What happens to a maglock..., ...during a power-outage? Options

[MrSandman666]

Alright, I did crawl through all the books that could help me with this but didn't have any luck with the question. A friend of mine and I where just discussing the principle behind a maglock. I was proposing an electromagnetic doorframe that simply keeps the door shut. This, however, would simply swing open as soon as the power is out.
He suggested a normal door with bolts, which are retracted by magnets when there is a need for opening them. This would have the disadvantage that the doors will not be able to open when the power is out, unless there is some kind of emergency switch with a battery, which would, in theory, be possibly ale to bypass any locks.

So, are there any official or inofficial explanations? What do you believe how a maglock works?

Bonus question: The BBB states that voice ID locks are particularly hard to tamper because they basically consist only of a microphone while the processing and unlocking mechanisms are hidden in a well secured part of the building. But wouldn't this be possible with any maglock, even a normal keypad or passkey reader?

Cheers...

[toturi]

I think it is a building requirement IRL that automated locks must open in the event of a power outage. But I do not think there is an actual Canon explanation either way.

[The Jopp]

For security AND safety reasons I would say that they pop open since a poweroutage could come from several sources, and only one of those sources would be a "shadowrun".

Imagine a fire that cuts off the main power feed to a high security facility and all the doors becomes locked, with personell trapped inside while the fire is spreading. Ok, they probably have fire extinguishers in the ceiling but what if they are broken as well...

Ok, I'm taking things to extremes here but in my opinion most if not all maglocks would be cntrolled thus unless specific doors have been programmed to be locked.

Hmm, good point there... I'd say it is your choice, maglocks can probably be programmed so some doors would be locked and more commonly used doors would be open.

[Dice]

You could design doors so that in the event of a power failure the door remains locked but releases a catch so that it can be manually unlocked from inside without a key but would need a security key to unlock from the outside

That way doors to secure areas could be opened from inside by anyone in that area if power fails, but not from outside without a key. The security can overide the maglock even if power exists, incase the exterior maglock is damaged but the door is locked from the inside maglock.

[BitBasher]

By canon maglocks have an internal battery that will function for several years regardless of building power. They are self contained.

in short maglocks continue working even if the power is out.

[MrSandman666]

[ShadowGhost]

Maglocks stay closed. Any place with decent security will also have back-up generators to keep such things going.

I'd say in the even that power is completely cut, the doors stay closed, but have an internal battery that will lock/unlock the door. It won't power a door (to open or close), but the locks will still work. There would probably also be a manual overide on the interior side of the door as well, just in case the battery dies.

So you party's Troll might get a good workout opening the meter thick blast door your electronics wiz just picked the maglock on after the power has been cut.

[Method]

I used to work with screwed up kids in a lock-down psych hospitol that had magnetic locks on all the doors. For obvious saftey reasons they would automatically unlock if the fire alarms went off regardless of weather there was power. Unfortunately the kids knew this and would bolt for the door any time someone "accidentally" pulled the alarm.

Of coarse thats in real life, not SR. I could see a particularly evil corp setting it such that the opposite occurs. After all, it might be cheeper for the corp to pay out a few life insurance policies than if the shadowrunners get away with whatever they came to steal.

[Kagetenshi]

Keep in mind that also particularly heavy doors will usually either slide into the ceiling or the floor. If it's the ceiling, it's because they slam down when the power goes, if the floor, it's because they slam open. All depends on which you want.

~J

[prettz]

I'd say in my opinion that maglock continue to function normally after the power dies. I figure they work like the phones in RL, when the power dies a non-cordless phone still works normally, I figure the maglocks draw their power from the matrix in the same way as the phones of today.

[Jason Farlander]

Hmm... page 86, SOTA63:

[prettz]

I remeber in Supernova that a maglock was using its own 'internal power.' I thought the reason it mentioned was so it wouldn't have to be connected to the matrix. It was the maglock on the building in the end of the adventure where (trying not to give away spoilers) you go to meet the Johnson and find out everything about the advenure.

[Edward]

There are tools to trace where electrical cables run in a wall (point it at the wall and the light turns on if there is an active wire. Should be present in an electronics toolkit) this could be a useful tool to find the mag locks backup battery (remove it and the door should be unlocked). Holding a door closed with pure magnetic force would take a massive amount of power. More than a batty can provide even in SR (based on batty life for other electronic equipment) if there is a batty in the lock mechanism then it must be a magnetically driven bolt. Also the magnetic field necessary to hold the door shut would be very big so any ferus items for several meters would be stuck to the door (possibly preventing access to the key panel).

I do agree with you on the voice print point however codes and cards are more easily stolen and it takes a lot of cabling to centralise door access. The point of paranoia where you are wiling to run all that cabling and when you beside you need voice print are probably close together.

Of cause in any building that uses security riggers or deckers with access to the doors al that cabling is in place anyway. The car reader or keypad will take the code an send it to the door security program witch will order the mag lock to release. What you would be doing with the electronics skill is convincing the mag lock (as apposed to the card reader, number pad, rental scanner, voice mike, finger print reader or other input device) that the security program has asked it to unlock. Or just short the solenoid on the electro magnet.

Edward

[Cain]

Try thinking of it this way: there's not all that much difference between a maglock and the card reader locks used in most hotels these days. If the power goes, you can't use your card on them, but you can still open the door from the inside. No batteries required.

[Young Freud]

Everything you need to know you can get through Google.
Google Answers: Hotel Keycards

According to the people answering, including a locksmith, and the links they provide, these types of locks operate on standard AA batteries and are never connected to main power grid at any point. They have enough power for 30,000 operations when they need to be replaced/recharged. If the lock is unpowered, the lock's battery compartment and the manual lock itself can still be accessed using a utility key to replace batteries or unlock the door. There are some cases where the battery is inside the card itself and that is used to power the lock.

Of course, this applies only to standard doorframes in residental and commerical builidings, not high stength security doors, prison facilities, etc.

Personal ancedote: I was once in a hotel that had a power failure for hours when a lightning storm passed through and fallen trees killed the juice to most of the town. I remember being taken by surprise that the door locks still worked and I was able to get into my room.

[Dan Difino]

[McGravin]

They do have a battery backup, so they'd still work normally.

However, what happens when the battery backup runs down? Does it pop open then, or stay closed? This wouldn't be a viable tactic for runners to break into a place, but it could be a good ambiance thing for GMs whose runners have happened upon an abandoned facility of some type.

[mfb]

there's no "popping" involved. as the name implies, maglocks use magnetic force to keep the door they lock from moving. the magnetic force comes from electromagnets. and when electromagnets don't have electricity, they stop being magnets. no power, no magnet, no lock.

[BitBasher]

[BookWyrm]

If I remember the prison special I saw a while back, BitBasher is correct. The cell locks he describe are designed/programmed to lock down in case of a sudden power loss.

So, technically, if you so like, Maglocks do immediately switch to their own batteries when outside power is cut. But then, as you are the GM, you could hint that the target had old, easy-to-bypass maglocks, but then neglect to inform them that the target recently upgraded the maglocks to something a little more formidible.....

[toturi]

In buildings I've built (quite a few public buildings - the new Police HQ, the finance ministry building, a new prison), the electronic locking systems are default open at the lost of power. Or there must be a manual door handle that allows opening from the inside. The prison cells however are default locked but with a override open if someone triggers the fire alarm(I had headaches just leaving openings in the concrete for those conduits. If the conduits are buried in the concrete, then it is almost impossible to cut the data lines from the cells en route to the command center).

[BitBasher]

If you want stupid, the records admin area, full of nothing but LEST's, secretaries, and is a secure area, no inmates ever go in there... has prox card maglocks on the door and the inside doorhandles are NONFUNCTIONAL. ONLY the maglocks can open the door or a physical key which only a handful of people have, and it cannot be guaranteed someone with that key is in there at all times. <cringe>

[Cain]

[BitBasher]

Right. All the maglocks I have encountered have a bold held shut by a not too strong spring, when the lock activates an electromagnet pulls the bolt open for a second or two, then the spring returns the lock to the closed position. If you miss the 2 second window fumbling with your card or not paying attention tough, wait a few seconds and swipe again. For many locks, when you hear the buzzing sound, that's the magned pulling the bolt back, and the only time you can open the door is when it's buzzing.

[mfb]

bah, that's not sci-fi enough for me. i prefer my incredibly powerful electromagnets. take your reality elsewhere !!