Back-2-Basics: Door Closers
Hello Readers! This is my next "Back-2-Basics" piece...if there is anything I should add/change, please leave a comment. And have a great week!
FF: Classroom Security
Every school is looking for affordable ways to lock their classroom doors in an intruder situation. A group of students at Benjamin Banneker High School in Washington, D.C. have designed the "DeadStop", a device that clamps onto the door closer arm to prevent the door from being opened.
Reader Photos
It's time to clean out my inbox again! Here are some of the reader photos I've received. Thanks to all who sent them!
Music City Center – Nashville, Tennessee
I know what you're thinking..."When is she going to stop talking about Nashville and get on to something interesting like gasketing or clear opening width?" :D
Reader Photos
Thank you to everyone who has sent me photos of doors they've seen in their travels (or while laying on the couch). Kelly Chimilar from Allmar Inc. noticed these doors with an obvious egress problem while watching Thursday Night Football. If you don't know what the problem is, I will hold a special online study session for you after work tonight. ;)
WW: Duct Tape
From Vince Black of Black Hawk Doors, a restaurant owner's solution to a closer arm stripped off the shaft, with the arm screw broken off in the closer body:
The Palladium – Carmel, Indiana (July 2013)
This article was printed in the July 2013 issue of Doors & Hardware
Reader Photos – What’s wrong with this picture?
I've received lots of photos lately that illustrated problems with how products were specified, supplied, or installed. So let's play...what's wrong with this picture???
LCN Closers in the News!
At the risk of sounding like a hardware nerd, I'll admit that I think door closers are really cool. Most of the people walking around in the world don't give them a second thought. But on Monday, July 29th, between 9:35 and 9:45 pm EDT, LCN Closers will be profiled on The Fox Business Network in the "Manufacturing Marvels" series. The two-minute profile will spotlight the LCN brand, its products and its commitment to quality, and hopefully make more people aware of what an important purpose door closers serve.
Reader Photos
Time to clean out the inbox! Here's the first batch:
WW: New and Improved Fire Door Hold-Open
It's Wednesday, and you know what that means! Another application that leaves me wordless! Jeff Tock of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies sent me these photos of the integral stop on a door closer being used to hold the fire door open. Y'all know that's not ok - right?
WWYD: Help Wanted
I answer A LOT of questions every day, and I love doing it. I'm so glad to be able to provide this resource for our staff and customers, and anyone else who comes across my site. But sometimes I get questions that I don't have a good answer for, and that's where you come in. Please leave a comment if you have any insight on ANY of these questions...
Reader Photos – Closer Edition
I have A LOT of photos that have been sent in by readers of this blog - THANK YOU! Here is the first batch, which all feature closers in various states of problematic.
Hang It Up
Any theories about what's happening here? Steve Poe from Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies sent me the photo and we're perplexed.
WWYD? High Winds
Many of us have experienced a project where the doors were subjected to unexpected wind loads, causing problems with the hardware and the operation of the door. I'm not talking about the occasional wind that comes with a hurricane, tornado, or tropical storm - I mean the everyday wind gusts due to the building location or other factors.
Best Closer Kludge Ever?
Yesterday I went to see my old friends at New England Door Closer (photos of the purpose of my trip to follow!), and they showed me this little beauty. Classic!
Happy Holidays
For the last 8 years, I have coordinated a holiday gift drive along with my coworkers, family, and friends for the residents of our local family shelter and other families in need. This year we provided gifts for 75 kids and parents! When I went to the shelter with a load to drop off, I saw the sign below. I asked the director if they had a close call and she said, with a very grave look in her eyes, "more than one."
WW: Bungee Cords
I can't figure out whether these are providing security or acting as the door closers, but either way they leave me wordless!
WW: Uncoordinated
The good news...I'm on my way to Las Vegas for CoNEXTions 2012! The bad news...our flight lost a hydraulic system and we had to land in Denver. There's a replacement plane but it is larger and requires an extra flight attendant, who had to be called in from home. I'm sure he's not a happy camper right now. I will get there eventually, but while I'm waiting, here's another photo that left me Wordless.
WW: Measure Twice Drill 8 Times
I recently saw this closer prep on a brand-new fire door. Now what?
Reader Photos
I'll be posting some Moroccan door photos soon, but here are some reader photos to tide you over.
Science Museum
My youngest daughter graduated from kindergarten today, so we played hookey and took her to the Museum of Science. I didn't forget about y'all though. Here are a few photos from the trip.
WW: Problem Solved
This photo was sent to me by two different people and had made the rounds before it got to them, so I don't know who to give photo credit to. Anyone want to admit to coming up with this creative solution?
Decoded: Opening Force and Closing Speed
This post was printed in the May 2012 issue of Doors & Hardware
Universal Studios Orlando
When I was in Florida a couple of weeks ago for the IAPSC conference, it also happened to be school vacation week so I brought the kids along for a visit to my parents' house. They all survived while I was in Miami Beach, so when I got back from the conference I took them to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure in Orlando. One of our Florida specwriters, Steve King, had written the hardware spec for the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and I couldn't pass up the chance to check it out.
WWYD? Concealed Closers at the Peabody Opera House
I recently received an email from Steve Needy, who maintains the beautiful and recently-renovated Peabody Opera House in downtown St. Louis. During the renovation, many of the original (1932) LCN 206 concealed closers were rebuilt and reinstalled. Steve's problem was that the spring power made some of the doors difficult for some visitors to open, particularly the restroom doors. Steve asked me how to adjust the closers or if that was even possible.
Reader Photos
How about some reader photos to ease you into the weekend? :D
Battleship Cove – Fall River, Massachusetts
Whenever we're on a family road trip, we try to find cool places to stop along the way to break up the ride. Today we went to Battleship Cove, the world's largest historic naval ship exhibit. The museum is home to the destroyer USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., the USS Lionfish submarine, the battleship USS Massachusetts, and several other vehicles. It's really an amazing place, and the kids loved looking at all the different rooms, many of which were set up as they would have been while the ships were occupied.
How I Discovered Door Checks (Part 3), by L.C. Norton
I previously posted Part 1 and Part 2 of this article, and here is the third and final segment.
LCN Digital Calendar Page – January 2012
When I first started working for the New England agency representing LCN back in 1994 (MPS Sales), LCN used to print an annual calendar showing their door closers in action. Well, I don't know about you but it has been quite a few years since I have hung a calendar on the wall, and printed promotional calendars seem to have gone out of vogue. I miss looking at the photos on those old LCN calendars though.
WW: Arched Doors
Jeff Tock and Kyle Learch of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies saw these doors right after my post about closers for arched doors, and couldn't believe the methods being used to get these doors closed. The doors had spring hinges as well.
How I Discovered Door Checks (Part 2), by L.C. Norton
I posted Part 1 of this article a while back, and apparently there have been people waiting patiently for the second installment. As requested, here is Part 2. Part 3 to follow.
More Museum Hardware
Last weekend I put together the annual family photo album so I could order copies for the grandparents. Mixed in with all of the vacation photos were a ton of doors. Someday my grown-up kids will be on the psychiatrist's couch..."My mother always took us places just so she could look for interesting doors...I'm scarred for life." :-)
WW: Cover Girl
I can't stop looking at the naked LCN 4040 behind Lindsey Vonn's head. Thank you to Eagle-Eye Jim Bystry of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies for sending me the link.
Reader Photos
It warms my heart when someone says, "I saw this door and I thought of you." :-) That's what Angie Sutton of Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies wrote when she sent me this photo of an old vault door on a storage room at the county courthouse:
WW: Cairo Airport
Check out these regular arm closers mounted on the push side of a pair with a transom panel. I would have used a parallel arm closer with a flush transom shoe, but I can appreciate the creativity.
WWYD?: Back-to-Back Doors
Which product application do you use when you have doors that open back-to-back and need to close upon fire alarm? I was just explaining my preferred option to a specwriter last week, and then these photos arrived...perfect timing!
Closers for Arched Doors
You don't see a whole lot of arched doors on new construction these days, but I think we probably have more than our fair share of beautiful old arched doors in the Northeast. Over the years I've had quite a few calls about how to retrofit new hardware onto existing arched doors, and the trickiest part is the closer. A floor closer would work well, but it's often difficult or impossible to install a floor closer on an existing door because of the required floor preparation.
Back to School!
Call me crazy, but this is one of my favorite days of the year - the first day of school. The summer is just too chaotic for me, with kids going every which way to various camps and activities - I need more structure in my life! So needless to say, I'm a happy camper today. I'm even happier because it was announced yesterday that this blog, my 4th baby, won the Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies President's Award in the Leadership category. WOOHOO! Thanks to all of you for visiting regularly and interacting with me. That's what blogging and social media are all about!
How I Discovered Door Checks (Part 1), by L.C. Norton
I was recently cleaning out a drawer and found copies of a 3-part article printed in Doors & Hardware in 1986. The articles were written in 1937. I thought I should preserve this piece of our history, so here is the first installment (others to follow).
Today’s the big day!
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 larger and stronger pinion, bigger bearings, and stronger teeth geometry. If you have questions about the changes, check out this FAQ document.
INNadequate Closer (& More!)
I spent last weekend in Stowe, Vermont with one of my BFFs and we stayed at an "inn," which seems to mean bigger than a bed and breakfast but not as modern as a hotel. As my friend said, "I got the keys...they're real keys - how quaint!" I won't get into how the lock on our room had to be unlocked with the thumbturn before you could turn the knob for egress, but I will share the completely inadequate mini-closer on the exterior door adjacent to our room. The door never closed and latched, and the kitchen staff hung out on the landing smoking butts (not the hinge kind). Good thing we had the high-security privacy chain on our room door.
Knockoffs
Picture this. You wait by the mailbox for your brand spanking new iPad 2 to arrive. You carefully open the box and breathe in the intoxicating scent of Apple, then plug in the cable, sync your iPad with your iTunes account, and settle back to watch a movie. A few minutes into Despicable Me, the screen goes black. AAHH!!! You pack up your iPad, take it to the Apple store, and find out that it's not an Apple iPad after all - it's a KNOCKOFF!!!
Closing Speed & Delayed Action
Back in the early 90's when the ADA was the newest focus of the door and hardware industry, delayed action closers were often specified and installed due to the assumption that they were required by the accessibility standards. Delayed action is a feature available on many door closers, which delays the closing cycle for up to a minute (or more depending on the manufacturer) from the maximum degree of opening to approximately 70 degrees. The delay is controlled by an additional valve which slows the flow of fluid for that initial period in the closing cycle. This feature can be helpful in some applications, but it is not required by code. The other segments of the closing cycle, the main speed and the latch speed, are also controlled by valves (see diagram below).
Reader Photos
Here's the latest batch of reader photos...don't forget to send me any interesting doors you see on your summer vacations!
Doors in Pockets (not Pocket Doors)
Every time I specify hardware for a door that swings into a pocket, a little alarm sounds in my head because at least 50% of the time there will be a problem that urgently needs to be fixed at the end of the job. This application requires coordination between the architect designing the pocket, the contractor building the pocket, and the distributor supplying the doors and hardware, and that's a lot harder than it sounds. The other problem is that when one pair on a project goes south, in most cases ALL of the pairs are a problem.
Unidentified Closer(?)
I received these photos a couple of weeks ago and we've been trying to determine whether this is a door closer, or possibly a lever-action shock for an old car. It was being used in an underwater application and needs to be replaced. Does it look familiar to you? If you know someone who might recognize it, please forward!