In today’s guest blog post from Adam Fisk of Allegion, Adam addresses an operational issue that many end users struggle with – seasonal adjustments.

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Seasonal adjustments. Two all-too-familiar words in door hardware. Seasonal adjustments mean more work. They mean the door isn’t operating correctly, and it’s up to you to fix it. You the facility manager, the service tech, the maintenance staff, the janitor, the guy or gal who happens to be good with a wrench. To you, seasonal adjustments mean your day just got longer.  

Mechanical closers have features built-in to help minimize these adjustments – see my article on hydraulic fluid for more on that – but you’d think automatic operators could offer something more. After all, they are automatic, aren’t they?  

The truth is that many automatic operators are stuck in the past. They might have added functionality to increase force in the latching zone, or a boost to ensure the latch is properly engaged, but none so far have been able to remove “seasonal adjustments” from our vocabulary. That is, until now.  

Enter the self-adjusting operator. An operator with a brain smart enough to recognize the change in seasons (ok, the change in the environmental factors around the door, but you get the idea). These operators claim stack pressure compensation, wind load control, automatic adjustments – things that can finally counter those two terrible words.  

One of the strongest self-adjusting operators we’ve seen is the LCN Senior Swing IQ series. This operator comes with two key features – AdaptivIQ and Smart Power Boost. Together, they can sense the environment around the door and react to changes in real time. Swapping your AC for heat? No problem. Windy day on the way? Not an issue.  

Let’s start with AdaptivIQ. This technology automatically adjusts throughout both the opening and closing cycle to remain consistent with the door setup. That’s both speed and force fully controlled. If you have wind trying to push the door open too fast, AdaptivIQ will slow the door down. Stack pressure refusing to let a door open? AdaptivIQ adds more power to open the door smoothly.  

Then Smart Power Boost – the rare combination of brains and brawn. Much like a standard power boost, this will add force during the closing cycle if something – say wind or stack pressure – is causing the door to close too slowly or even preventing the door from latching. However, with a standard power boost, when that resistance disappears, the door is going to slam until you – yes back to you – turn it off. That’s where the “Smart” comes in. This technology recognizes the level of force needed to properly close the door – from 1 to a maximum setting of 10 – and only applies the force required. No more, no less. It adjusts every time to that unique cycle and provides consistent operation so you can rest easy.  

With AdaptivIQ controlling the door and Smart Power Boost available for that extra force, the LCN Senior Swing is set up to remove those dreaded “seasonal adjustments.” No more calls to those problem doors. No more loud slamming over the first week you turn the AC on. Just smooth, consistent operation during every season, all year round.  

But don’t take my word for it! Reach out to the Allegion product support team and learn more about it! We’d love to hear from you and walk you through these innovations. Here’s a link to their contact form. Or feel free to leave a comment or question!  

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