12v solenoid bolt lock

[rsb1873rsb]

Hi..... I'm looking for some advice on a lock that i have had installed for around

2 years now in that time i have replaced the lock itself 3 times at a cost of over a thousand pounds as well as rewiring the entire circuit and moving the power supply to within 5 metres and upping it to a 5a The problem i keep encountering is after only a few weeks the bolt starts t o remain in the locked posistion after the push to exit botton has been pre ssed or the card reader is activated from the outside. It is a trimec lock that is fitted and it is supposed to open on a power cu t but as i stated it remains locked as the bolt seems to be jamming. this is not an allingnment problem as the bolt does not rub on the magnetic plate on the ground it fits freely through the hole on the base plate as i ts locking but jams when opening and of course the lock comes with instruct ions that the bolt is not to be lubricated.

Cheers Rab

[newshound]

So how do you release it? Is there a manual release on the inside of the door? Is it a spring insert and electrical withdrawal, or the other way around? I know you say it should release on a power cut, but the system could have a battery. I think the first thing to do is to try to establish whether it is an electrical or a mechanical problem.

The advice to "not lubricate" is fairly standard, and it has some merit because lubricants do attract dirt, but when you have a problem and are in diagnostic mode it can often be useful to apply a spray of thin, penetrating lubricant which may reveal if you have a mechanical problem.

[Robert Blair]

und 2 years now in that time i have replaced the lock itself 3 times at a c ost of over a thousand pounds as well as rewiring the entire circuit and mo ving the power supply to within 5 metres and upping it to a 5a

ts to remain in the locked posistion after the push to exit botton has been pressed or the card reader is activated from the outside.

r cut but as i stated it remains locked as the bolt seems to be jamming.

etic plate on the ground it fits freely through the hole on the base plate as its locking but jams when opening and of course the lock comes with inst ructions that the bolt is not to be lubricated.

hi......the door is activated by a card reader from the outside and a push to exit button from the inside and the lock itself is power on for door loc ked so the reader and the push to exit button cut the power which is all wo rking as it should the problem is that the bolt does not retract back when its supposed to and there is no signs of it jamming on the base plate as wh en locked you can feel movement in each direction so the bolt is centered i n the hole in the base plate and isn't catching on that......cheers rab

[Chris J Dixon]

Are you able to replicate the jam condition by locking and unlocking when the door is actually open, or do you simply surmise that the striker plate alignment has no influence on the situation?

Are you able to verify that the control system does indeed remove power from the solenoid when it is supposed to?

When it has actually jammed, how do you open the door?

In that condition, does it then always jam, or just occasionally?

For mechanical locks, it is often suggested that graphite powder (sold in puffer packs for the purpose) can provide effective lubrication without the problem that oils have of attracting dirt build-up.

Chris

[Roger Mills]

I don't know what model of lock you have but, looking at the fitting instructions for one random Trimec lock (ES200), that appears to be switchable between fail safe and fail secure. Is there any way in which your lock could have ended up in the fail secure state by accident?

[Peter Parry]

It may still be a problem with the door moving and catching the bolt. Try locking the door while it is open (to get the bolt to protrude) then use a felt tip pen to cover the entire surface of the bolt.

Close the door and cycle the lock/unlock (preferably until you get it to reproduce the fault) then examine the bolt for scuff marks.

I once has a similar lock which only malfunctioned when it was a nice day - the problem was that when it was nice the upstairs office workers opened their windows and the prevailing wind caused slight pressure drop in the building which pulled the door which jammed the bolt.

[charles]

or powdered graphite - sold at locksmiths.

[GB]

I Fitted a CISA electromechanical lock to the front door of my old office building. The door was slightly warped (this being a Victorian building and the door being 100 years old) and the bolt would not retract when the wind was from the West and fairly brisk. The wind was pushing the bolt against the housing, so the spring inside the lock was not strong enough to retract the bolt. The solution was to push/pull the door, so as to oppose the effect of the wind pressure, whereupon the bolt would just slide open happily.

[newshound]

When it is stuck, how do you release it? Using the push to exit button on the inside? Is that an *elecrical* button or a mechanical one?

You need to establish whether you have an electrical problem or a mechanical one.

The fact that you can move the door when the bolt is down does tend to suggest that the bolt is centred in the base plate, but it does *not* prove that you do not have a mechanical problem either below the base plate or within the "tube" in the door which the bolt slides into. There might be something in either location there providing sufficient resistance to stop the withdrawal spring from working (assuming this is what retracts the bolt), but not preventing some movement of the door.