Do you know the difference between what a maglock, a shear lock and a door strike?

How about we talk about access control and the difference between real security and the illusion of security… Do you guys know the difference between what a maglock, a shear lock and a door strike? Do you know which application each one is used for and how it protects? For example did you realize that a maglock, unless powered by a battery backed up power supply unit, is useless during a power outage, while a strike lock if set to fail secure will hold regardless? Let’s explore the different scenarios to help determine which one is right for your specific installation. A maglock ranges from simple 80 Lbs. holding force cabinet locks to the impressive 1625 Lbs. holding force of a gate maglock, first thing to determine is location, is it going to be used at a dry location or does it need to be weather proof? Next thing to consider is the fact that you may need to use a UL rated maglock due to interconnection to a life safety device such as a fire alarm system or burglar alarm system or a commercial application. Then you have to figure out if your doors open inward or outward, this will decide if you need a Z-bracket or not (if your door opens inward you would have to mount your lock on the exposed outer side of the frame, hence the Z-bracket which allows you to install the maglock on the inside of the door above the door frame)… and although you do not NEED to have one, when using a maglock it is always recommended to also power it from a battery backed up supply or source. The shear lock works much like the maglock, with the difference being that it is much less obvious and much less obtrusive as the magnet gets mounted inside of the door frame and the plate gets mounted on the edge of the door, this gives you an elegant and safe option to a maglock as the plate has two pins that fit inside of the lock and is capable of exerting up to 2200 Lbs. holding force to avoid the door being forced open. This is specially viable for metal doors, custom doors or doors that swing both ways (yes they do exist, and I have done installs on custom gates with such a configuration)!!!

Last but not least is the strike lock, the always trusted and much regaled “buzzer” lock which until recently has been used in every controlled entryway of almost every building in every metropolitan area… This door strike is a simple electromechanical system that when it has power applied to it, it simply activates a solenoid which then frees up a locking tongue allowing you to pull the door or gate open, it so well known as a buzzer because when powered by an AC power source the 60 Cycles of the standard alternating current causes it to make a buzzing sound. These will keep the door locked or release it on power failure depending of your choice of “Fail Safe =Release” or “Fail Secure = Keep Locked”! So whatever choice you make on securing your clients entryway, make sure you consider all of your options as well as give your clients all of the available choices for a better, more elegant and a dependable and reliable installation.