I wonder if the motor issue has anything to do with bolt latch friction in the door jamb. When I first installed Palm Lock, I didn’t do anything special to the jamb side, and to me the Palm Lock sounded and felt (when I would manually turn the internal knob to lock) like it was meeting some resistance, I think because it was rubbing against the strike plate. Also, the lock that it replaced has a bolt latch with a slight taper to it, whereas the one on Palm Lock seems more perpendicular to the door’s edge (if that makes sense), and I think the taper of the older bolt latch made it easier to “find” its way into the hole. After I took the time to remove the old strike plate, mortise the jamb, and install Palm Lock’s dust box and strike, the motion of the lock has been much smoother, and that resistance I was feeling is gone. The motor doesn’t sound like it’s struggling anymore.