Customer Reviews

Morning Industry PAKK-01SN Keypad Knob Entry, Satin Nickel

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this touchpad knob directly from Smarthome (same price), but Smarthome doesn't have nearly as nice a review system, so I am reviewing it here.

The bottom line: the unit appears to be well built and I think it will withstand harsh conditions of use. Unfortunately the mechanism can get in a state that makes it impossible to unlock it using the keypad.

The quality is good. The keypad is sealed and appears completely waterproof. The unit is definitely at least as hard to break as a regular locking door knob (which is easily defeated by drilling through the keyhole).

Installation was easy---however, be careful when connecting the wires. I bent one of the pins in the connector, which caused one of the rows of buttons not to work. (Depending on which pin you bend, either a whole row or a whole column of keys will not be functional). I was ready to return the unit when I discovered the problem, and was able to straighten the badly bent pin without breaking it.

Programming the unit is also relatively simple. The unit beeps in various ways during programming and use. During use, the keypad lights up and stays lighted for a while after any button is pressed, which is helpful in darkness. The buttons beep when pressed, which is quite useful because there is no tactile "click" feedback.

The unit is easily locked from the outside just by pushing the "lock" button. One can manually lock the unit from the inside by twisting the latch at the center of the knob. However, it is difficult to notice at a glance if the door is locked or unlocked, because, unlike many manual knobs, which are locked by pushing the latch in as well as turning it, the latch in this unit is operated only by turning, not pushing in. (There are other manual knobs in which the latch only turns, but both inside and outside knobs do not rotate when the latch is in the locked position, which makes it easier to tell locked and unlocked apart). Is the door locked when the latch is horizontal, or when it is vertical? I can never remember (vertical is locked, by the way) and often need to open the door and check the outside knob. I suppose I will learn.

The major flaw with the unit is that it doesn't always work. Already in two occasions (out of perhaps 50 uses or so) punching the code and pressing the "unlock" button resulted in longer than usual whirring noises and no effect on the lock. In these cases it didn't help to push the "lock" button---nothing happened.

I suspect that in these cases the door had been locked manually and the latch was not quite vertical, or something like that. I tried replicating the problem but wasn't able to. Nevertheless, it happened twice, so it's unlikely that I am confused. It may be that I have a bad unit.

There are intermediate positions for which the mechanism is mechanically locked, but the internal switch thinks it is unlocked. This situation is easily taken care of by pushing the "lock" key first, which makes the latch rotate fully, and then unlocking with one of the programmed combinations.

In spite of this problem, I am pleased with the unit and will probably buy a couple more, even though it is not exactly inexpensive. Just make sure you have additional ways of getting into the house (hidden key, etc.)

[Update 6/2009] Three years later, it's still working quite well and has gotten stuck very seldom, maybe another couple of times.

[Update 3/2011] Has not gotten stuck at all since the last update.

I bought this lock and immediately installed it. The keypad and mechanism would not work. I called technical support - they went through everything with me and determined that it was faulty. They agreed to send me another one at their expense. Very nice gentleman in customer service. I installed that lock with complete success one month ago. One month later it is doing the same thing the original keypad did. It doesn't register "no sound" when you press the buttons. I unpluggeed the connection and plugged it in again to see if that would reset something, to no avail. I then purchased a pack of brand new digital AA batteries. The batteries tested perfect on a battery meter - still no sound. I then went out and purchased a second set of high end digital batteries. Those tested + for juice - still nothing. This product is not worth the aggrevation. I've spent too much time on this already. Will look to another manufacturer for a replacement product.


12/3/2009
Update: The company sent a third lock and so far this has been working fine (2 months). I also own a Schlage keyless entry. The Schlage keypad and build are hands down superior to The Morning Industry keyless entry. Would definitey purchase another Schlage, but not another Morning Industries Model.

We use three of these in the office and they have been going strong now for 1 year and thousands of unlockings. Works exactly as stated, very happy with unit

The door knob installed without any problems and works as advertised. My wife voiced her approval, too. It's much handier than digging out keys and perfect for giving others, like house or pet sitters temporary access. I'll probably end up getting one for the other door, too.

We installed the keyless door lock about 3 weeks ago and so far everything works great. I was pleased with the durability of the lock.
It was quite easy to install and program, and it is fantastic not to have to worry about getting the keys for the garage from the house all the time.

I am an old man and have lost the strength in my hands. I find this lock is almost impossible for me to open from either side. My wife cannot open. I have contacted the company and they say it can be fixed - waiting for instructions. If I can not get it to work easier I will have to return it. Hopefullly the company will come through or perhaps be able to install handles instead of a knob. Otherwise the hardest part of the installation was connecting the wires. I would like to have a combination that would have to be used before programming. Anyone can remove the little screw and then program their own numbers - and you would never know. They also could push one button to delete all the codes. Not as secure as it could be because of this. It is one little screw secure.

UPDATE
I talked to the company and they said to use some oil. Did give me a choice to return the knobs and when they received them they would send handles. I had to pay freight both ways and they had to receive the knobs before they would send the handles - in the meantime a door without hardware. They say they have had the complaint before. I will return to Amazon and not buy another one like this. They seemed to not really care about helping a customer to any degree.

I have the unit in operation for about a month. The unit works
as expected.

The lock is easy to install, although the install instructions
could be a little clearer. In my case it was just a case of
unscrewing the old and popping the new unit in. Removing the
bubble pack wrapping was the most difficult part.

To change codes a cover on the inside faceplate needs to be removed
by unscrewing a tiny screw (with a provided jeweler's screwdriver).
I would prefer to be able to remove the cover without an extra tool.

The outside knob protrudes quite a bit, in my case it hits a screen
door slightly. Not a biggie, but it's also not clear why it needs to
protrude so much.

This otherwise great lock has a huge design flaw with its simplest part - the latch, which makes the knob hard to turn. If you compare the latch design to a latch by any other manufacturer, you'll notice that the flaps that move the latch when the knob is rotated are moved very far from the center of the cam compared to other latches. The resulting angles of the contact between the cam and the flaps cause the moving part of the latch to stick and make it very difficult to start rotating the knob at the very beginning of the latch movement.

After experiencing the problem and finding out occasional complains by other people in web reviews, I contacted the company and received the replacement latch. It is a bit better, but is still much harder than a Weiser latch I had before. After comparing the latches, I found this problem mentioned above. It must be obvious to any mechanically inclined person that such a design will cause problems, as it does. I wonder why the company did not fix this easy-to-fix design problem with such a simple part, whose design must have been time-proven by the centuries of use...

I though of using the Weiser latch (which moves easily) with this lock, but unfortunately the square hole that engages the latch with the knob in this lock is bigger, making the swap impossible...

This is a great product. Very easy to install. Because this is a replacement of an existiong lock, it took me about a hour to get everything setup. Setting up the code, locking and unlocking are all very easy to do.

If you lock or unlock the door manually, you do have to hit the "lock" and/or "unlock" key to reset it. Otherwise, the operation is simple and easy.

I was initially very happy with this item. I replaced a fingerprint reader doorknob with this. After two years of not being able to open the door when my hands are wet or dirty from working in the yard, this was a welcome change. Installation was easy and it seemed to work well at first.

However, there are three issues. First, sometimes the lock gets hung up and you cannot open the door unless you have a key or are inside. Secondly, the auto lock doesn't always lock. Finally, the door knob was much harder to turn than my previous door knobs and none of my children ages 4,6,8 could turn the knob to exit the house. My wife thought this was a safety hazard in case of a fire and ultimately made me replace it.

I replaced it with a Schlage model FE595 from Home Depot for $129, which at the time of this review was cheaper than Amazon. This opens flawlessly, has a reversible lever handle for right or left handed doors, and overall seems to be a sturdier unit than this one. It also has a much smaller footprint on the door, which looks much better.