You’ve changed your Kiwikset locks battery and you’ve noticed that they’re not working. There are quite a few reasons why this happens.
Mainly it’s down to either a battery issue or a hardware issue. In a lot of scenarios, it’s actually because the lock is damaged itself.
But in this article, I’ll go through exhaustive reasons why this could be happening with your Kiwikset lock and the best ways to fix it in each situation.
Kwikset Lock Not Working After Battery Change
I’ve had another lock fail on me before, not a Kiwikset lock, but a Kwikset lock stopped working after I changed the batteries and I managed to fix it. The solution is more simply than you think.
1. Batteries Are Installed Incorrectly
If your batteries are installed incorrectly in terms of polarity, then your Kiwikset won’t work. The batteries need to be installed the right way around if you want the lock to function properly.
This could also be the same scenario for if the batteries aren’t sitting in the tray correctly. The batteries need to be laid completely flat as well as the right way round for them to work.
If they were working perfectly before the battery change, then it’s clear that the positioning is either incorrect, or there’s an issue with the batteries. But lets focus on the position first before we get onto the battery quality.
Fix – Correct Porality and Positioning
If it’s not clear to you, you need to check the polarity and make sure they’re the right way around. So the battery end with the metal that protrudes should be touching the metal terminal in the lock. And the flat end of the battery should be by the spring.
In terms of laying them in the tray, they need to be as flat as possible.
2. You Didn’t Program Your Lock Before Replacing
If you received the low battery warning on your Kwikset lock before you tried to replace them, then you’ll need to program them again before replacing the battery. This required you press the program button and the button labeled ‘A’ for 5 seconds each before you try placing the new batteries in them again.
Fix – Reset Lock Steps
1. Make sure the lock is in the unlocked position.
2. Remove the battery cover and remove the batteries
3. Press and hold the “Reset” and Button ‘A’ button for 5 seconds. You will hear 3 long beeps after.
4. Place the batteries in the correct position, and the correct terminals are touching their respective sites of the battery. Then cover the battery flap, and your Kwikset lock should start working properly again.
3. Wrong or Low-Quality Batteries
If you’ve received the low battery warning on your Kwikset lock, then chances are you picked up some old batteries from a drawer and just stuffed them into your lock.
Providing your Kwikset lock with low-quality batteries can harm its performance long term and along the way, it’ll have technical issues such as the one you’re experiencing now – your Kwikset lock not working properly is a more severe issue but you get the point.
Whether your batteries are wrong or low quality, there are ways you can check to see if that is the problem with your Kwikset lock not working after changing the battery.
Note: If you use low quality batteries, you could experience issues such as your Kwikset lock not connecting to wifi. If you have been experiencing connectivity issues, I’ve done an article that lists out all of the possible reasons why you’d be experiencing this aside from using low quality batteries.
Fix – Make Sure That the Batteries Are Correct For That Specific Lock
Here are the AA batteries (view on Amazon) that I use for my lock.
Fix 2 – Do Not Use Low-Quality Batteries
Like I said earlier, it’s important you don’t just grab any lock you can because you’re either going to experience technical issues or your Kwikset lock not work at all – purely down to low quality batteries.
To check for signs of a low quality battery, you need to look for leakages around your batteries, corrosion and damage. If you notice any of these signs, it could be a sign that you need to get new batteries for you lock.
You can also check the battery levels for your Kwikset lock to see if the batteries you just installed in them after of decent quality.
There are two low battery indicators on the unit. The LED light on the interior side of the lock will flash red when the batteries are low. The keypad will also flash red when the batteries are low.
If you noticed red flashes are installing the new batteries, it’s clear they’re of low quality and you need to go out and get new batteries.
4. Kwikset Lock Needs to Be Updated or Reset
After changing your batteries on your Kiwikset, if you notice it won’t work, it could be a sign that there’s a bug within your lock. This could call for an update or reset of the lock. Updating or resetting the lock, even doing both should get rid of all of the issues within if they are bug related. If they aren’t bug related, then there’s clearly another issue with your lock that could be more serious.
Fix – Update Your Kwikset Lock
To update your Kwikset lock, you can do it using these steps. Because they’re so long, there was no point in giving you a step-by-step within this article. You can just use the clear steps Kwikset provides that I just lived to above.
Fix 2 – Reset Your Kwikset Lock
When you are resetting your Kwikset lock you are going to make sure you have two things: your programming code and your default user.
Also, note that not every Kwikset lock resets the same way check the Kwikset lock resetting guide before you do this. Here is a way to do the factory resetting on your Kwikset lock.
1. Make sure the lock is in the unlocked position.
2. Remove the battery cover.
3. Press and hold the “Reset” button for 5 seconds. You will hear 3 long beeps after
the 5 seconds is completed indicating the lock has been reset.
After replacing the batteries, if you’ve noticed that your Kwikset lock still won’t work even after updating, resetting and positioning the batteries correctly, you’ll have to start considering that your Kwikset lock is damaged.
I’m sure it’s not something you want to think about, but these things happen in life.
5. Kwikset Lock is Damaged
If you are having issues with your Kwikset Lock not working after you did a battery change it could be that the lock is damaged. Like all mechanical devices, they will wear and tear over time. Parts could be misaligned sometimes, causing the lock not to work properly.
If you have had this Kwikset lock for a long period of time, in some cases the parts can be worn and in worse cases, parts can get broken. There are ways to see if your Kwikset lock is damaged and if that is causing the lock not to work.
Fix – Check to See If Kwikset Lock is Damaged
Look over your Kwikset lock and see if there is any visible damage, this could be scratches, or scruffs on the surface of the Kwikset lock. Check to see if there is any misalignment of the bolt or latch.
When you are going over the lock and examining everything from the strike plate to the bolt and latch, make sure to tighten any screws that can become loose.
Make sure the lock works by the turn bolt or a key, if it has one. If you have noticed no visible wear and tear on the Kwikset Lock then there could be another reason it is not working.
6. Replace Kwikset Lock Or Contact Support
If you have checked the position of the new batteries, did a reset, checked for damage, and tried all of the other small fixes, and it still won’t won’t after the battery change, it’s time to either replace your Kwikset lock.
I personally use the Kwikset Halo, which I picked up from Amazon.
Note: Only pick up a new Kwikset lock if you’re convinced the one you currently have has too many issues. There’s no point in picking up a new lock if the problem with your current lock can easily be fixed.