Kwikset 914

[rccoleman]

I just installed a Kwikset 914 Z-Wave lock and the operation is quite a bit jerkier than the Kwikset 910 lock that I have on another door.  The locking and unlocking process are successful, but here's a short video of the jerkiness and clicking that occurs at the end of each cycle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH08EQKLWpo.  I'm certain that the cam and locking mechanism aren't getting hung up on the holes drilled into the door, and manually locking and unlocking the door using the thumb latch is smooth. The 910 lock on a different door is quicker to lock/unlock and doesn't lurch at the end.

 

There also seems to be a lot of play in the thumb latch at the beginning and end (it turns freely a little bit before engaging the slider), but I think that's a symptom of tolerances in the cam and slider mechanism that actuates the bolt.  There's a little bit of play in the 910 lock, but it's not nearly as pronounced as in the 914.

 

In short, the 910 just seems to perform better than the 914.

 

So, for anyone who has installed a Kwikset 914 lock, do you observe the same thing?  I'm trying to determine whether that's just how the 914 operates, or if there's something odd in my installation.

 

Thanks,

Rob

[danbutter]

As I recall there is an adjustment for this. I have another style kwikset deadbolt and had to do it with mine.

A good read of the instructions should help you with this.

[rccoleman]

Do you recall what the adjustment was?  All I can find is the handing process, and mine completes with a green LED (success).  I can't find anything else that's relevant, so if you've had to deal with this, I'd appreciate any guidance.

 

Rob

[danbutter]

I have a 910 and 912 and all I can recall with the deadbolt is that there was something to do with the distance of the bolt and there was some way to let the lock know some info about how hard/far to push. Is this what you're referring to as the handing process?

 

Wish I could recall more. Been a few years since my install.

Maybe you got a bad one?

I've had great luck with their customer service if that's a road you want to go down.

[rccoleman]

I believe that the handing process is where it determines which way to turn the cam to actuate the bolt.  It's where you hold the lock button on the outside while you drop the battery pack in during the installation.  I haven't been able to find anything that further adjusts the distance that it pushes the bolt, but that's the sort of thing I'm looking for.  I'll contact their customer service folks.

 

Thanks,

Rob

[stusviews]

Does the lock work? Can you easily lock and unlock the lock manually and programmatically? Is the only concern the visual aspect? Or is there another difficulty?

[rccoleman]

It works fine - I'm just concerned that it's straining the motor by trying to go too far. When it continues to turn past the point at which it's locked, it actually torques the whole interior part the other way. I can feel it if I don't screw in the interior part and just hold it in place while locking.

 

I don't see this behavior with the 910, so I'm trying to determine if it's expected behavior for the 914.

[stusviews]

Is the problem that the bolt extends too far? Did you make the adjustment for the backset (there's a 3/8" difference)? Can you deepen the space where the striker plate is?

[rccoleman]

I think that the issue is that the motor tries to extend the bolt too far and tries to rotate the interior assembly when the bolt is already fully extended.  I think the backset is set correctly, but I'll check it again.  I intended to set it at the shorter 2 3/8" setting because my 1 1/2" hole is centered at that distance.  Thanks for the pointer, though.

 

I see the same behavior when the door is open and the bolt is extending into free space, so it isn't related to the depth of the hole behind the striker plate.

 

Rob

[rccoleman]

I checked the bolt and it was configured to the proper, shorter length. I turned it to the longer config (clearly too long) and it still makes the same jerky motion at the end - no appreciable difference. I have a support request into Kwikset and I'll see what they say.

[cayz]

rccoleman,

 

Ok, this is weirdly coincidental...

 

I just installed a Kwikset 916.  When I first installed it, in standalone mode, it worked flawlessly, and the door handing process was like 30 seconds.  No clicks at the end.

 

I finally got my ISY->zwave stuff in this last weekend, I followed everyone's advice, and took the deadbolt off the door and put it on the desk right next to the ISY in order to get it included.

When I went to put it back on, I had to re-do the handing process, and the first time it failed, and the second (last) time, it took like twice as long as the initial install.

And, now it has the extra click, just like yours.

 

Please let me know what you find out, since I apparently have the same problem.

 

James

[cayz]

Btw,  I'm entirely new to Zwave, so I was on the forum looking for an answer to another question....

 

I am sending out emails every time the door is locked / unlocked, using the ISY "standard" email program to give me the alert status and alert detail, which gives me something like this:

At: 2016/03/09 XX;XX;XX AM
Program: Bxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Device: Back Door Lock ZW (ZWxxx_x)
Action: ALARM
Value: 6

 

Now, I know there are at least 6 different Alarm values, but is there a list somewhere of what they all mean?  And, I can see in the log that the ISY gets the userID that opened the lock via keypad, but is there a way to have that variable put into the ISY email?

 

I'm sorry, I'm not in front of my system right now, so I can't look at all the options for email variables, but when I was building the email template, nothing "Jumped Out" at me.

 

Thanks.

 

James

[rccoleman]

rccoleman,

 

Ok, this is weirdly coincidental...

 

I just installed a Kwikset 916. When I first installed it, in standalone mode, it worked flawlessly, and the door handing process was like 30 seconds. No clicks at the end.

 

I finally got my ISY->zwave stuff in this last weekend, I followed everyone's advice, and took the deadbolt off the door and put it on the desk right next to the ISY in order to get it included.

When I went to put it back on, I had to re-do the handing process, and the first time it failed, and the second (last) time, it took like twice as long as the initial install.

And, now it has the extra click, just like yours.

 

Please let me know what you find out, since I apparently have the same problem.

 

James

I'm both glad and sorry to hear about that, James . I'm still waiting for hear back from Kwikset, but I'll report back when I do.

 

Edit: Incidentally, in the process of aligning the lock shaft with the motor socket, I did end up turning the motor beyond its natural stopping point. It seemed to click past that point and then move freely again, so maybe it's now out of phase or something.

 

I'm just grasping at straws here while I wait for Kwikset to reply. I've disassembled the lock many times already, so I'm going to stop experimenting for a bit so that I don't break something.

 

Rob

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi James,

 

Alarms are the events that happen on the lock: locked, unlocked, jammed, etc.

 

In your programs, you will be trapping those events. You can have different emails for different events. You can also customize your emails to give you more contextual information (under Customized Content tab).

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[rccoleman]

Well, it's a couple of weeks with only a single, somewhat generic request from Kwikset asking for pictures, but I see that they've shipped me a replacement. After 2 weeks of not responding to messages, and no request for additional information, I finally offered my mailing address in case they were trying to ship a replacement.  Lo and behold, without any additional response, I see a tracking number on their site for a 3.7lb package.  It's supposed to show up on Monday and I'll report back if it helps.

 

Rob

[rccoleman]

What a strange experience.  They sent me a new unit (might be a refurb, but I don't see any wear) with no new messages from customer service and no indication in the box or packing list that I need to do anything with the one I already have.  I just now seem to own two identical units, one that I basically got for free.  They don't have my credit card, so the whole thing is very odd.

 

In any case, the new one makes a slightly less dramatic clicking noise, but it's almost exactly the same behavior.  Without any feedback from customer support about whether they looked at the video or determined that it was indeed unexpected, I'll just conclude that this is the way it's supposed to work.  Not particularly satisfying.  If I get bored one day, I may call their support line to follow up.  Or maybe I'll just consider the matter closed.

 

Edit: Just for fun, I installed the original unit in a different door and it does the same thing.  Meh.

 

Rob