If you have been on social media lately you have probably seen the click-bait videos: a hand-held black box—technically a “Tesla coil” or “electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) generator”—is pressed against a smart lock, there is a loud spark, and the latch pops open in seconds.
The clip ends with the creator’s wide-eyed warning: “Your smart lock is useless!”
We are lock-makers, not drama-channels, so let us give you the facts, not fear.
- What is a “Tesla box”?
A small battery-powered Tesla coil that creates a 50–200 kV burst of radio-frequency energy. The idea is to couple that energy into the lock’s PCB and force a reset or over-voltage condition that momentarily releases the motor. - Does it work on every smart lock?
Yes—if the lock was designed like a weekend hobby project. No—if it was engineered for real-world security. In the last three years independent labs in the U.S., EU and China have tested 42 consumer-grade smart locks. 11 of them opened in <1 s when the coil was placed within 2 cm of the PCB. The other 31 either stayed locked or rebooted into a locked state. - Where is the difference?
Shielding, filtering and firmware. A properly hardened lock has:
- a grounded Faraday cage around the MCU and motor driver
- TVS (transient-voltage-suppression) diodes on every external interface
- a power-path circuit that cuts the motor when VCC spikes >6 V
- firmware that re-checks lock state after any unexpected reset
- How we built ours
Our entire product line was put through the ANSI/BHMA 156.28-2022 “Electromagnetic Interference – Residential” test suite:
- 1 MHz–1 GHz radiated field, 30 V/m
- 50 kV Tesla-coil point discharge, 5 mm gap, 100 discharges
- 200 A/m magnetic pulse, 500 repetitions
Result: 0 false unlocks, 0 latch retractions, 0 MCU resets.
We then doubled the margin: every PCB is now wrapped in a 0.3 mm nickel-copper shield that gives 60 dB attenuation at 400 MHz—roughly the frequency band where consumer Tesla boxes are most aggressive. We call it Anti-Coil™ design, and it is standard, not an optional “Pro” upgrade.
- What you see on the outside
Same sleek keypad, same fingerprint speed (<0.3 s), same battery life (≈12 months on 4 × AA). The security upgrade is invisible—exactly the way it should be. - Still worried? Try it yourself.
Every our lock ships with a 30-second “EMP self-test.” Hold down the # key for 8 s; the lock cycles the motor and flashes green if all suppression circuits are intact. If the circuit ever degrades (we have never seen it), the lock fails closed and the app flags service needed—fail-secure, not fail-open.
Bottom line
A Tesla box is a great way to weed out toys pretending to be locks. It is also a great way to confirm you bought a lock that was engineered for the real world. With our Anti-Coil™ shielding the only thing that will open your door is the credential you choose—fingerprint, code, card or phone—not a spark from a viral video.
Stay safe, stay curious, and keep the drama on the screen, not at your front door.
