Videos
. We just received word that 3 of the LCN 4040XP closers currently being tested have surpassed 20 million cycles and are still going strong! The tests are being conducted at LCN, following the procedures of ANSI/BHMA A156.4. It has taken 2 1/2 years of constant cycling for the size-4* closers to reach the 20-million [...]
I’m working on the next post about smoke but this has been an extremely busy week. Here’s something to entertain you while you wait: Apparently firefighters are being asked to deal with rogue bears more frequently these days. I’ll bet this bear woke up with a headache.
I swear, I didn’t send him the camo underwear. Check out Bill’s blog at blog.accesshardware.com.
Today I had the pleasure of visiting the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. My trusty guide for the tour was Rachel Smith of Karpen Steel, who suggested the Biltmore as a stop on my road trip and then arranged for the visit to the estate. If you haven’t been to the Biltmore Estate, you [...]
Yesterday we decided that there was still too much to see so we can’t go home just yet. We haven’t run out of clean clothes, so why not? We spent the entire day taking in the sights of Colonial Williamsburg, without a thrill ride or water slide in sight. I saw so many interesting doors [...]
Back in the day, before my restaurant choices were based on whether the establishment offered crayons, chicken nuggets, and a giant mouse or talking tree, I used to frequent a local cantina. The “naked” door closer on their ladies room door drove me nuts, so one night I showed up with a closer cover, screws, [...]
We’re in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the good news is that the specwriter Chip and I came to see has agreed to include Falcon exit devices in his specifications! Yippee! The bad news is that we arrived a bit early for Bike Week, but I figured it’s still a good place to mention cycle testing. [...]
The hot topic of last week was how to handle locks on dormitory entrance doors, since the students have figured out how to reach under the door with a coat hanger and pull down the lever to unlock the door. There’s a minute+ of bad video below to illustrate the procedure, as reenacted by a [...]
It’s not often you find the variety of egress-related news stories that I’ve seen lately, so I compiled a few here for your reading pleasure. Enjoy! Once in a while, fire doors and egress doors get some attention from a sensational story that captures the public’s interest (like the one about the voo-doo ritual a [...]
It seems like I should know all about myself now that I’m in my (early!) 40′s, but I recently learned that the way I learn best is from a live demonstration or a video. As soon as I start trying to read about something, my mind is off in a hundred directions, but put the [...]
I’ve been doing some research for my FDAI presentation, looking for specific examples of how the inspection of fire doors and correction of deficiencies can have a direct impact on life safety as well as the protection of property. It’s not very often that you see fire doors in the news, but these two recent [...]
Feeling the Heat: Fire Doors – Building.co.uk “Incorrectly specified fire doors could, at worst, cost lives. Now a landmark legal case could mean that it’s the contractor and specifier who will end up in court.” Ten dead in Delhi factory fire, all exits were blocked – Indo-Asian News Service “Prima facie it appears that the [...]
I’m not a big fan of glass doors because the options for hardware are so limited, but they do supply some interesting fail moments. You’d think that after multiple people ran into the same sidelite, they’d stick on some fake snowflakes or something… Video compilation courtesy of www.urlesque.com.
OMG – I LOVE this video. Maybe I’ll get inspired to do a series of “Hardware Gal” videos. Here’s a link to Bill’s blog, where you can find more videos and information about the products sold by Access Hardware Supply. Thanks to Hal Kelton of DoorData Solutions for bringing it to my attention!
December 8th, 2011, was the 50-year anniversary of a fire at Hartford Hospital which caused the death of 16 patients, staff, and visitors, and resulted in many important changes to code requirements for hospital construction. Connecticut Public Television has just released a video about the tragedy and the resulting code changes. Other than the statement [...]
Today is the 39th anniversary of the fire at the Hotel Vendome, in which 9 firefighters lost their lives when the building unexpectedly collapsed during mop-up operations. Stephanie Schorow, author of 4 books about Boston, spoke about the Hotel Vendome fire, the Cocoanut Grove fire, and the Great Boston Fire of 1872 in this video [...]
I went to see an architect on Friday, for what I thought would be a 2-hour meeting to discuss the security requirements for a new project. 3 1/2 hours later (time flies when you’re talking about hardware!) I emerged to the sunlight (and the parking ticket), after literally resorting to cheerleading to get the architect [...]
It’s not very often that I see a news report about egress doors that don’t meet code requirements. Considering the prevalence of the problem, it’s amazing to me that it doesn’t get more publicity, but then again, I’m a little more focused on the problem than the average citizen. Today is my lucky day because [...]
I tend to notice hardware on TV and movies (just ask my family!), but this video is probably the best (worst) example I’ve seen of doors gone bad for the sake of TV production. It was sent in by Eyal Bedrik of Entry Systems Ltd. in Israel. The commercial is in Hebrew but the panic [...]
Last Tuesday night, approximately fifty people were left homeless by a fire at the Parkside West Apartments in New London, Connecticut, which apparently began on a stove in a 3rd-story apartment. One of the newspaper accounts of the fire investigation reported that the fire marshal stated “in the third-floor apartment where the fire is believed [...]
Here’s the second batch of reader photos. My emailbox is empty now. Not. From Steve Poe of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies, a hospital pair that was wrong from the start. The gravity coordinator doesn’t work, which is why they want people to use the lever handle. From Hal Kelton of DoorData Solutions, some photos of [...]
I got this text message this morning, and alas, I’m not at the ISC West show in Las Vegas. If you’re not at the show either, you can still visit the Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies booth there. Tour Our Booth with Sean Leonard: Other Videos from ISC-West bright blue Web-based Access Control System – Jason [...]
The other day, one of my friends asked me about the new Schlage LiNK, which is a remote access system that connects you to your home from anywhere via cell phone or computer. With the monthly subscription and Z-Wave enabled products, you can remotely control and monitor your door locks, check on your pets with [...]
One of the disadvantages of a shear lock is the noise associated with locking/unlocking. This post has a video of the operation of a shear lock.
I’ve obviously been slacking because this video was posted a month ago. It’s a follow-up to a report about the flawed fire safety system at the Staples Center, including problems with their fire doors. Here’s a link, in case you missed it too. Kudos to Robert Flores of Fire Door Consulting and Inspection Services for [...]
This building in Calcutta was involved in a fatal fire today, with 24 deaths reported so far and additional people still missing. The top floors of the building had been added illegally, but the building owner paid a fine and all was forgiven. The fire department reportedly had never inspected the building. Each section had [...]
This is the 2nd post in a series about fire doors and the results of a recent survey. ————————————————————————————————– “Fire protection-rated doors provide critical protection to protect exit enclosures and compartmentalize buildings and stop the spread of fire, smoke, and toxic gases. The proper installation and maintenance of these doors is a critical part of [...]
The other day I posted some photos of a fire door that had done its job and prevented a fire from spreading. Several of you emailed me about the photos, because they’re SUCH a great illustration of what a fire door is for. It’s easy to imagine what would have happened if it was propped [...]
I got a Tweet today from @GinnyPowell, who was attending a Von Duprin training. She was surprised that the fire truck video is still around, and once she mentioned it I just had to go back and watch it again. It’s a classic! I love the fire test engineer…”I am now checking the device…” I [...]
Remember the old video of the various types of exit devices being run over by a fire truck? It’s a classic, and I still get the urge to watch it every so often…“I am examining the [flattened] device. It is not working.” You could make the case that a panic device doesn’t need to withstand [...]
I think these are about the tiniest closers I’ve ever seen. One was obviously not enough to get the bathroom door closed, so another one was added. The door still wouldn’t close, so the closer was flipped around and mounted the opposite way. The door STILL wouldn’t close, AND the sound of the closers was [...]
A couple of weeks ago I told you about the significance of August 1st – it’s my birthday (big deal), and also the day that the features of the LCN 4040XP are incorporated into the standard 4040 closer (BIG DEAL!). Every 4040 closer ordered from today forward will be shipped as a 4040XP – with [...]
The fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City on March 25th, 1911, claimed 146 lives – mostly young immigrant women. Building owners locked the exit doors to keep the workers in and the union organizers out, so when a fire broke out on the 8th floor it was impossible for some of [...]
Ellen DeGeneres cracks me up – even though she never talks about doors and I never have time to watch her show any more. Recently, Ellen and I became Facebook friends, so I get random status updates from her show which often include videos. I happened upon a video of when she sent one of her writers through [...]
I’m currently working on several projects that have glass doors in walls that are acting as 1-hour fire barriers with closely-spaced sprinkler heads above the glass. The problem with this application from a hardware standpoint is that the Blumcraft, CR Laurence, and Dorma Glas panic hardware that is typically used on glass doors does not [...]
I visited a jobsite today and saw some QEL devices in action. If you’re not familiar with the QEL device, it is a *quiet* version of the electric latch retraction exit device. When the access control system (card reader, key fob, etc.) signals the door to unlock, the latch(es) retract to allow someone to pull [...]
How many more fires is it going to take before people understand that closed and latched doors save lives, code-compliant fire doors are self-closing and self-latching, and annual fire door inspections will make sure they stay that way? It’s simple, really. But the message is not getting through, and people continue to die – this [...]
