So when these hotel door lock problems arise, do you want to determine where the hotel door lock issues and the Troubleshooting?
If yes, this article will bring you the most comprehensive list of common hotel lock problems, Troubleshooting, and solutions.
First of all, we need to understand the structure of the most common hotel door lock types to find the problem location when solving the problem quickly.
Then, some common issues and causes of smart RFID card hotel locks will be introduced in detail and simple solutions.
RFID Hotel Lock Structure
The smart card hotel lock comprises lock panels, lock mortise, PCB board, and batteries.

1, RFID Hotel Lock Panel
The RFID key card hotel lock panel is divided into front and back panels. The front panel comprises a hotel lock mainboard, an exterior door handle, and a mechanical lock cylinder.

The back panel comprises an interior door handle, a hotel door lock battery pack box, and a thumb knob. The front and back panels are connected by two handle spindles inserted in the lock mortise and then joined by fixing screws at four corners.
The exterior handle can be used and opened after reading the card, and the interior door handle can be used to open the door at any time from inside.
2, RFID Hotel Lock Mortise
The lock mortise is the core component of the hotel RFID lock, responsible for the hotel lock’s main locking work. The deadbolt is controlled by the thumb knob of the interior handle, and the lock latch bolt is governed by the handle on the front and back panels.

The mainboard is connected to the lock mortise, and the lock mortise is connected to the battery for the power supply.
3, PCB board of RFID hotel lock
The main PCB board of the RFID hotel lock is the core component, which can control the work of the entire hotel lock, such as controlling the operation of swiping the card, the work of the lock cylinder, and the work of the battery.
5, Hotel Door Lock Batteries
The hotel lock battery is the basis for controlling all the electric work of the hotel lock. The battery is essential to make the RFID hotel lock system work normally.
For more information about hotel lock batteries, you can check this article: Hotel Door Lock Battery- What You Have to Know?
The above is a simple description of the hotel lock structure.
Typical Hotel Door Lock System Problems and Troubleshooting
Now, let’s divide hotel lock FAQs into two broad categories: Hotel lock not working and hotel room key not working
Hotel Lock Not working Problems and Troubleshooting
Hotel door lock problem 1: The door is opened without pressing the handle after it is closed.
Problem analysis:
- It may be that the lock strike of the hotel door lock is not installed correctly, causing the latch bolt to fail to pop out or the latch bolt to be inflexible and unable to pop out.
- The hotel door lock battery is insufficient. After opening the door, the battery is low, and it usually becomes open if it is not locked.
Troubleshooting:
- Adjust the lock strike to the correct position.
- Replace the hotel lock battery.
Hotel door lock problem 2: the hotel door lock handle cannot be automatically returned.
Problem analysis:
- The door leaf opening is skewed or too small, and the lock mortise is twisted after the panel is installed, causing the handle shaft not to move smoothly;
- The handle shaft hole is too small. When the handle is turned, the screw that fixes the handle on the panel will touch the door leaf;
- The panel installation is skewed, causing the handle square rod to always be under force;
Troubleshooting:
- Correct the door opening;
- Enlarge the handle shaft hole;
- Adjust the position of the panel;
Hotel door lock problem 3: alarm after closing the door, stop after 30 seconds, and the red light will flash for a while
Problem analysis:
- The handle hole of the panel is too small, and the handle is obstructed and cannot return automatically;
- The position of the gusset plate on the door frame is not installed correctly, causing the diagonal tongue to be unable to extend or not open;
- The door opening is too small, or there are foreign objects on the sidewall, which hinder the movement of the inclined tongue assembly, resulting in the willing tongue cannot being extended or incompletely extended (see the extension length for details);
Troubleshooting:
- Expand the handle hole;
- Adjust the position of the buckle box cover (usually move inward to the centerline of the wall);
- expand the door opening or clean up foreign objects;
Hotel door lock problem 4: The red light keeps flashing and alarms after opening the door
Problem analysis: Generally, the battery voltage is too low after use.
Troubleshooting: replace the battery;
Hotel door lock problem 5: When the lock is opened, the door is heavy when closing the door.
Problem analysis: The gap between the door frame and the door on the side of the lock is not adjusted correctly (the gap is too small, and the door is heavy when opening and closing the door)
Troubleshooting: Adjust the gap between the bolt panel and the door frame patch to keep the gap within 3-5MM
Hotel door lock problem 6: No sound, no light, no motor action when swiping the RFID key card
Problem analysis:
- Is the battery installed in the door lock;
- Battery drained;
- The connection line is not in the excellent contactor is misconnected;
- Whether the sensing panel is damaged.
Troubleshooting:
- Open the door with spare mechanical keys;
- Install new batteries,
- check the connection lines, and replace the induction panel.
Hotel door lock problem 7: Greenlight and motor sound when swiping the RFID card for induction, but the door cannot be opened
Problem analysis:
- This failure is usually that the iron bar between the front panel of the smart lock and the lock cylinder is not connected correctly;
- the lock cylinder has been damaged.
- The battery voltage is insufficient.
Troubleshooting:
- Open the smart lock panel and check.
- Connect the plug or replace the battery.
Hotel door lock problem 8: The oblique tongue cannot be ejected.
Problem analysis: The side trim panels are not in place.
Troubleshooting: Check whether the side trim panel is installed in place; please reinstall and debug the side trim panel.
Hotel door lock problem 9: Anti-lock cannot be locked
Problem analysis: the door pinch plate is not installed in place.
Troubleshooting: Check whether the door pinch plate is in place, reinstall and debug the side trim.
Hotel door lock problem 10: When the door is opened, the prompt is standard, but the door cannot be opened, and there is no motor action sound
Problem analysis: motor failure.
Troubleshooting: Replace the motor.
Hotel door lock problem 11: The door cannot be opened, and the oblique tongue cannot automatically enter the lock cylinder when the door is closed
Problem analysis: the safety tongue does not pop out or is not flexible.
Troubleshooting: Check if the safety tongue pops out or is not flexible; readjust the side trim.
Hotel Key Cards Not Working Problems and Troubleshooting
Keeping guests happy and content is extremely important in the present, highly competitive market.
Imagine business personnel has just arrived from his exhausting business meeting, willing to rest in the pre-booked hotel suite and what he finds is that the hotel key card is not working.
Why are hotel key cards not working
It would undoubtedly make anyone frustrated as they are locked outside their room. Before you aim to eliminate this issue, let’s find out what deactivates hotel key cards.
Here is a video about why hotel key cards are not working for your reference:
What Deactivates Hotel Key Cards?
There can be several reasons for this occurrence,
- The encoding of the card concerning the accurate number of nights was not proper.
- Guests extend their stay, or in some cases, they plan for a late checkout, yet they fail to rekey or reprogram the card.
- The guest might have locked themselves out during the stay, and the staff has issued a new key. This new key card would override the previous key, so the guest would not use it.
- The key’s quality can also be why the magnetized strip won’t read the code accurately.
- The magstripe could also persist a specific nick, which supports prevention in reading.
- There is a new requirement of maintenance for the door lock.
- One rare reason is that the key card was kept near a cell phone device that has demagnetized the card.
Do Hotel Key Cards Expire?
Before getting expire, hotel key cards tend to get lost, which is why, every year, hotels are required to get boxes of key cards that cost at least 11 cents each unit.
Considering the planned expiration, the key cards are usually programmed to expire on the departure at noon. It usually works the same way until you have got yourself a defective key.
Now, let’s analyze some standard hotel key card not working problems in detail.
Hotel key cards problem 1: All hotel master cards and guest cards cannot open the door.
Problem analysis:
- The battery is dead or installed incorrectly;
- The lock body power cable is off;
- The door lock is not authorized;
Troubleshooting:
- Check the battery and install new hotel lock batteries;
- Reconnect the cable between the mainboard and hotel lock batteries pack;
- Reread the authorization card;
Hotel key cards problem 2: The hotel master card can open the hotel lock, but the guest room card cannot open the hotel door lock.
Problem analysis:
- When the buzzer beeps three times “di,” “di,” and “di,” and the motor does not sound, it is caused by the wrong setting of the room number card;
- When the buzzer emits a beep and the motor does not sound, it is caused by the inconsistency between the hotel lock time and the computer time;
- The card has expired, or the hotel door lock time is wrong.
- The room number may be wrong.
Troubleshooting:
- Reset the room number card for the hotel door lock, and then reset the management card and the new room number card;
- Reissue the time card on the computer, and then go to the door lock to reread the time card.
Hotel key cards problem 3: The master card can open the door, but the guest card can not open, and the latch bolt doesn’t pop out.
Problem analysis: The latch bolt of the lock mortise is damaged. That is, the guest card, floor card, and building card are used to open the door, the indicator light does not light, the motor does not sound, and the door does not open with two beeps;
Troubleshooting: Replace the lock mortise;
Hotel key cards problem 4: The master card and guest card cannot open the door, the indicator light is on, the motor sounds in the lock, and the hotel door lock handle is idling
Problem analysis:
- The positioning point on the exterior door handle is not aligned with the positioning arrow on the lock mortise;
- The spindle of the handle is not put into the square hole of the door handle;
- There is no spring in the door handle square hole, and the spindle of the door handle retracts into the handle square hole;
Troubleshooting:
- Align and fix two points;
- Reinstall the spindle of the hotel door lock handle;
- Reinstall the handle spring;
Hotel key cards problem 5: The room number card setting is invalid
Problem analysis:
- The building number and floor are incorrect;
- The card is damaged.
Troubleshooting: reset the building number, floor or change the card.
Hotel key cards problem 6: The master control card and emergency card can open the door, and the other door cards cannot open the door
Problem analysis:
- The building number, floor, and room number are not set;
- The door is locked.
Troubleshooting:
- Set the building number, floor, room number
- Check whether the square tongue is open; if not, replace the lock cylinder.
Other most common hotel lock system problems:
1, How to reset the hotel door lock
First, let’s try to know: Why do you need to reset the hotel door lock?
Answer: When you want to move all your hotel door locks from your old hotel to a new hotel or move one hotel lock to a different hotel room, you now need to reset the hotel lock.
How to reset the hotel lock?
Answer: For a general RFID hotel lock, you will need to use and insert the mechanical key of this hotel lock into the keyhole of the hotel lock and make five complete turns.
Then this hotel door lock can be reset.
2, Do hotel doors work when power is out?
When the power is out, the hotel door can still work. But you can not use any key card to open the door. You will have to use mechanical keys to open the hotel door.
3. What should I do when the hotel key card is lost?
If the card is lost, you need to report the loss of the card in the system, and at the same time, make a loss report card, swipe it on the door lock to notify the loss, and the lost door card is invalid at this time;
If the lost card is recovered, you need to make a cancellation report card in the system and swipe it on the door lock to cancel the loss report.
4. What should I do when the hotel lock in the normally open mode?
First, confirm the triggering of the normally open mode. If you touch the emergency card, you need to re-swipe the emergency card to recover;
If the battery is dead and the voltage is insufficient, the motor cannot be reset, and a new battery can be replaced;
If the motor fails, the engine needs to be replaced; if the line is broken due to installation problems, the wire needs to be replaced.
5. Why does the hotel door lock system needs to be backed up frequently?
Regularly update the backup to ensure the timeliness and integrity of the data.
Suppose an unexpected situation occurs and the computer is damaged, and the computer or system needs to be replaced. In that case, the backed-up data can play a perfect role in re-registration.
After the system, restore the backup, and it can be used generally without resetting the system and door lock, saving a lot of time.
6, Onity hotel locks troubleshooting
If you have used ONITY hotel locks and have some problems, you can refer to this article: Onity Locks Troubleshooting: Professional Step by Step Guide
7, Salto Hotel Locks Troubleshooting
If you have used Salto hotel locks and have some problems, you can refer to this article: Salto Lock Troubleshooting Guide
8, Yale Lock Troubleshooting
If you have used Yale locks and have some problems, you can refer to this article: Yale Lock Troubleshooting: Expert Step by Step Guidelines
9, Vingcard Door Lock Troubleshooting
If you have used Yale locks for your hotels and have some problems, refer to this article: Vingcard Door Lock Manual Troubleshooting: Step by Step Guide!
10, Kaba Door Lock Troubleshooting
If you have used Kaba door locks for your hotel and have some problems, you can refer to this article: Kaba Door Lock Troubleshooting: Expert Step by Step Guide
11, Saflok Troubleshooting
If you use Saflok at your hotel and have some problems, you can refer to this article: Saflok Troubleshooting: Comprehensive and Detailed Guidance.
12, TTlock Troubleshooting
If you use the TTlock system for your hotel or apartment, you can check this article: TTlock Troubleshooting: Here Are Everything You Need To Know.