick plates, armor plates and protection plates are measured like hinges: height x width.

Review

Once you have assembled the information and organized it by door number, review it as best you can for accuracy and completeness. You can always go back and check if you have to.

Door dimensions, handing, composition and location
Whether or not doors are fire rated or non-fire rated
List of existing hardware and/or lock preps
Lock functions, design, finish and keying (and access control)
Hinge sizes and finishes
Door closer functions and finishes
Auto operators, if any
Auxiliary hardware required

Armed with this information you will be on good footing when you discuss the job with your qualified door hardware installer. Best of luck with your project.

Overview: School Security Hardware

July 25, 2013 access control / builders hardware / door hardware / electric locking / Life Safety Hardware / security hardware

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Sargent 11-Line Cylindrical (bored) Lockset

Security in our elementary and secondary schools has become much more important. Schools across the country are implementing lockdown procedures in case of emergency. Lockdowns are achieved through the use of locks, and new lock functions have been developed for use in concert with existing lock functions to answer the need for increased security.

Classroom Security Locks

A regular, traditional classroom function lock is unlocked and locked from the outside by key and the inside lever is always unlocked, allowing free egress. The problem with this function from a lockdown point of view is that, in order to lock the door, the teacher must open the door to lock it, exposing themselves and potentially their students to danger as they do so.

All major lock companies are either developing a classroom security function or assigning that application to one of their existing functions. Basically, the principal is this: in the event of an emergency the teacher can lock the outside lever handle of the classroom door from inside the classroom, thereby securing the safety of the students without endangering themselves. The inside lever remains unlocked allowing free egress. When locked, entry from the outside is by key only.

Some companies have developed classroom security function locksets in which the outside lever can be locked or unlocked with either the inside key or the outside key. This allows the teacher to continue to use the lock as a traditional classroom lock unless an actual emergency develops.

Click here for a complete description of classroom security function in a mortise lock.

Electric Lock Down Systems

Some school districts have opted to lock down their perimeter doors with delayed egress systems. Delayed egress systems are a way of locking exterior entrance doors from both sides while allowing for emergency egress.

Quest for the 24-Inch Exit Device with Electric Latch Retraction

June 30, 2013 access control / builders hardware / door hardware / electric locking / hardware sales wars / Life Safety Hardware / security hardware

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I had a lot of fun recently trying to meet a customer’s requirement for a 4-foot by 7-foot pair of doors in a hospital that needed to be fire rated and automated. I found that Corbin and Yale (sister companies whose exit devices are almost identical) offer fire rated surface vertical rod exit devices with electric latch retraction that meet this need. The installer will be able to put some kind of little power operator on each 24-inch leaf of this four foot pair and cram two fire rated surface vertical rod devices onto these same narrow leaves. Doubtless it will look odd, but it will work.

Admittedly the whole idea is a bit dubious. True, by having both leaves opened simultaneously by power operators will provide amply more than the minimum 32-inch clearance demanded by the American Disabilities act, but if anyone manually opens either leaf it certainly will not.

Sargent and Von Duprin offer 24-inch fire rated exit devices, but neither offer them with electric latch retraction. It is unfortunately necessary to call these companies’ tech support lines in order to verify this information, since their price lists both show 24-inch possibilities without disclaiming the electric latch retraction option. Neither the Sargent nor the Von Duprin has a note to say the 24-inch device is not available with electric latch retraction that I could see; if that is in fact the case, the buyer is left to beware the exit device order that bounces back because it was ordered with options that are mutually incompatible.

It’s good advice anyway to always call the manufacturer’s tech support whenever there is a question. Waiting on hold is a lot better than storing thousand-dollar exit devices that didn’t work out on the job.

Note: A reader named Rick writes in with this about Sargent electric latch retraction: “Tom, I just stumbled across your site this evening, while doing a search for Fail Secure mag locks of all things (IR says there is one). But I saw your latest article on latch retraction units and had to clarify the Sargent restrictions. These can be found within the catalog pages, specifically the page showing the 56 option (toward the back). It says:

MinimumDoorWidths:

-Wide Stile Door 28″

– Narrow Stile Door 26″

Thank you, Rick, for this bit of info. I should add that it is always good to check all the literature at your disposal for any information you are looking for. Some manufacturers have more detail in their price list than in their catalog, and others vice versa. Thanks again.

Securitron’s new PowerJump ICPT™ Inductive Coupling Power Transfer

April 28, 2013 access control / door hardware / electric locking / security hardware

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Securitron’s new PowerJump ICPT™

The door hardware industry breathlessly awaits the debut of Securitron’s new PowerJump ICPT™ Inductive Coupling Power Transfer. The PowerJump is Securitron’s miraculous new device that may put a significant dent in the electric through-wire hinge market. I mean, why would you drill a half inch hole the width of a 36-inch door when you could install this little pair of black boxes on the lock side?

I downloaded the installation instructions from the Securitron web site to check out product attributes and characteristics. The first thing I noticed, having spent much of my career working with wooden doors, that the Securitron PowerJump ICPT is a bit friendlier to a hollow metal door or frame install than it is to a wood door or frame install. Because the body of the unit is almost the same size as the face, the installer must take great care to cut a very clean hole for the body so that the hole does not exceed the size of the face. This can be a little tricky when using a speed bore bit (or auger bit as mentioned in the instructions) to drill the two deep holes for the mortise pocket before cutting in the face.

One trick I have used to use when installing mortise locks was to cut in the face first and get that nice and clean before drilling the holes. I had good success with this because it gave me a very clear outline to stay within – much like coloring inside the lines with crayons in kindergarten. Installing the PowerJump is a lot like installing a really small mortise lock, actually. The face is the same width and a standard architectural grade mortise lock – 1-1/4 inches.

The PowerJump ICPT draws 500mA at 24 volts DC on the frame side, will transmit it across up to 3/16 inch of empty air and output either 250mA at 24VDC or 500mA at 12VDC on the door side. 500mA seems a little slim to be powering an electrified mortise lock. Usually I like to see a bit of a cushion when it comes to current, so I would usually not power a device that requires 250mA at 24 volts DC, like a Sargent electrified mortise lock, with a power source that provided no more than the 250mA required. I’d be a lot happier with a power source that has a capacity at least 1.5 times as great as the appliance being powered.

However, the average electrified hinge with 28-gauge through-wires only has a current rating of about 160mA and we have been powering electric mortise locks with these for decades. Since I am not an electrical engineer I am not sure how that works, but it does. I am also mystified by the science behind transmission of electrical current by induction. Therefore, like most installers, I trust Securitron to produce yet another innovative product that works well. I’ll be waiting to hear how installers like it when it is finally released. I know I’ll hear about it one way or another.

Securitech Lexi Electrified Exit Device Trim

July 17, 2012 access control / builders hardware / door hardware / electric locking / Life Safety Hardware / security hardware

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Great Problem Solver

The Securitech Lexi series retrofit exit device trim is available with a variety of back plates and adapters that allow it to be used with most major brands, including many surface vertical rod and concealed vertical rod exit devices. Compatibility with a variety of vertical rod devices is a major plus.

I mean, anybody can electrify a rim exit device by simply installing an electric strike. However, while it is possible to install an electric strike on a vertical rod device it rarely brings a good result. First of all, in order to use an electric strike you have to first lose the bottom rod. That just leaves one latch at the top of the door to provide all the security. If it is a tall door or a flexible door – like an aluminum storefront door – you can pull the bottom open several inches with just that top latch holding it. Add a little time and a little hinge sag and pretty soon you have no security at all.

The other solution is electric latch retraction, or electric latch pullback, as some manufacturers call it: relatively expensive compared with a Lexi trim. Also, electric latch retraction is a fail secure only solution when locking trim is used and therefore may be inapplicable to fail safe installs such as stairwells, unless passage function (always unlocked) trims are used.

I notice that right out of the box the Lexi is very self contained. Other than a tiny box containing mounting screws, tailpiece operators, and a cylinder collar and cam, what you see is pretty much what you get. It’s pretty hefty for its size – it is designed on the slim side so as to be usable on narrow stile as well as hollow metal or wood doors. This does mean that the installer may have to be a little creative when replacing a larger exit device trim with the Lexi.

Installation instructions are easy to follow and short – only four pages, including the template. Something I would have liked to see in the instructions, but didn’t, was current draw. If I am installing one of these, the number of amps it draws are not going to matter much to me. But if I am installing twenty of them and want a centralized power source, now it’s an issue. Yet it isn’t anything that an experienced low voltage specialist with a ammeter can’t find out in two seconds.

One of the great innovations I noticed right away is the rotation restriction clip that allows the installer to customize tailpiece rotation to the exit device. I do not think that this is handled better by any other manufacturer. Correct degree of rotation often determines whether a trim will work or not, and to have a trim that has degree of rotation so easily selectable is damn nice.

As mentioned in the sales literature, since Securitech’s Lexi trim is compatible with so many exit devices, if you have a facility with different brands of exit devices dispersed throughout, you can install access control and unify the exterior appearance at the same time. And in addition to being versatile it is also durable. Forcing the lever only causes its internal clutch to break away, and it can easily be set right by rotating it back the other way.

All in all the Securitech Lexi trim seems to be a well built, versatile problem solver. I think you’ll find it useful in many access control installations.

The Keyway: Gateway to the Cylinder

July 3, 2012 access control / Keys and Keying / security hardware

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The keyway is the shape of the keyhole of the lock cylinder into which the user inserts the key. The keyway is designed to allow only keys of the correct shape to be inserted such that, when properly made, they will align the pin tumblers properly and operate the cylinder. If you view a key from the tip, you can see how the shape of the key corresponds to the shape of the keyway.

The theory behind the keyway is to let only certain kinds of keys in and keep all others out, and keyways do this with varying amounts of success. A variation on this idea is the “sectional” keyway system in which keys of slightly different keyways are allowed to “pass” into the cylinder keyway. See the diagram of the Schlage hierarchy of keyways below:

The keyways shown at the bottom of the chart are designed to fit in only one keyway. Unlike the keyways shown in the top two rows, actual locks have the keyways in the bottom row. The keyways shown in the second row could be called sub-master sectional keyways because keys cut on blanks of these keyways will each pass several of the keyways in the bottom row. Keys cut on the “L” keyway shown at the top of the chart will pass all of the keyways below it. This keyway is designed to be used only at the level of Master or Grand Master key.

Unfortunately, some key duplicators use the “L” keyway key blanks to cut keys of any sectional keyway they may currently not have in stock. This shoddy practice degrades the security of a master key section that depends on sectional keyways for security.

Restricted Key or Restricted Keyway?

Keys can be stamped with the words, “Do Not Duplicate” or “Property of [insert name of institution or government agency here],” and that may stop some honest people from getting the key copied. The term, “restricted key,” however, usually means factory restricted keyway, and a factory restricted keyway can effectively inhibit unauthorized key duplication.

How Does a Factory Control a Keyway?

The most effective way to control unauthorized key duplication is to make the key blanks as difficult to get as possible. Key blanks are like blank paper to a copier. Imagine copy paper protected by a patent owned by a paper mill. The only place to get the paper would be the paper mill. Thus, one of the ways security hardware manufacturers protect a keyway is to protect it by patent law. Part of that protection is aggressively pursuing anyone who violates the patent with lawsuits and other legal instruments to prevent patent infringement.

Another way factories protect keyways is to keep records of who is using what keyway and where. Many companies have restricted key programs – Schlage Primus, Kaba Peaks and Medeco are a few examples. Factories may keep signatures of end users on file. In this case, requests for restricted products must be accompanied by a document that is signed with the correct signature or the factory will not release the product.

Some restricted keys come with an ID card that authorizes the card holder to get keys made. This is less secure than key duplication that is controlled at the factory, but it is a step up from keys that anyone can get made at Home Depot.

Keyways and Key Bumping

In order to use a bump key to open a lock, the key bumper needs to have the right blank. You cannot bump a cylinder with a bump key that has the wrong keyway. It won’t go in. Therefore, having a lock that has a somewhat rare keyway is a very easy and inexpensive way to make unauthorized entry by key bumping difficult. Most of the people out there bumping locks open are not the brightest bulbs in the lighting fixture. Challenge them with a hard-to-identify keyway and they will most likely be defeated.

Hardware Preparedness

March 30, 2012 access control / builders hardware / door hardware / Door Repair / Lock Repair

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Preparedness for the Commercial Door Hardware Installer

One of the most time consuming aspects of hardware installation is travel to and from the job. In a perfect world, the installer knows in advance everything they will need, but as we all know, the World of Hardware is not a perfect one. Often there is no opportunity to survey the job beforehand and the information given by the client is often either sketchy or nonexistent. As a result, travel time to and from is often doubled or tripled by the necessity to ‘go back to the shop’ to pick up the parts needed to complete a given job. A certain amount of travel time is billable, nevertheless your customer is not happy paying for it, trust me.

While it is virtually impossible for a hardware or access control installer to be always prepared for every need, here are some items that go a long way toward helping to reduce travel time that results from a lack of parts.

Generally Speaking

The first rule of hardware preparedness is to pay attention. What kind of hardware does your customer have, and what do they have that tends to break? If your customer has a building full of mortise locks will swivel spindles, best keep a few of those spindles on the truck because you know they are going to break in the middle. If your customer has entrances with Doromatic 1690 or 1990 concealed vertical rod devices, you’d better stock a few pinion cams because you know the teeth are going to break off of them. Whenever you repair anything that looks like it’s poorly made and notice there is a quantity of it on the property, best carry what you need to fix it.

If you are doing a lot of work for a client and they have a particular kind of lock, be sure to stock a few. The property manager will be impressed when you triumphantly produce one from your service vehicle in the nick of time.

Fasteners

You know what fasteners you often find missing in action. Undercut flat Philips head 12-24 1/2-inch self tapping hinge screws, for example. In an emergency they can double as ANSI strike screws. Collect those 6-32 3/4-inch combination machine/wood screws from tubular and cylindrical lock latch and bolt fronts. They can double as screws for a mortise lock armor front if you cut them short. For aluminum doors it can be very handy to carry some 10-32 x 2-inch flat head Philips machine screws, and its always good to have a few universal mounting tabs around just in case.

Other Stuff

On the electrical side it’s always good to have a SPDT relay, one each of a 12vdc and 24vdc 1-Amp plug-in power supply and a 4-1/2 x 4-1/2 4-wire electric power transfer hinge in satin chrome are all things that one tends to find oneself wishing for on the job; the Securitron TM-9 timer module sure does come in handy sometimes; on the lock frontier it’s always good to have a few cheap replacement cylinders for emergencies; and a full surface reinforcing pivot hinge can be a life saver sometimes, though because they are handed you do have to carry both hands for the full prophylactic effect.

In addition to these common sense items there are a couple of products that can save a parts run, too.

LCN 4040XP

The 4040XP in the RW/PA configuration (by the LCN Door Closer division of Ingersoll Rand) is a non-handed door closer like many others that can be installed in either regular, top jamb or parallel arm mount. Its adjustable spring tension makes it a perfect choice for doors that require a lot of force to close due to wind or other conditions, or for an ADA compliant opening that must open with minimal resistance. If the installer carries the closer and the 4040-18, 4040-18PA and 4040-18TJ drop plates, they will be able to install the 4040XP on almost any door. The most popular finish of the 4040XP is 689 aluminum.

HES Electric Strikes with Faceplate Options

Hanchett Entry Systems (HES) has greatly advanced the concept of the modular electric strike since the company was founded.

The HES 1006 is field selectable for 12 or 24 volts DC power input, and with an optional Smart Pac line conditioner you can use anything from 12 to 32 volts AC or DC. A variety of available faceplates for the 1006 enable the strike to accommodate virtually any lock. Carrying a 1006 body with one each J option, K option, KD option and KM option faceplates and one Smart Pac will allow the installer to fill the need for an electric strike for 95% of all storeroom function cylindrical and mortise locks where the installation involves a hollow metal frame.
The HES 5200 is field selectable for 12 or 24 volts DC power input and any power input from 12 to 32 volts AC or DC with a Smart Pac. Unlike the 1006, the 5200 is field selectable for fail safe or fail secure. Since the 5200 has a three quarter inch keeper depth it will accommodate a mortise lock in a pinch, but really the 5200 is for use with cylindrical locks in hollow metal, wood or aluminum frame applications or for aluminum storefront door applications that include the Adams Rite deadlatch. I recommend installers carry one each of the 501, 502 and 503 faceplate options to be prepared for the majority of these installations.

There are many things I’m sure I’ve missed: electrical tape, fifty feet of 18/2 non-shielded wire, really sharp wood chisels, batteries – all kinds of stuff. But don’t worry. You’ll know what it is the next time you have to drive back to the shop to get it.

Cabinet Access Control

February 18, 2012 access control

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Rutherford Controls 3510 Electric Cabinet Lock

Cabinet security was already a concern in hospitals where drug theft is a problem, but has become an increased concern particularly in U.S. hospitals where new HIPAA privacy security regulations have mandated that patient data be secured by key or pass code locking device. There are a wide variety of locking arrangements available to accomplish the task.

Simplex combination cabinet locks appear often in this application. They are relatively inexpensive, not too hard to install, and accomplish basic compliance with HIPAA. The regulations state that access to codes (or keys) should be limited, however, when you have a five-button mechanical combination lock, several hundred people can know the combination in a very short time by word of mouth. Therefore a more costly and complex solution might be necessary in order to comply with the spirit of the regulations that are designed to actually protect patients’ privacy.

The best way to control people is to make them individually responsible. That’s what electronic access control is all about. Typically an institution adopts electronic access control for the audit trail capabilities that monitor who does what, where and when. So if a patient’s information goes viral on the ‘Net, the debacle can more probably be traced back to its source.

As for credentials, biometrics is the most secure since one cannot share their fingerprint, but card or fob credentials are also effective. People are less likely to share any credential that can be traced back to them. Of course, unlike a fingerprint on a live finger, a card or prox fob could be stolen. I do recommend a physical credential of some kind because PIN numbers are too easily shared.

The drawback to electronic security as applied to cabinets is that most available, good access control hardware tends to be hard wired. Wiring can be difficult in such tight spaces, yet there are some solutions available. For example, a resourceful access control installer could use an SDC model 1583 electromagnetic cabinet lock and an IEI Prox.pad keypad/proximity reader to secure a cabinet. For a fail secure locking device, an RCI 3513 electric cabinet lock could be substituted for the SDC 1583. The system would run on 24 volts DC and would need a power supply, but at least you could get audit trail and time zone capability out of it, with a Wiegand output for your existing access control system.

There are some glimmers of hope. There are some stand-alone, battery operated cabinet locks that read a proximity card or i-Button. But these are simply add-and-delete-user systems that allow control of who has access but does not keep track of when. Without audit trail capability, access control is little better than that Simplex mechanical combination lock or a regular cabinet lock with its regular brass key.

For now the ultimate solution for cabinet security seems to be to put the cabinet in a locked room and use access control on the room rather than the cabinet. But I think that will change, don’t you?

Multi-function Doorways, Part Two

January 21, 2012 access control / door hardware / Life Safety Hardware / security hardware

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Secured stairwell doors are among the most basic multi-function door applications. In most jurisdictions they must (usually)* be both unlocked and positively latched in the event of a fire. Unlocked so that if a person, fleeing into the stairwell during a fire, finds the stairwell full of smoke, they can safely exit the stairwell. Positively latched so that the door will remain latched closed against the spread of the fire.

Until there is a need for access control, a passage function mortise lock, cylindrical lock with UL listed latch or exit device with passage function trim are fine. The application begins to get interesting when the need arises to lock a stairwell door.

Right up front, electric strikes are out of the question because of the unlocked/positive latching requirement mentioned above. It is not possible to positively latch a door when the electric strike is unlocked. There is no such thing as a fire rated, fail safe electric strike. If you configure a fire rated electric strike to be fail safe it voids the fire rating.

Since electric strikes are unusable for this application, that leaves either electric locks or electromagnetic locks. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Fail safe electric locks positively latch whereas mag locks allow the installer to us the existing hardware on the door to accomplish positive latching. Electric locks require running wire through the door and some means of getting the wire from the frame into the door, such as an electric through-wire hinge. Not all inspectors like electromagnetic locks, so before you install them be sure to check with your local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ ) – that is, Fire Marshal or Building Inspector.

If the stairwell door already has a fire rated exit device installed, there is probably a fail safe electrified trim available for it. Once again, this means an electric through-wire hinge or other power transfer device would be required. Sometimes existing exit devices are incompatible with the electrified trims available for that brand and model of device. If that is the case, the exit device might have to be replaced with one that is compatible with electrified trim.

Alternatively, there are after market request to exit (a.k.a. RX) switches available for most exit devices. One could be used to release an electromagnetic lock on the stairwell door.

Usually it is required that all electric locking devices on stairwell doors be controlled by the fire alarm panel. When the fire alarm is in a state of alarm, it unlocks all the stairwell doors. Two conductor wire is run from the fire alarm panel contacts to a special fire alarm relay in the power supply that powers the electric locks on the stairwell doors. The alarm panel opens the circuit, causing the state of the fire alarm relay to change, thus powering down the fail safe locks and thereby leaving them unlocked.

An important detail: technically speaking, according to most building and life safety codes, fire rated doors can only be modified in a fire rated shop. Therefore if you field cut a raceway for an electric wire through the cross members of the door, for example, you are probably voiding the fire rating. I have never heard of anyone being called on this, but it is good to keep in mind. Just like it is good to keep in mind that the AHJ has total authority over what you can or can’t install. Best make sure you’re on the same page with her or him, otherwise they do have the power to make you remove what you installed and replace both door and frame to repair the damage.

Happy hardware and good luck to you.

*Some jurisdictions specify that not all stairwell doors need be unlocked in the event of a fire, only certain doors. For example, I have known some places where code was the door had to be unlocked at every fourth floor. Check with your local AHD to find out what the rules are for your location.

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