On October 31, 2017 at 11:15, Fins said...
I have an uncle that when he built his house, he built a gun safe room with a vault door. The door actually looks like a metal 6 panel door. The keypad to open the door is about 8' away in a closet and has 3 9v batteries to power the system, and uses a standard 3 line phone cord to connect the keypad to the door. The motorized mechanism in the door went bad, and a locksmith came out to repair the door. He suggested a different manufacturer and started to replace the mechanism. But he couldnt get the keypad to power the lock. When he took the keypad to the lock with a short leash, it worked. Tech support told him the longer run was losing too much current. Would replacing the pre-made wire with some cat6 add enough copper to carry amps to the lock?
Unfortunately, I dont have any data on the lock system.
While current can be an issue, think in terms of voltage drop, instead. What does the keypad need in order to operate? That should be in the specs. If the batteries were rechargeable, they AREN'T putting out 9VDC, even when new. 1.5V cells are only good for 1.2V and in the case of a 9V battery, this means it starts at about 7.2Volts.
Find out if they actually using 9V, or if the batteries are in series. Not likely, but possible.
If the problem is really caused by wire gauge, Cat6 should help, but I wouldn't want to guarantee it. 8' really shouldn't be a problem.
