When I was on a field trip with our current SWAP/SDP cohort last week, we came across this opening in a high school, and one of the specwriter apprentices asked what was going on with the closer on the door in the middle.
When we opened the door, the closer shoe was actually flexing down and had become bent over time.
The problem? The closer body had been installed without setting the backcheck feature, so the closer shoe was taking the full force of packs of high school students using the door daily. Upon closer inspection we noticed another problem…
The original LCN closer body had been replaced with a closer designed to look almost exactly like an LCN 4040. The LCN arm was even reused. We get a lot of calls from end users who have problems with what they think is an LCN closer. As you can see…it can be tough to tell the difference. The label even includes LCN’s tortoise and hare adjustment symbols.
Maybe the end user wanted to save some money, or maybe the supplier substituted the other product, but the problem has not been solved and eventually there could be damage to the door, frame, glass, etc. A closer without backcheck can even cause injuries to building occupants. Nobody wins in this Fixed-it Friday scenario.
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Hello Hager. Some people cannot resist the urge to value engineer replacements. We see lookalike closer bodies hidden behind LCN covers with LCN arms, and we see lookalike mortise locks hidden behind Schlage armour fronts with Schlage trim. This should never be done in an institutional setting, and is obviously questionable practice anywhere else. Some even charge full LCN or Schlage prices for “imitation” products. That is not the right way to take care of customers, if you are in this for the long haul.
We had several independent sales reps brining in knock-off copies of LCN closer models over the years before I retired. They matched down to the templated screw holes.
There are a great many off Shore identical products out there. As stated once the customer who has taken over the location and they hear the price !!!
A LCN 4040XP here in Canada ( Ontario Market has a list price of over $800.00
Not to mention the other hardware on the door you wonder why ? PRICE dictates sales