Comments on: Biometric Deadbolts – Kwikset SmartScan Resources

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:17:21 +0000

I have two of these Kwikset Smartscan deadbolts installed in my house. I installed them myself and learned quite a bit about them because of some initial problems. Once both were installed they worked great at first, then one of them started having issues by not recognizing my figure swipe. It wasn’t that it couldn’t validate my finger, but that it wouldn’t even recognize my finger was even against the scanner. This system didnt even have the amber light notification, where as the one that was working has Green, Amber and Red light notifications. After pulling apart the working one, i found the issue and called Kwikset. Their support was easy and friendly and I had a new locking system at my house in a couple of days. Once this new one was installed everything worked fine. Through all of the troubleshooting I also found out that the broke one had an older BIOS software code. I compared this to my other working system and the new shipped one,vso I presume this had something to do with this system malfunctioning. Almost 2 years installed now, and I have had zero issues with them and I comfortably leave my house without the keys.

Friends and family that see them working are amazed and ask tons of questions. There are plenty of benefits to these deadbolt systems but if you are not technical or handy they could be of a pain to install. I also think i was able to get through my problems because I had 2 deadbolt systems to work with. I’m certain that if I had only purchased one and had issues, I would have returned it.

By: Barry Huebner

Barry Huebner — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 02:32:46 +0000

I would REEEEEAAALLLY love for this thing to work but…
After installing my Kwikset Smartscan Biometric deadbolt, I got it to work properly for a couple of months or so. Then, while standing in the rain, it took me 36 swipes to get the lock to open. I called tech support line and they said it sounded like the circuit board and sent out a replacement. That one did fine for about 4 months. Then, when I would try to scan, it would cycle through “try again…scan error;try again…” without me even touching it until it gave up. I called tech again and they said that it, again, sounded like the circuit board and sent a replacement a week later, which worked for 1 day….ONE!
It started doing the exact same thing. I’ve re-inserted the ribbon connector, removed and replaced the batteries, checked if the sensor was clean…While disconnected from the sensor, I looked at the LCD and it was cycling through the “sensor error/ try again” and the sensor wasn’t even connected!
The front door faces West and the door/lock heats up in the afternoon but I checked at late afternoon and the lock was still easily handleable but it could still be a heat related problem. All I know is I’m out $300 and a WHOLE lot of time remounting/testing/reprogramming, etc and I still can’t get in the front door. It locks just fine, though. 3 taps do it every time.

My opinion?
Good idea but save your money until they get the bugs worked out.

By: New time, money or energy saving products for your home | RenoWire

New time, money or energy saving products for your home | RenoWire — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:51:39 +0000

[...] biometric door lock – see my previous SmartScan post [...]