By Kent · Lock Depot Staff Writer

An old electric strike prep is never clean. Pull a thirty-year-old Folger Adam out of a hollow metal frame and you are looking at a mortise pocket cut wider than anything on the market today, chipped paint around the edges, maybe a second hole from whoever tried to fix it in 1994. Order a standard replacement strike and it will not sit flat. The faceplate is too small to cover the damage, and now you are welding metal or living with a gap. This is exactly the job the Von Duprin 6211WF was built for, and it is the reason Von Duprin keeps two otherwise identical strikes in the catalog with one difference: the size of the faceplate.

Von Duprin 6211: the standard ANSI cylindrical prep strike

The Von Duprin 6211 is the most-specified strike in the 6200 line, and for good reason. It is built to the standard ANSI cylindrical prep, so it works with virtually any cylindrical lockset you already have in the field: Schlage ND, Corbin Russwin CL, Sargent 10-Line, Yale AU, Arrow. If a bored lockset door needs electric release and the frame prep is clean and standard, the 6211 is almost always the right strike. It is heavy-duty stainless steel with an integrated faceplate, a dual-signal door position switch for remote monitoring, and it ships factory-configured fail secure at 12VDC. It carries a UL 10C fire rating to 3 hours, so it belongs on rated openings, not just standard commercial doors.

Von Duprin 6211WF: the wide-faceplate version for a prep that won't behave

The Von Duprin 6211WF is the same strike inside the same stainless housing, with one change: an oversized faceplate that covers old cutouts, oversized preps, and rough frame openings a standard faceplate will not hide. Von Duprin's own documentation names the exact job it is for: retrofitting old Folger Adam 310-2 and 310-2 3/4 strikes on wood frames, where the legacy prep is wider than anything a standard-faceplate strike will cover. If you have ever fought a renovation job where the new strike rocks in an old mortise pocket, this is the part that ends the fight. Same fail secure default, same 12VDC operation, same dual-signal monitoring switch, same UL 10C fire rating. The only difference that matters is what the faceplate hides.

Fail safe or fail secure, before you order either one

Both strikes ship fail secure from the factory: the strike stays locked when power is lost, and key override is always available from the outside. That is the right default for a server room, an evidence room, or anywhere security has to hold through a power outage. A fail safe configuration unlocks on power loss instead, so the door opens freely in an outage, which is what a code official will want on certain egress paths. Confirm which one your opening actually needs against your local fire marshal's requirement before you order. Getting this backwards on a rated door is the kind of mistake that fails inspection, not the kind you fix with a screwdriver.

Reading the old prep before you buy

Before ordering either strike, pull the old unit and look at the pocket, not just the faceplate. A clean, standard ANSI cutout with tight edges and no filler metal takes the 6211, at a 4-7/8" faceplate. A pocket with chipped-out corners, a second abandoned hole, or any dimension that runs oversized takes the 6211WF and its oversized face. Measure the visible faceplate opening in the frame, not the strike you are removing; guessing from the old part number gets it wrong more often than it gets it right, since the previous strike may itself have been a field-modified fit. When the prep is genuinely a mess and you are not confident either faceplate will seat flush, that is a call worth making before you order, not after the new strike is sitting in a box on the truck.

Check the latchbolt throw before you order either one

Both the 6211 and 6211WF are cut for a 1/2" latchbolt throw, which covers most cylindrical locksets and a lot of mortise locks too. This is the mistake that catches locksmiths who order by faceplate size alone: if the existing lockset is a mortise unit with a 3/4" or 1" throw, neither of these strikes will let the bolt fully seat, and the door will not lock reliably. That job needs the Von Duprin 6221 instead. Both strikes are rated ANSI/BHMA Grade 1, and both are a direct swap for a Von Duprin 3081 already in the frame, same prep, same cutout. Pair either one with a Von Duprin PS914 or PS904 power supply for a complete install; the strike alone does not include one.

Common questions

Does the 6211WF fit in the same door prep as the 6211?

Yes. Both mount to the same standard ANSI cylindrical strike opening. The WF's faceplate is simply larger, so it covers more of the surrounding frame without any additional cutting. You are not modifying the frame to use the wide-face version; you are just hiding more of what is already there.

Can I use the 6211 or 6211WF with a mortise lockset instead of a cylindrical one?

Both are built for the ANSI cylindrical prep and are the right call for cylindrical (bored) locksets. A mortise lockset uses a different strike geometry entirely; do not force a cylindrical strike into a mortise prep expecting it to seat correctly.

What is the fire rating on these strikes, and does it matter for my door?

Both carry a UL 10C fire rating (the 6211 rated to 3 hours). If the opening is a rated fire door, using an unrated or under-rated strike is a code violation regardless of how well it fits. Confirm the door's label before ordering.

My old strike is a Folger Adam, not a Von Duprin. Will the 6211WF still cover the prep?

Von Duprin specifically documents the 6211WF as a fit for retrofitting Folger Adam 310-2 and 310-2 3/4 strikes on wood frames, since the wide face is sized to cover that legacy prep. If your existing strike is a different Folger Adam model or a different brand entirely, verify the faceplate dimensions against your actual opening before ordering; do not assume every legacy strike shares the same footprint.

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