Magnetic Lock (Maglock) Installation NYC
Maglocks hold a commercial door shut with electromagnet force — hundreds of pounds of holding power until the access system cuts power. They show up on buzzer doors, server rooms, and after-hours retail entries across NYC. Sunny Locksmith installs maglocks and ties them into your existing strike, reader, or intercom setup. In June we installed a commercial electric strike in Times Square wired into a building buzzer — same access-control family of work, photographed on our recent jobs page. Licensed NYC #2096389-DCA. Call (917) 495-1990.
When a Maglock Is the Right Answer
A maglock replaces the mechanical latch as the primary hold — an armature plate on the door meets an electromagnet on the frame, and while power flows, the door stays shut. Push the buzzer, swipe the card, punch the code: power drops, the door opens. That makes maglocks popular on doors that need to stay unlocked during business hours and locked after close, or doors where you want zero mechanical wear on a high-traffic entry.
Maglock vs. Electric Strike
An electric strike keeps your existing lock and releases the latch electronically — the Times Square job we did in June was exactly that pattern, tied into the building buzzer. A maglock is the other half of the equation: the magnet is the lock. Strikes fail less dramatically when power goes out (the door can still be opened with a key). Maglocks fail locked — which is what you want on a secure door, but it means you need a request-to-exit sensor and often a battery backup. We help you pick the right hardware for the door, not whichever one is in the catalog first.
Fire Code and Life Safety
Maglocks on egress doors are regulated in NYC. You need approved release hardware — a panic bar with a request-to-exit switch, or a motion sensor that cuts power when someone approaches from inside. We install maglocks that satisfy fire marshal requirements, paired with panic hardware and door closers so the door actually latches after every cycle. An exit door that stands open because the closer is dead is a maglock that is not doing its job.
What Installation Actually Involves
Mounting the magnet and armature is the visible part. The real work is alignment — a gap over about half an inch and holding force drops sharply — and wiring: power supply, access controller input, REX (request-to-exit) loop, and often a fire-alarm tie-in that drops all maglocks on alarm. We handle the door-hardware side; if you have an alarm or intercom vendor, we coordinate so the maglock releases when the buzzer buzzes.
Power, Backup and Fail-Safe vs. Fail-Secure
Maglocks draw continuous power. We size the supply for your magnet rating plus headroom, and we discuss backup: battery pack for short outages, or a UPS for server-room doors that cannot go unsecured for even a minute. Fail-safe maglocks release when power cuts — used on some egress paths. Fail-secure strikes and some mag setups stay locked without power. The choice depends on whether the door is an exit or a controlled entry; we walk through it before drilling anything.
Pairing With the Rest of Your Door
A maglock on a misaligned door is a maglock that buzzes and does not hold. We align the door, tune the closer, and verify the exit device releases cleanly before we sign off. For businesses upgrading access across multiple doors, this is often part of a larger commercial locksmith scope — new leversets, strikes, maglocks, and a master key system on the mechanical side so staff still carry one key for the doors that need keys.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do maglocks work during a power outage?
Standard maglocks release when power drops unless you have battery backup. We discuss fail-safe vs. fail-secure behavior and backup options during the site survey so you know exactly what your door does when the grid goes down.
Can you add a maglock to our existing buzzer system?
Yes — that is routine work. We mount the magnet, wire it to your power supply and buzzer output, and test release from both the intercom and the inside REX. The Times Square electric-strike job on our work page is the same class of buzzer integration.
Are maglocks legal on fire exit doors?
Only with approved release hardware — panic bar with REX, fire-alarm drop, or other code-compliant release. We install maglocks on egress doors regularly and build in the releases inspectors expect.
Maglock vs. electric strike — which should we get?
Strikes keep your mechanical lock and release the latch — simpler on many office doors. Maglocks give maximum holding force on controlled entries but need careful code compliance on exits. We look at the door, the traffic, and the fire requirements and recommend one or the other honestly.