Electric Strikes in Raleigh
Installation, replacement and fault diagnosis for electric strikes on Raleigh commercial doors, including buzzing units, burned coils and doors that will not release under load. Call (984) 207-5553.
Purpose of This Page
An electric strike replaces the fixed keeper in the door frame with one that swings clear on command, letting the existing latch pass without unlocking the lock itself. It is the least disruptive way to add remote or credential entry to a door that already has sound mechanical hardware, and it is the default specification on most commercial openings.
This page covers selecting the right strike, preparing the frame, wiring it for the duty it will actually see, and diagnosing the handful of faults that account for most service calls. It includes branded units such as HES. Where a door needs no latching hardware at all, the magnetic lock page covers that alternative.
What an Electric Strike Assembly Contains
The strike is the metal pocket in the frame that a latch bolt drops into. An electric strike swaps that fixed pocket for a hinged keeper held in place by a solenoid. Energize it and the keeper is free to swing, so the door opens while the latch stays extended and the lock stays locked.
Nothing on the door changes. The lever, cylinder and key all keep working exactly as before, which is why anyone inside can still leave whether or not the strike has power. That single property is the main practical advantage over a magnetic lock.
What varies between units is the fail mode, the duty rating, the faceplate profile and the latch type the keeper is cut to accept. Those four choices, rather than the brand, decide whether a strike performs for a decade or burns out in a season.
Where an Electric Strike Fits
An electric strike suits almost any door that already latches properly: offices, suites, stockrooms, tenant entries, clinic doors and back-of-house openings. Because the mechanical lock is untouched, the door keeps its existing key control and its existing egress behavior, and the retrofit is confined to the frame.
It is the correct choice on fire-rated openings, where positive latching must be maintained and a fail-secure strike keeps the latch engaged at all times. It is equally suitable where the building wants entry by credential during business hours and key control outside them.
It is the wrong choice where no frame pocket can be cut, where the door has no latch to release, or where the frame is so distorted that the latch never lands in the same place twice. Those openings usually need alignment work first, and occasionally a magnet instead.
Matching the Strike to Lock and Frame
The latch decides the strike. A cylindrical lockset with a plain latch and a separate deadlatch plunger needs a faceplate that supports the plunger, because if the plunger drops into the pocket instead of resting on the face, the door can be shimmed open with a card. A mortise lock with a deadbolt above the latch needs a strike cut for both, and a rim exit device needs a surface strike rather than a frame pocket.
The frame decides the preparation. Aluminum narrow-stile frames take slim strikes designed for that profile, usually with a filler kit. Hollow metal frames need cutting, and a grouted frame needs a mortar guard behind the body. Wood frames need reinforcement, because the original screws rarely land in anything solid once the pocket is enlarged.
Getting either of these wrong is how an opening ends up latching intermittently for years, with the blame landing on the door closer. The check takes minutes before the work starts and is difficult to unwind afterwards.
Diagnosing a Strike That Will Not Release
The quickest diagnostic on an electric strike takes under a minute. Trigger it with the door closed and latched, then trigger it again while pulling the door towards the pull side, then once more with the door standing open. A strike that only releases when the pressure is taken off is suffering preload, and the fault lies with the closer, the weatherstrip or a warped leaf rather than with the electronics.
If it will not release in any state, voltage is measured at the strike itself while it is being triggered, not at the power supply. Coils draw a brief inrush well above their holding current, so an undersized supply or a long run in thin conductors can leave a strike buzzing without ever pulling the keeper clear.
A burned-out coil, often with a faint smell around the frame, nearly always traces to the wrong voltage or to an intermittent-duty unit left permanently energized. Constant buzzing with no release usually means a jammed keeper or a controller output stuck on, and it will destroy the coil if left.
Installation and Testing Sequence
The opening is assessed first: latch type, frame material and profile, whether the door is fire rated, and what will trigger the release. Fire rating settles the fail mode before anything else is decided.
The frame is prepared to suit the body, with a mortar guard in grouted frames and reinforcement in timber. The faceplate is set so the deadlatch plunger lands on the face rather than dropping into the pocket.
Power is run in conductors sized for the distance and terminated at a supply rated for inrush as well as holding current. Fail-safe openings additionally get their fire alarm interface wired and labeled.
Testing is done in three states: closed and latched, closed under pull, and open. Keeper travel, latch engagement and the release input are each confirmed, and the closer is adjusted if it is producing preload.
Fail-Secure or Fail-Safe
A fail-secure strike stays locked when power is lost. Security is maintained through an outage, the door still opens from the inside mechanically, and a labeled fire door keeps the positive latching its rating requires. This is the right answer for the large majority of openings.
A fail-safe strike releases when power is lost. It suits a small number of doors that must free up on alarm where no other hardware provides that function. It draws current continuously to stay locked, so it needs a supply sized accordingly and normally a fire alarm interface of its own.
Specifying fail-safe where fail-secure belongs is a common and expensive error, and it is usually discovered either at inspection or during the first outage, when a building that should have stayed locked did not.
Strike, Magnet or Electrified Lock
An electric strike keeps mechanical security and free egress, needs no power crossing to the door leaf, and is straightforward to service. That combination is why it is the default on commercial doors.
A magnetic lock suits openings where the door has no usable latch or the frame cannot be cut, at the cost of full release wiring and a lock that gives up security in an outage. An electrified lever or exit device trim suits high-traffic doors where the latch must stay under positive control at all times.
Where exit hardware is already fitted, electrifying it is often tidier than adding a separate device; see panic bars and exit devices. Selection normally happens alongside commercial lock installation and the wider access-control system.
Fire Doors, Egress and Inspection
On a labeled fire door, the strike must be fail-secure and the opening must latch positively every time it closes. A fail-safe unit on that opening defeats the rating, and so does a door that is not reaching its latching position because the closer has been wound down to stop it slamming.
Egress is generally straightforward with a strike, because the mechanical lock is untouched and the lever or exit device always retracts the latch. The exception is any arrangement that requires two actions or a key to get out, which is a finding an inspector will act on.
Where the strike is fail-safe, the fire alarm interface is part of the installation rather than an extra. It is tested and labeled at handover along with the rest of the release path.
Raleigh Conditions Worth Planning For
Exterior doors in the Triangle corrode at the keeper long before they fail electrically. The first sign is usually a sluggish keeper or a latch that catches in wet weather, and the fix at that stage is cleaning and adjustment rather than replacement.
Summer heat expands aluminum leaves and frames, which is the most common local cause of preload appearing in July on a door that behaved perfectly in January. The same door will often release cleanly on a cool morning, which misleads people into blaming the controller.
Storm-season outages expose fail-mode mistakes the moment the power drops. A building with fail-safe strikes where fail-secure was appropriate discovers it the first time the power drops, which is the wrong moment to find out.
Maintenance and Owner Checks
Two checks cover most of what an owner needs. First, confirm the door latches by itself from a gentle push rather than needing a shove; a door that does not latch reliably is not secure regardless of the strike. Second, listen when the release is triggered, since a buzz that never stops is a fault worth reporting.
Keep weatherstripping in reasonable condition. Compressed or swollen strip is a frequent cause of preload, and it is far cheaper to replace than a burned coil.
If the strike stops releasing entirely, note whether it behaves differently when the door is pulled towards you. That single observation usually tells a technician whether the visit is an electrical repair or an alignment job.
Planning the Service Visit
For a new installation, the decisive details are the frame material and profile, the lock currently on the door, whether the opening is fire rated, and what will trigger the release. For a repair, the useful information is what the strike does now: silent, buzzing, releasing only when the door is pulled, or nothing at all.
Photographs of the frame cut-out and of the latch on the door edge answer most questions in advance, and often determine whether the right part can be brought to the first visit.
Locksmith Raleigh covers Raleigh and the wider Triangle. Use the contact page or call (984) 207-5553 to describe the opening.
Send photographs of the frame cut-out and the latch, and say whether the door is fire rated.
Contact Locksmith RaleighFrequently Asked Questions
Expand a question to review the reasoning behind each answer.
Can an electric strike be added to the lock I already have?
Usually yes, and that is the main reason to choose one. The strike replaces the keeper in the frame, so the existing lever, cylinder and key keep working unchanged. What has to match is the latch type, whether a cylindrical latch with a deadlatch plunger, a mortise lock with a deadbolt, or a rim exit device, and the frame profile. Both are checked before quoting, because a strike that suits the latch but not the frame is the usual reason a job stalls halfway.
Why does my electric strike buzz?
A strike powered by AC buzzes whenever it is energized, which is normal and sometimes specified deliberately so staff can hear the release. Buzzing that never stops is different: it usually means the controller output is stuck on, the keeper is jammed, or a release button has failed closed. An intermittent-duty unit left energized will eventually burn out its coil, so continuous buzzing is worth a call rather than a wait.
Does the door still open during a power cut?
From the inside, always. The mechanical lock is untouched, so the lever or exit device works whether or not the strike has power. From the outside it depends on the fail mode: a fail-secure strike stays locked and opens with the key as normal, while a fail-safe strike releases and leaves the door openable until power returns. Fail-secure is correct for nearly all openings and is the only correct choice on a fire door.
The strike clicks but the door will not open. What is wrong?
That is the signature of preload. The door closer, weatherstripping or a warped leaf is pressing the latch hard against the keeper, and the solenoid cannot overcome that side load. The test is to pull the door towards you and trigger it again; if it releases cleanly, the fault is mechanical. Closer adjustment, weatherstrip replacement or strike repositioning resolves it.
How long should an electric strike last?
A correctly specified unit on a well-aligned door lasts many years, since the only moving part is the keeper. The two things that shorten that dramatically are the wrong voltage or duty rating, which cooks the coil, and a misaligned door that hammers the keeper on every closing cycle. Both are avoidable at installation.
Can one strike serve a pair of doors?
Only the active leaf takes the strike. The inactive leaf is normally secured by flush bolts or a vertical rod device, and the strike is fitted either to the frame or into the inactive leaf depending on the hardware. Pairs need the meeting stiles to be in good alignment first, because a pair that has dropped will defeat any strike fitted to it.