PN# 500-21400
Page 13
Rev. C, 05/12
C.
TROUBLESHOOTING
PROBLEM: No magnetic attraction between magnet and strike plate.
First be sure the Magnalock is being correctly powered with DC voltage. This includes
connecting the power wires with correct polarity. Positive must go to red and negative to
black. If the magnet body is wired in reverse polarity, it will not be damaged, but it will not
operate. If the unit continues to appear dead, it must be electrically checked with an
Ammeter. It must be powered with the correct input voltage and checked to see if it draws the
specified current. If the unit meters correctly, it is putting out the correct magnetic field and
the problem must lie in the mounting of the strike.
PROBLEM: Reduced holding force.
This problem usually expresses itself in terms of being able to kick the door open or to open it
with a shoulder. Check the strike and magnet face to see if some small obstruction is
interfering with a flat fit. Even a small air gap can greatly reduce the holding force. Another
possibility is if the strike plate has a dent on it from being dropped for example. Remove the
strike from the door and try to rock it on the magnet face to insure that it is flat. If the strike
and magnet are flat and clean, the cause is nearly always improper mounting of the strike in
that the strike is mounted too rigidly. The strike must be allowed to float around the rubber
washer stack which must be on the strike center mounting screw. The magnet then pulls it
into flat alignment. To correct the problem, try loosening the strike mounting screw to see if
the lock then holds properly. Another possibility is if you are operating the lock on AC instead
of DC or on half wave rectified DC (trans single diode). Half wave rectified DC is
unacceptable; you must at a minimum employ full wave rectified DC (trans bridge).
PROBLEM: The Senstat output does not report secure.
Because of the simplicity of Securitron’s patented Senstat design, this is almost always a case
of the lock status sensor doing its job. It is not reporting secure because a small obstruction
or a too stiffly mounted strike is causing the Magnalock to hold at a reduced force. The
problem is corrected by cleaning the surfaces of the magnet and strike (see Maintenance
Section 7) or establishing proper play in the strike mounting. If this does not work, you can
verify function of the Senstat feature as follows: Note that there are two (2) thin vertical lines
on the magnet face that can be said to separate the core into three (3) sections from left to
right. The Senstat output is created by the strike establishing electrical contact between the
leftmost and rightmost core segments. With the lock powered, use a pair of scissors and press
the points respectively into the leftmost and rightmost core segments. The Senstat output
should then report secure. This shows that the problem lies in the strike not making correct
flat contact with the magnet face. If the scissors technique does not cause the lock to report
secure, check to see if there is a broken Senstat wire. If this is not the case, the lock must be
returned to the factory for replacement.
PROBLEM: The lock does not release.
When power is removed from it, the Magnalock must release. Therefore the complaint of "lock
will not release" is either mechanical bonding via vandalism or a failure to completely release
power. By mechanical bonding, we simply mean that glue has been applied between the strike
plate and magnet as a prank. Failure to completely release power is generally a wiring
integrity problem. What happens is that an upstream switch removes power from the wires
going to the Magnalock, but through an installation error, the wires have their insulation
abraded between the switch and lock so that partial or full power can leak in from another
Magnalock or other DC device with similarly abraded wiring. This is most likely to occur at the
point where the wire cable leaves the Magnalock case and enters the door frame. Another
area is via an improper splice on wiring in conduit. Either a metal door frame or the metal
conduit is capable of leaking power between multiple devices with abraded wires, thereby
bypassing switches. A good way to check this electrically (as opposed to visually removing and
inspecting the wires) is to use a meter and check for leakage between the power supply
positive or negative and the door frame and conduit. Magnalocks should be powered by
isolated DC voltage without any earth ground reference to positive or negative.
PROBLEM: The lock rusts.
Both the magnet core and strike plate are plated and sealed following a military specification.
If rusting appears, the most common cause is that improper cleaning (with steel wool for
instance) has occurred and this has stripped off the relatively soft plating. Once the plating
