Detex EAX-500 Battery Powered Door Exit Alarm

The Detex EAX-500 is the industry-standard battery-powered door exit alarm, used in retail back-of-house, warehouse emergency exits, school egress doors, pharmacy stockrooms, and any opening where unauthorized use needs to be announced with a 100dB piezo horn. Self-contained, no wiring, runs on a single 9V battery with low-battery alert. Alarm silences only with the proper control key, which means a shoplifter or unauthorized employee can't mute the noise. Extended bypass feature lets authorized staff hold the door open without triggering the alarm, and auto-rearms when the door closes. Tapered cover fits narrow stile doors down to 2" wide. 3-year limited manufacturer's warranty. 

What Is the Detex EAX-500 Exit Alarm

Detex (founded 1909 in New Braunfels, Texas) invented the modern door exit alarm category in the 1970s, and the EAX-500 has been the flagship battery-powered model for three decades. The "EAX" designation means Exit Alarm, and the 500 is the current generation (replacing the older EAX-300). It's a loss prevention and life safety device: any time the door opens without the alarm being bypassed by key, the 100dB piezo horn sounds continuously until someone with the proper control key silences it. Standard applications include retail stores (prevents employees from walking merchandise out the back door), warehouses (announces unauthorized use of emergency exits), K-12 schools (stops students from sneaking outside doors), pharmacies (secures controlled substance storerooms), hospitals (monitors restricted-access doors), and any facility spec'ing Division 08 71 00 hardware where a door needs to be "alarmed only" without full panic bar conversion.

Detex EAX-500 Specifications

Full specs for the door schedule:

• Type: self-contained battery-powered door or wall-mount exit alarm

• Alarm: 100dB piezo horn, sounds continuously until silenced by control key

• Power: single 9V DC battery (included), low-battery alert indicator

• Housing: secure, tamper-resistant metal enclosure

• Door compatibility: tapered cover mounts on narrow stile doors from 2" minimum width

• Door handing: auto-detected by intelligent circuit (no manual handling selection required at install)

• Alignment: patented plastic template ensures foolproof magnetic sensor alignment

• Bypass: extended bypass feature (standard) allows authorized door hold-open and auto-rearms on close

• Auto rearm: field-selectable 2-minute auto rearm timer for short bypass periods

• Status indicators: field-selectable LED status indicators for armed/bypassed state

• Silencing: control key only (no button, no remote, no passcode vulnerability)

• Installation hardware: machine and self-drilling screws included in box

• Warranty: 3-year limited manufacturer's warranty from Detex

• Mounting: door or wall mount configurations both supported

How the EAX-500 Works (and When It Sounds)

The EAX-500 uses a magnetic door contact hidden inside the tapered cover that mates with an external magnet mounted on the door frame. When armed, opening the door breaks the magnetic circuit and the piezo alarm fires at ~100dB. The alarm continues sounding until a staff member inserts the control key into the outside of the unit, which both silences the alarm and logs the event (via optional status indicator). To bypass the alarm for authorized entries (deliveries, maintenance, legitimate exit), staff turn the control key to the bypass position. Extended bypass holds that state even while the door is open, so a dock worker can prop the door open during a delivery window without continuous noise. Once the door closes, the alarm automatically rearms. The 2-minute field-selectable auto rearm option is for quick authorized exits where you don't want to manually re-key the unit.

Configure Your EAX-500 (Finish, Cylinder, Keying)

Three options to select before checkout. Finish: Gray (standard, most common in industrial and back-of-house applications) or Black. Cylinder: standard ships without a cylinder (you install your own mortise cylinder keyed to your existing master system), or add "With Mortise Cylinder to operate alarm" if you want Detex to ship a compatible cylinder in the box. Keying: Standard (each unit keyed individually) or KA Keyed Alike (all units on your order keyed to the same control key, useful for chain retail rollouts where one regional manager key should silence every EAX-500 in a district).

EAX-500 vs EAX-500W vs EAX-300 (Which One Fits)

Detex builds three EAX variants. The EAX-500 (this product) is the standard interior battery-powered exit alarm, the default for 95% of commercial applications. The Detex EAX-500W Weatherized Door Exit Alarm is the outdoor/weather-rated version specified for exterior gates, outdoor emergency exits, loading docks exposed to weather, and warehouse side doors without overhead protection. The EAX-300 is the older predecessor model being phased out, lacks the extended bypass feature, and is not directly cross-compatible with EAX-500 mounting. If you're retrofitting an EAX-300 installation, the EAX-500 uses a different hole pattern, so you'll need the patented alignment template (included). For documentation, the official Detex catalog PDF, how-to-order guide, and EAX-300 vs EAX-500 comparison chart are all linked in the product page resources section.

Where to Buy the Detex EAX-500

We've stocked Detex commercial security hardware since 2001, and the EAX-500 ships the same day from our Exit Alarms category within the broader Exit Hardware lineup. For complete door security systems, pair the EAX-500 with a magnetic door contact from the Detex MS-1039S / MS-1059S Economical Surface Mounted Magnetic Switch for doors where the factory magnet placement doesn't work.