By Kent · Lock Depot Staff Writer

The Exit Button That Survives the Lobby

A plastic request-to-exit button on a school corridor door lasts a semester. Somebody leans on it, somebody else pries at it, and by winter it is loose in the wall and sticking. Then a student holds it down and the door stays unlocked all period. The lock was fine. The button was the weak link, and it was the one part every kid in the building could reach.

ASP Alarm Control builds a family of vandal-resistant push plates for exactly that spot. All three of the ones we stock are machined from 6061 solid aluminum, and each has a pneumatic time delay adjustable from 2 to 60 seconds. The PS5, the PN5 and the PT5 differ in shape and mounting, not in guts.

What "Pneumatic Time Delay" Means at the Door

The delay is built into the plate itself. Press it, and the plate holds its contact for the time you set, from 2 to 60 seconds, then lets go on its own. That matters because it takes the timing out of the person's hand. The listing does not say the plate replaces a separate timer in every circuit, so check what your controller expects. What the delay does give you is a set window, so one quick tap can open the door long enough for someone with a cart or a walker to get through. Confirm how the plate's contact behaves in your circuit before you count on it to cap a held button.

If you need timing beyond 60 seconds, or a pulse and delay function, look at a separate timer such as the ASP-UT-1 in the circuit instead.

ASP PS5: The Single-Gang Plate

The PS5 is the standard shape. It is 1-7/8 inches wide by 4-1/2 inches long and mounts on a single-gang box. The listing calls it push to exit. Our PS5-211 is bronze with black fill. It is the plate to use when the wall already has a gang box behind it where a switch used to be, and the wiring is stubbed and waiting.

ASP PN5: The Narrow Plate for a Mullion

The PN5 is the same 1-7/8 by 4-1/2 inch face, but it is built to mount on a mullion, the narrow metal frame between doors on a storefront pair or beside a glass door. It is a push to exit plate with an engraved legend. Our PN5-112 comes in clear anodized with red fill. There is no gang box in a storefront mullion. This is the plate that fits where the box will not.

ASP PT5: The Larger T-Style Plate

The PT5 is bigger, 3 inches wide by 4-1/2 inches long, in a T shape, and it mounts on a single-gang box. The listing describes it as push to open. Our PT5-111 is clear anodized with black fill. The bigger target is easier to find and hit, which matters on a door used by people carrying things, and it gives a building a more obvious button to spot from a distance.

Picking Between Them

• Gang box already in the wall: PS5, or PT5 if you want the larger target.
• Storefront mullion, no box: PN5.
• Bronze finish to match the hardware: the PS5-211 is the bronze one.
• Clear anodized to match aluminum frames: PN5-112 or PT5-111.

Fill color is not decoration. The red and black fill is what makes the legend readable from across a room, so pick the one that contrasts with the plate and the wall behind it.

These plates ride on a release circuit, and the circuit rides on a lock. If the door is held by a magnet, the plate is only as good as the supply and the release behind it, so size those first. The ASP 600SDURO maglock draws 400 mA at 12 volts, a small load. As always, whatever the plate does, the door still has to meet the code for its opening.

Where to Put the Plate

Mount it where a person heading for the door finds it without hunting, on the latch side, within easy reach, and clear of the door's swing. Keep it in sight of the door it releases, so nobody presses it and wonders what happened. In a corridor that gets abuse, the aluminum plate takes the punishment, but a loose gang box behind it does not, so anchor the box to the wall properly. Set the delay for the way the door is used, a few seconds for a person, longer for a cart, and test it with the door in real traffic before you leave.

Common questions

Are these push plates made of plastic or metal?

All three are machined from 6061 solid aluminum, which is why they are called vandal-resistant.

How long does the time delay run?

The listing gives a pneumatic time delay adjustable from 2 to 60 seconds on all three.

Which plate mounts on a mullion?

The PN5 narrow style is the mullion-mount plate. The PS5 and PT5 mount on a single-gang box.

What size is each plate?

The PS5 and PN5 are each 1-7/8 inches wide by 4-1/2 inches long. The PT5 is 3 inches wide by 4-1/2 inches long.

What finishes do we stock?

The PS5-211 is bronze with black fill, the PN5-112 is clear anodized with red fill, and the PT5-111 is clear anodized with black fill.

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Browse the full ASP Alarm Control line for push plates, keyswitches and timers. For the switch that pairs with a timed plate on a controlled door, read how to wire an ASP keyswitch station, and see when a maglock makes more sense than a strike on the same opening.