By Kent · Lock Depot Staff Writer

Two keypads, one real question: is this door inside or out?

I get some version of this call every week. A facility manager wants keypad access on a door, no card readers, no software, no monthly fee, just a code that opens the strike or releases the maglock. The product almost never comes down to features. It comes down to one thing: where does the keypad actually live? A mechanical room door in a hallway is a different animal than a glass storefront entrance that takes rain, sun, and the occasional crowbar. Securitron makes a keypad for each situation, and picking the wrong one gets you a wasted budget or a keypad that's dead in six months.

The DK-12: built for the door inside your building

The DK-12 is a one-piece unit designed for lower security requirements, and it's meant for indoor use only. That's not a suggestion, it's how the housing is built: a single-gang stainless steel plate over a plastic back box, with a stainless steel back plate and twelve illuminated keys behind it. It's the right call for a server closet, a mechanical room, an interior stairwell door, a back-of-house entrance that never sees weather. If you've got a spot that's borderline (a breezeway, a covered exterior door that never gets rained on directly), Securitron does sell an optional rain cover and a gasketed backbox for the DK-12, but read that as "protected from incidental exposure," not "rated for weather." If snow or driving rain can hit that door, this isn't your keypad.

Inside those limits, it's a solid little controller. True 10-digit keypad, audible key-stroke echo, red and green status LEDs for lock state, yellow LED for programming prompts. It runs on low-voltage AC or DC, holds 99 user codes programmed right from the keypad, no separate software, no laptop, and gives you both Passage mode and Lockout mode. Output is a 5-amp SPDT timed control relay, which fires your strike or releases your maglock, and it comes standard with a Request-to-Exit input for door position or free-egress hardware. Backed by Securitron's MagnaCare Lifetime Replacement Warranty, same as its outdoor sibling.

The DK-26SS: built to live on the storefront frame itself

The DK-26SS is a different animal, and the spec sheet tells you why the moment you read "two-part system." Instead of one plastic-backed unit, you get a cast stainless steel keypad with 11 EPDM rubber keys that mounts at the door, wired back to a separate CPU board you install somewhere protected, a closet, a header, a controller cabinet. That split is what lets Securitron rate the field unit as weatherproof and vandal-resistant, built to mount outside in almost any environment. The rubber keys shrug off UV and temperature swings better than a membrane pad, and the cast housing takes abuse a plastic-backed plate won't.

It's also built for a specific mounting problem: aluminum storefront doors with a narrow mullion. If you've ever tried to put a standard single-gang keypad on a narrow-stile frame, you know there's often nowhere to put it. The DK-26SS is sized to mount directly on that narrow aluminum frame, which is the other half of why this one exists, not just weather resistance but fitting the opening in the first place. Electrically it's more flexible too: 12V or 24V, AC or DC, selectable at install, versus the DK-12's fixed low-voltage input. Output is a 5-amp DPDT relay (two sets of contacts instead of one, useful if you need to switch something else at the same time as the lock), and it ships with a 16-foot, 12-conductor, 22-gauge keypad cable so you're not sourcing your own run between the field unit and the CPU board.

Code capacity is 59 users, with multiple entry codes and a user-code / hard-code disable feature that lets you kill a single code without wiping the whole board, useful when you've got subcontractors or seasonal staff cycling through. It carries the same Passage and Lockout modes, the same true 10-digit operation and audible echo as the DK-12, plus a Request-to-Exit input and 3 LEDs with a bell button for door-side signaling. Same MagnaCare Lifetime Replacement Warranty as well.

Don't pick this one on code count

I'll save you a bad conversation with whoever's approving the PO: don't choose between these two because one holds more users. The DK-12 does 99 user codes, the DK-26SS does 59, and yes, 99 is more than 59. But neither number is why you'd buy either keypad. Most single-door installs don't come close to burning through 59 codes, let alone 99. The DK-26SS's smaller number comes with a code-disable feature the DK-12 doesn't list, which matters more day to day than the raw ceiling. Decide on where the door is and what the mounting surface looks like. The code count is a tiebreaker at best.

What's actually deciding this for you

Two questions, in order. First: is the door inside the building envelope, or does it take direct weather? Indoor and protected, the DK-12 does the job and costs less to install since there's no CPU board to locate and run cable to. Exposed to rain, snow, or sun with no overhang, you want the DK-26SS, full stop; the DK-12 isn't rated for it even with the optional rain cover. Second: what are you mounting into? A standard interior wall with a single-gang box points you to the DK-12's plate. A narrow-stile aluminum storefront frame, the kind you see on strip-mall glass entrances, physically won't take a standard single-gang keypad, and that's the DK-26SS's other reason to exist.

One more thing worth saying plainly: neither of these keypads is the locking hardware. Both are standalone controllers with a Request-to-Exit input, wired to switch a separate electric strike or maglock you're installing on the door itself. If the opening you're working with is a maglock install rather than a strike, take a look at our piece on maglock doors you can't mortise before you finalize hardware, it'll save you a return trip. And if you want to see what else Securitron makes for standalone access control beyond these two keypads, our Securitron hub has the rest of the line.

Common questions

Can I put a DK-12 outside if I add the rain cover?

Only in a location that isn't directly exposed to rain or snow, think a covered entry or recessed doorway, not an open exterior wall. Securitron's own literature pairs the rain cover with a gasketed backbox for that limited protection, but the DK-12 is still built and rated as an indoor unit. If the door catches weather head-on, step up to the DK-26SS.

Will the DK-26SS fit on a standard single-gang interior wall?

It's built for narrow-stile aluminum storefront framing, not a standard single-gang box, so it's not the natural fit for a typical interior wall install. If you're mounting on a regular wall with a single-gang box behind it, the DK-12 is the simpler, less expensive choice.

Do either of these keypads control the lock directly, or do I need separate hardware?

Both are standalone controllers, not locks. Each has a relay output, SPDT on the DK-12 and DPDT on the DK-26SS, plus a Request-to-Exit input, and you wire that to a separate electric strike or maglock on the door. Confirm your strike or maglock's voltage and current draw against the keypad's relay rating before you order, or call us with your specifics.

How many people can actually use one of these keypads day to day?

The DK-12 holds 99 user codes programmed right from the keypad, and the DK-26SS holds 59 with multiple entry codes and the ability to disable a single code without clearing the board. Either number covers the vast majority of single-door installs; pick based on the door's location and mounting, not the code count.

What's the warranty on these?

Both the DK-12 and DK-26SS carry Securitron's MagnaCare Lifetime Replacement Warranty. If either unit fails under normal use, Securitron replaces it, no runaround.