Pics of my maglock mounted.

[IVB]

Ok, I finished up the maglock install, hook into Elk keypads, & connected into CQC. Check out the pics, they're pretty self-explanatory. I had to use 2x4 to fashion an L bracket as the 300# maglock doesn't come with one.

I can now arm/disarm the outer door through the keypad that's mounted at the front-door or through CQC. I'm going to setup a rule in the Elk to automatically lock it when the Elk is set to ArmStay mode, and unlock it upon Disarm.

Most importantly, the wife is happy I got this done before Halloween as we can lock the doors up at 8pm tomorrow night, and the hooligan ruffian types will hopefully just move on to the other house.

And here's the CQC screen. Although now that I look at it, I wonder if I should flip the red/green status, or perhaps use another set of on/off images.

 

[mustangcoupe]

Dont forget to add a rule if the smokes go off and you are in arm stay to unlock them!!

 

[RandyKnight]

All I can say is you're a lucky, lucky man when it comes to WAF. I can't imagine what my wife would say if I was putting in mag locks at all, particularly with 2x4's like that.

That said, she can pull wire with the best of us. I have witnesses.

 

[IVB]

All I can say is you're a lucky, lucky man when it comes to WAF. I can't imagine what my wife would say if I was putting in mag locks at all, particularly with 2x4's like that.

That said, she can pull wire with the best of us. I have witnesses.

I live and usually die by the "It is better to ask forgiveness than for permission" adage.

She didn't know until about 1hr ago, when she saw it. She too pointed out the 2x4's, esp my rough cut, when I pointed out that tomorrow was Halloween and we live in Oakland, and the OPD isn't the fastest to respond. Granted a decent part of Oakland, but we get about 300-500 kids/year for halloween, and certainly a decent amount of sketchy ones after 8pm.

That pretty much made her agree that it was good. That said, she's looking into custom-bent sheet metal for the backsplash, so she said she'll add a decent L-bracket to the list.

But, yes, for WAF and many other reasons, I am a lucky man.

 

[carry15+1]

Just wondered if you've "tested" the mag lock yet? You know, give a nice hard push against the door to see how well it holds?

 

[IVB]

I've tried pulling on it. Holds relatively well. If you notice the 3rd picture, you'll see that the door it secures is basically a 6x2 glass frame design. That means that the door will definitely break before the maglock gives out.

Based on my prior tests with the maglock mounted on just the 2x4's, I'd bet I couild take it out if I put my mind to it but it wouldn't be simple. Then again, I'm 215lbs, and can generate a decent amount of heave.

BTW, I typo'ed above - I need a decent looking Z-bracket, not an L-bracket. I'm also going to see how i can embed the 600# version into the door or frame itself when I do the front/back doors. I just have to figure out how to do that without compromising the strength.

 

[tech-home]

We use them all the time and they are great. We have some fairly large people try to open them but can't.

But besides the fire rule as suggested, which is most likely fire code in most areas, think about a push button near the door to unlock them. We have crash bars or motion sensors on the doors but for residentials I would do a push button. Also I hope you set them up fail safe?

Brian
http://tech-home.com

 

[Squintz]

I like the maglock idea but would not be caught dead mounting them with 2x4's like you have done. I think the 2x4's would give long before the maglocks or glass door. But in all reality the strength of the lock does not matter because the glass is probably the weakest entry into your house. Are you sure there are no other ways to mount them that would look better though?

 

[IVB]

So many questions about the look&feel - is this the same forum where folks tape magnets onto washing machines and oven dials to determine whether they're on or not?

There are certainly better ways to mount it. However, I wanted a "real world test bench" to see if this would actually be useful before going through all that time. I'm going to see if I can notch out the top of the door frame and the door, and embed it in there so it's nearly fully invisiblke.

Also I hope you set them up fail safe?

Yes, I set them up on a N/O circuit. I also setup ~7ish rules for "if fire turns on, unlock". I didn't do "all alarms" as I was going to research whether i'm allowed to leave it on [or turn it on] in the event of a burglar alarm.

glass is probably the weakest entry into your house.

Yep. That's not actually the front door - the way many older CA houses (1910 craftsman style) are, there's 2 front doors - one leading into a "mud room", where you can take off your shoes/get out of room/etc, and the regular front door. Given that we have a bench box with all our shoes in it, and that we've got a TON of solicitors and homeless folks that walk through the neighborhood, the goal of the maglock is simply to keep out the casual passer-by.

If I can solve the aesthetics problem, i'll mount the 600# version on the front door with that push button. (good idea, brian)

 

[ano]

And a battery backup? I use an electronic deadbolt which is "failsafe" and have at least 8 hours battery time. That should give me enough time to get home and activate a normal lock should the power not be restored.

 

[mkensinger]

IVB,

Just a comment I thought I'd pass on....for what it's worth.

I use mag locks on the front entrance of our building (work) driven by kantech KT-200 door controllers. Everything ran great for about 8 months, then I lost the control output for the mag lock channel.

The alarm company figured it was "just a bad board" and replaced the controller. This weekend I got a call at three AM telling me that someone had just opened the front door of the building...the board had failed again and left the place wide open (I live two hours away from work, so I wasn't happy AT ALL to drive there and chain the door closed).

I was pretty angry about the whole situation and demanded that they fix the thing or take the whole system out...it turns out that the (quote from the kantech manual) "electromagnetic coils generate high levels of electrical noise or arcing current which could be induced into the KT200 circuit. Use external switcing relays to prevent damage to the KT200".

They have now installed external relay to keep from frying the internal relay. Even thhough the controllers relays are rated at 2 amps, but can't handle the mag locks for very long.

This may not have any effect on your system at all, but since I have two fried controllers because of the mag locks (alarm company covered it under warranty...even the installation of the external relay), I figured I would, at the very least pass on my experience.

With My Best

Michael

 

[IVB]

that is good to know. i'm not using these as alarm sensors, just a simple external relay via the M1XOVR to open/close a DC circuit. I'm not going to ever have them as alarm-types, just as a secure mechanism for night-time mode.

Now the electric door strike/deadbolts, that's another story...

 

[sdanks]

Use external switcing relays to prevent damage to the KT200".

They have now installed external relay to keep from frying the internal relay. Even thhough the controllers relays are rated at 2 amps, but can't handle the mag locks for very long.

The maglocks do send out a high voltage induced emf, but if you use a reversed diode it will short the back emf to the circuit. . . . or a big relay will work. But, I would put one on the relay as well. I got shocked when I was holding the power leads while testing my maglock, and decided to put the diode across it when I did.

a 1n4004 should do nicely.

When the back emf is applied, it will short across the diode and not the circuit.

 

[Lagerhead]

a 1n4004 should do nicely.

What is a diode's expected lifetime in an application like this?

 

[gatchel]

Use external switcing relays to prevent damage to the KT200".

They have now installed external relay to keep from frying the internal relay. Even thhough the controllers relays are rated at 2 amps, but can't handle the mag locks for very long.

The maglocks do send out a high voltage induced emf, but if you use a reversed diode it will short the back emf to the circuit. . . . or a big relay will work. But, I would put one on the relay as well. I got shocked when I was holding the power leads while testing my maglock, and decided to put the diode across it when I did.

a 1n4004 should do nicely.

When the back emf is applied, it will short across the diode and not the circuit.

I would suggest not using a diode for a maglock application. The diode will delay the collapse of the magnetic field and cause the mag to "stick" or delay unlocking. I have seen this several times in the field.

I would use a MOV instead.