Magnetic locks · explained · Manchester
A maglock has no moving parts. That's the point and the problem.
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- Fitted £320-550
- Fail-safe only
- Fire interlock £90-180
- 60-120 min
Every other lock on this website has a bolt. A magnetic lock does not. It is an electromagnet on the frame and a steel plate on the door, and while the power is on they hold each other with a few hundred kilos of force. Nothing slides, nothing turns, nothing wears out.
Which makes it the most reliable lock in the building, and the most dangerous one to specify wrong.
No power, no lock. Always.
This is the whole thing and everything else follows from it. A maglock is fail-safe by its nature. Cut the power and the magnet lets go instantly, every time.
On a fire escape route that is exactly what you want, which is why they are everywhere in offices, flats and communal blocks. On a door where you actually want things to stay locked in a power cut, a maglock is the wrong product and no amount of battery backup changes what it fundamentally is.
| You want | Use |
|---|---|
| Escape route, must open in a power cut | Maglock. Fail-safe. |
| Stock room, must stay locked in a power cut | Electric strike or mechanical lock. Fail-secure. |
| Communal block entrance | Maglock, interlocked to the fire panel |
| External door, exposed to weather | Not a maglock. Corrosion and alignment. |
Holding force is mostly marketing
They are sold on kilos: 280kg, 500kg, 600kg. Two things worth knowing.
One: the figure only applies with the plate perfectly flat against the magnet. Introduce a 1mm gap because the door has dropped or the plate is misaligned and the holding force collapses. Most underperforming maglocks are not underpowered, they are misaligned.
Two: the magnet is usually stronger than the door. A 500kg maglock on a hollow timber door in a soft frame means the screws come out or the door delaminates. The magnet wins and you still lose.
The four things that must be there
- Green break-glass inside, cuts power directly
- Fire alarm interlock: alarm sounds, door releases
- Request-to-exit: button or sensor for normal leaving
- Free exit: no fob, no code, no thought
The break-glass must cut the power itself, not ask a controller to. If it works by telling software to unlock, then software that has crashed is now standing between somebody and the street. We wire it in series with the power. That is the whole reason it is green and not a button in an app.
What it costs
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Maglock, PSU, break-glass, fitted | £320-550 |
| Fire alarm interlock | £90-180 |
| Request-to-exit button or sensor | £60-140 |
| Realign an existing maglock that keeps dropping | £65-120 |
| With fob reader | £350-600 |
Access control · Panic bars · Commercial locksmith
Questions people actually ask
What happens to a maglock in a power cut?
It opens, instantly, every time, and that is not a flaw. A magnetic lock is an electromagnet holding a steel plate, so no power means no magnet means no lock. It is fail-safe by its nature and cannot be anything else. On a fire escape route that is exactly what you want and it is why they are everywhere in offices and communal blocks. If you need a door that stays locked in a power cut, a maglock is the wrong product and battery backup does not change what it fundamentally is: you want an electric strike or a mechanical lock.
Is a 500kg maglock better than a 280kg one?
Usually not, and the number is mostly marketing. The rated holding force only applies with the armature plate perfectly flat against the magnet, and a 1mm gap from a dropped door or a misaligned plate collapses it. Most maglocks that feel weak are not underpowered, they are misaligned, and realigning one is £65 to £120. The other issue is that the magnet is often stronger than the door: a 500kg maglock on a hollow timber door in a soft frame means the screws pull out or the leaf delaminates. The magnet wins and you still lose.
Do I legally need a break-glass on a maglock?
On any door forming part of an escape route, yes, and it has to cut the power itself rather than ask a controller to unlock. That distinction matters enormously: if the break-glass works by telling software to release the door, then software that has crashed is standing between somebody and the street. We wire break-glass units in series with the power supply so that breaking the glass physically removes the current. That is why it is a green box on the wall and not a button in an app.
Can I put a maglock on my external door?
We would advise against it. Maglocks want a clean, flat, dry contact between the magnet and the plate, and an external door gives you none of that: weather corrodes the faces, the door moves with temperature and damp, and any gap kills the holding force. They also fail open, which on an external door means a power cut leaves your building unlocked. For an external door you want a mechanical lock, or an electric strike that fails secure, with the maglock kept for internal and communal doors where it belongs.