Alarm Controls System Accessories - K Series Momentary Push Button

The K Series momentary buttons mount in a 1/2 inch hole. They ship with two nuts to clamp the switch through the panel or plate; a dress nut for a finished face is a separate order. If you are cutting into an existing single-gang plate or an escutcheon, the 1/2 inch bore is the only opening prep you need.

Contact configuration and color. The K-05 is a black normally closed button, so pressing it opens the circuit, which is what you want on a magnetic lock or a fail-safe device that releases when the circuit breaks. The K-13 is a red normally open button that closes the circuit when pressed, used to trigger a relay, strike, or auxiliary input. Both are momentary, so the contact returns as soon as you let go. Pick by what the downstream device expects, not by color.

No. The two mount differently and are not interchangeable in the same prep. The K-13 is a red N/O momentary button for a closed circuit that seats in a 1/2 inch hole with nuts behind the face. The Dortronics 5215-SPB is a 1-1/2 inch square illuminated button furnished on a single gang plate, so it needs a gang-box opening and covers a much larger area of the wall. Swapping one for the other means changing the prep, not just the button.

Both models come in a 25-pack: K-05(25) for the black N/C button and K-13(25) for the red N/O. If you are standardizing request-to-exit or release buttons across a building, ordering the 25-pack keeps every opening on the same part number and the same 1/2 inch mounting prep.

Specify the Dortronics 5215-SPB, which is an illuminated 1-1/2 inch square push button on a single gang plate. The Alarm Controls K Series buttons, K-05 in black and K-13 in red, are unlit bushing-mount switches identified by button color rather than by illumination. For a lobby, corridor, or egress point where the release has to be visible without ambient light, the illuminated Dortronics unit is the one to put on the drawing; for equipment faces, cabinets, and control panels where the operator is already at the device, the K Series buttons cover it.

It matters for standardizing. The Dortronics 5215-SPB belongs to the 5215 Series, so follow-on and matching devices come from that series. The Alarm Controls buttons are K Series, covering K-05 and K-13, and both are offered in 25-packs for outfitting many openings at once. Picking one series and staying in it keeps the mounting prep, the look at the wall, and the spare parts on the shelf consistent across the property.

They are commercial-grade access control accessories, used as release and shunt buttons in electronic access systems. Momentary action means no latching, so the circuit state only changes while the button is held, which is the behavior you want for a door release rather than a lockdown switch.