The most common type of door closers sold are Overhead Door Closers which are available with various types of mounting positions. Concealed door closers are hidden from view and are a more aesthetically pleasing fit than overhead door closers. They are fitted in either the door jamb, the door itself or the transom. A lot of people use concealed door closers such as Perko concealed closers on Fire Doors where they feel a door closer will ruin the interior design.
As mentioned above most people that are worried about aesthetics purchase concealed door closers such as Nu-Matic door closers or Perko door closers. There are lots of different types on the market and you will need to make sure that the one you wish to purchase has the qualities you require such as being fire rated. Some concealed closers can control closing and latch speed like overhead door closers. If you are fitting the door closer to a fire door you will need to check with the door manufacturer what type of door closers can be fitted to ensure it still complies with the fire testing environment.
When choosing a door closer for Fire Doors you should consider;. For example if you door needs to stay closed for 1 hour in a fire but you buy a door closer with a 30 minute fire certificate it will not do the job you need it to.
Make sure you fit the door closer as per the fitting instructions provided by the manufacturer and set it to the power size required for it to comply with the fire certificate. You should not use mechanical hold open door closers on fire doors unless they are electromagnetic and linked up to the alarm. It must not be possible to stop the door closer from working except when the correct tool is used.
Remember that following the above points can help save lives. It would be horrible to think that because you did not fit the door closer properly or set it to the correct size it failed in its duty to hold a door closed in the event of a Fire.
Backcheck stops or slows the door during its opening cycle so that it can not be flung open violently and damage walls. This function usually stops the door before 90 degree opening is reached however most manufacturer suggest that backcheck alone cannot be relied upon to stop the door under all circumstances and an additional door stop should be purchased if required.
Delayed action stops the door from closing immediately once it is released. This function allows time for groups of people, trolleys or bulky objects to pass through the door easily before it resumes normal closing speed.
This function is usually adjustable and can give a delay of up to two minutes however most doors only need five to ten seconds delay. Please note that delay must not exceed 25 seconds when closer is fitted on a fire door. Latch action sometimes called snap action is when the door closer allows the door to move faster during the last few degrees of closing to overcome the mechanical resistance of a door latch or lock.
This is a good function to help make sure the door is properly closed after every closing cycle. Adjustable closing speed determines how quickly the door closes after being opened. This function can be adjusted so that you can allow a longer closing time if the door will be used by the disabled, the elderly or the young enabling them to pass by safely. You must always follow the manufacturers instructions when fitting a door closer however we have selected two videos e believe are a useful tool to understand how overhead door closers are fitted.
As you can see there are plenty of things to think about and consider when selecting the correct door closer for your doors. If you have any doubt or need reassurance that you are purchasing the correct door closer, please contact our customer service team on and they will be able to advise you.
If there are no valve adjustment screws on the outside of the closure visible, does that mean that it is the fixed style and is worn out??? I will be mounting a universal closer on a residential exterior garage door fiberglass that is exposed to high wind. Of the 3 mounting choices is one preferred over the others for function, or is it simply a matter of personal choice for aesthetics? The door is out-swing from garage to a breezeway and will need to have degrees of swing to contact the stop.
I think regular arm is probably the most efficient, with top jamb second and parallel arm the least efficient, but I doubt it would make that much difference in your situation. Not all mounting configurations will allow the door to open degrees, so that might help you choose. Is CUSH a delayed closing? A CUSH closer has a built-in stop to stop the door in the fully-open position.
If opening force is not an issue for accessibility , then I think the is your best bet — it should control the door well. Thanks for the quick reply! Thanks for answering my question! In the event that a door slams with an LCN on it on my watch, I will submit my question to the masses. Looking on various sites, I am guessing the problem is either a damaged o ring on one of the valves or a lack of oil.
Have you tried talking to Briton customer service? Roughly lbs. It needs to be top jamb push side out closer is on the inside top jamb and door pushes out. To take into consideration, the jamb is 6 inches so the arm needs to be adjustable to reach the door. I have used HD standard closers — always the latch swing makes the door slam. I need a closer that can handle the weight and control the final latch without letting go.
Have you tried the LCN ? If you could mount the closer parallel arm, you could use the LCN — possibly with a Spring-Cush arm. The door will need to have some sort of stop either way. A good quality closer should control the door, and if adjusted properly it will keep the door from slamming. The stop that I referred to will stop the door in the fully-open position and protect the opening.
Note: for all LNC closers. Thanks Bob! I hope it works out for you. I have been looking for a description of how heavy-duty I need the opener to be, but nothing seems to tell me what criteria to use, or how to evaluate the differences between models for my needs. Any help would be appreciated. This is a very durable model, but if you need something less expensive there are other options.
Do you have it saved by chance in PDF format anywhere easy to get your hands on? Thank you either way! Thanks for all this great info. I emailed you but will also comment here.
I am looking to get a Therma-Tru S fiberglass door glass door with fiberglass frame. Do you know if I can install a door closer on a fiberglass door? Any recommendations being this will be a exterior out swinging residential door?
Have you talked to the door manufacturer? Thanks, Lori. I am considering a wood door in order to have more strength. If going with a wood framed glass door would you recommend a different closer model? I work with commercial products which are probably more than you need or want to spend for a closer on a residential door. Can you help. The phone number is As i opened a back door, a gust of wind blew it open beyond its limits.
Does anyone make a closer with a lot of force over the last few degrees of travel without having to depend on closing speed or momentum? We have external doors on a commercial building with a seal between them which causes a good deal of friction when closing over the last inch of travel. The seals in this case are not something we can adjust, replace, or modify. The building maintains a small positive pressure which further forces the doors open.
The problem is that we cannot find closers that have a reasonable amount of overall resistance for a person pushing through and also enough force to close the door when the seals rub. The doors tend to remain unseated unless they are pulled all the way shut. This is a problem for the mag locks and building ventilation. Manual door closers are used to shut exterior doors automatically without the use of electricity.
They are installed for two major reasons. First, door closers are a security feature because they ensure that doors close whether human force is applied or not. Second, they help ensure that fire cannot spread from one part of a building to another or from one building to another during a fire emergency. A secondary reason to install door closers is to keep indoor air inside and outdoor air and weather outside.
The doors in your house are usually very different in many ways from the ones you see at an office or a factory. While both are installed for security reasons, the commercial one needs to be fortified in order to withstand constant usage.
Installing the wrong doors on your commercial complex could cost you a lot of money in the case of an emergency. Security is just one way the wrong doors can cost, to save on utilities you also need to invest in door closers.
This is an important aspect that will ensure security, looks professional and reduces the cost of heating and AC, as well. Don't subscribe All Replies to my comments Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting. BackBasics: Door Closers. View Larger Image. Mounting Styles When selecting an application-specific closer, the mounting style must be considered. The most common mounting styles are: Parallel Arm — closer is mounted on the push side of the door, with the parallel arm shoe attached to the underside of the frame head Regular Arm AKA Hinge Side Mount — closer is mounted on the pull side of the door, with the arm attached to the frame face above Top Jamb — closer is mounted on the push side of the frame, with the arm attached to the face of the door Track Closers — various types available for push side or pull side mounting, with track mounted on door or frame and a single lever arm, instead of a double-lever arm and shoe Concealed — may be used where aesthetics dictate, closer body mounted either in frame head or top of door In addition to surface-mounted closers, there is a variety of other types of closers for specific purposes and applications.
Jess the Door Closer Doctor has a lot of experience with these and can certainly advise you as well. Please help. I have a glass door with a metal casing on the bottom only. The door keeps slamming and I cant figure out how to access the mechanism to adjust it. It's for an exterior door. The only think I can think of is to remove the threshold cover and hope to get access underneath there Any thoughts?
If the stack pressure cannot be adjusted so the doors will close, it may be a good idea to use a power operator that has powered closing by means of an electric motor instead of a closer,. On wednesday I came accross a tough to open door at a diner, they had the pressure negatively set, hard to open outer door and a barely closing inner door, my friend whom I was driving with pointed it out to me and I toldnmy observations and flagged down a waitress in hopes she will get owner to turn the HVAC down so its easier to open the door I may not be in need of a wheelchair but the strong to open door was at top of a ramp.
Other options to combating the preasure war is using spring hinges or floor closers such as Rixson 27 or 28 due to wide range of spring sizes accomodated by them, if you MUST use a surface mount closer, I would choose the LCN , they say that due to dynamic geometric angles if the pull side mounted closer's arm during latch range it will give more power and get the door to latch more efficiently.
Yes, the UH has a size five strength spring whereas the or has a size six. Not saying that the more powerful spring will do the job, but it would be more powerful than what you have. People have gone to extremes to try to conquer the problem you are doing, including using two closers on the same door not something I recommend. By far the best thing to do is to get the HVAC people to reduce the pressure. In one case I used closer speed to get the door to shut about nine times out of ten.
I adjusted the swing speed to be very slow, and the latch speed to be very fast. Then I changed the angle of the arm so that the latch phase would only start about two inches from the fully closed position.
It worked most of the time. Thanks for the info. Currently I have a Universal Hardware UH, which is brand new, and it is giving me the same issues as the one I replaced. There are high spring power door closers, such as the LCN for push side mounting or for pull side mounting that offer more closing strength for adverse conditions, however the more force a door closer exerts to hold a door closed, the harder it will be for people to open.
I need a door closer that will hold a door shut when there is a large difference in pressure between rooms. I have R, and I can't seem to adjust it correctly for it to hold the door shut.
Any suggestions? I am thinking an LCN T might be just the thing. Is it a situation where this door is the exterior storm door and there is another, perhaps wooden door behind it? If so, what is the distance between them when they are closed? Thank you. I really can understand more now about the different types of closers. I am needing to replace a closer, currently being 2 Wright V Pnuematic, on our main entry way.
This being a residential install for our home. The door is made of aluminum and I would say it's heavy, like most newer houses have, with a thickness of maybe 2". I have found plenty of explanations of they certain 'types' of closers now but still am uncertain what type would be ideal for this type of residential entryway.
Then there is a regular solid door between the 'screen door' and the inside of my house. I am interested in putting in something other than the two Pneumatic closers that have been on it.
The door swings out Left, is made of heavy aluminum, would be the Exterior door, would have an interior push mount and would have an area of about 8" height to mount a closer on the top. I would say the width of the door to be close to 48". I am hoping to get a stronger style closer that would withstand the constant in and out and beating from children but also be very adjustable in the pressure or amount of time it takes to shut completely.
Any help or info would be certainly most appreciated. Butch, the number you see most likely is the spring size that it was assemble with if there is no spring tension adjustment. If there IS a tension nit on end to adjust spring, the is the range of spring sizes the closer can be adjusted to. Another location you may see the numbers is on arm where it connects to the shaft of closer, those numbers are imdex marks, its to help properly position the arm during the installation.
Hi Dale. I have seen this kind of thing before. Sounds to me like your door frame is wood with a wooden decorative molding called a casing, and your closer shoe was mounted to just the casing and not to the header.
It is a common problem with modern post WW II wood door frame installations that the frames are put in with nothing supporting the header. If that's the case, the real surprise is that it did not pull off the casing long ago. Since casings are usually connected at the corner miters with nails to pull them together and make the seams tidy, it is not a surprise that the side molding should also be pulled off.
They are usually nailed on with small finish nails. I've seen i rare cases that the internal closer spring breaks in such a way as to jam up the closer so that the door cannot be opened except by using excessive force. If this is the case you may be able to have your door closer spring replaced by a professional do not do this yourself , or you could replace your closer.
When you repair your door casing, try to include a piece of wood to reinforce the header inside and to give you a solid place to which you can fasten your door closer shoe. This will help ensure this does not happen again. I've had my door closer a surface mounted closer, standard mount on my door for 15 years. I went to open my door the other day and it completely ripped out the top moulding it was attached to and part of the side moulding from the wall as well.
Why or how did this happen?? If your LCN is one of the models with adjustable spring tension you can adjust it down all the way, and that will reduce, but not eliminate the closing action. You can also adjust the back check, swing and latch speeds to approximate the feel of a free swinging door. If your closer does not have adjustable spring tension you might consider replacing it with one that does. Also, you could contact LCN tech support and ask if LCN might make a closer with no oil or spring tension to replace the one you have.
If you choose to call them, I suggest you first find out what model LCN you have by comparing the dimensions and screw pattern of your closer with installation instructions online at LCN. Since I am not a rebuilder of door closers I cannot speak with authority about removing the internal parts of a closer - basically the spring and the hydraulic fluid - that make it close the door in an adjustable fashion.
I have an LCN closer on the active leave of an unequal pair of doors with a coordinator bar and I don't want the closer function but also don't want to remove the closer and coordinator etc. Is there a way to disable the closer function but keep the arms and stop? Basically I would have an expensive overhead stop. On a couple of jobs I found that no exterior hardware would help because the door was used so often, and because the door was so flimsy, the reinforcements I used tended to compress the door like peanut butter in a sandwich and things just would not work right.
Hollow core wood doors are basically wood veneer boxes. Sheets of veneer are glued to a thin wooden frame that comprises the edges of the door. An extra block of wood is glued in where the lock goes so that the lock does not break through the veneer.
When I found that no hardware would adequately reinforce the door, I removed the strip of wood from the top of the door and replaced it with a piece of 2x4 pine. That made it possible to install what is called a "drop plate", basically a flat metal plate with pre-drilled and tapped screw holes designed to enable installation of the closer on a thinner top rail. One example would be the Norton plate, designed for use with the Norton The challenge of replacing the top piece of wood in a hollow wood door is avoiding shredding the veneer.
Although it would cost more money, it might be a quicker and easier solution to replace the door with a wood core door. It would certainly get the most professional results. Of course installing a much heavier wood core door onto a door frame designed for a hollow core wood door may present its own challenges as well.
What if the wood door is hollow? We mounted the door closer and it lasted about a dozen closes before coming loose Did not know the door was hollow till we drilled it.. I think that the most effective remedy, although it would be expensive and would require expertise, would be to remove the double acting spring hinges and install overhead concealed or floor closers that are center hung and double acting.
The second best and less expensive fix would be to make the doors single acting and put surface door closers on them. I work in a medical clinic and we have a spring loaded door that leads into our nurses area that is a bit problematic. It swings both ways kind of like a door you would see at a diner where you don't need to use your hands at all. The problem is that it will swing quite abruptly and one of our nurses got her finger pinched.
Any recommendations? Our door closer shuts the door way too hard. Not sure how to fix it. Keep in mind, I'm not very smart when it comes to these things. Could you help me identify the name of this hinge which allows each half of the platform of the stand to be raised to the vertical position together and then be lowered to the horizontal position without creating a gap between the two horizontal pieces?
I am thinking that the lack of rod length is causing you to lose the latching speed adjustment? Or is the door not able to open as fully as you would like? If it is the former problem, then you can either extend the rod as you suggest weakening the arm or put a 1 inch thick shim on the door to make up for the shortage lame and ugly.
If it is the latter problem, move the closer to the degree opening template location. Then you will be able to open the door wider. I recently bought a Hager series closer based on no knowledge of door closer installation. The door is a heavy, solid, wooden door with a deep reveal of about 4". It's in an industrial looking office space. I didn't realize until I was nearly finished with installing it that I needed a longer connecting rod for the top jamb installation I'm doing.
I can't seem to find a longer connecting rod that goes with the series anywhere. My question is, can I just buy a small headless bolt and coupler to extend the arm myself?
And will that affect the ability for the door to close as intended? All of the closers I know of offer a through bolt package, also called sex nut fasteners. These allow you to bolt the closer to the door without compressing the door.
I think that would be the best solution. Hi Tom, was doing some adjusting on my auto door closer when the self drilling screws had pulled out of the hollow metal door that it's used on. It's a surface mounted closer, top jamb installation. Was wondering what advice you may have on the best way to keep these screw in. Saw the comment on hollow wooden door but thought there might be some simple solutions or not so simple to metal doors as well. Really appreciate your time on this.
I have used the LCN T in this kind of application before with good success. It does come in a sprayed brass finish. Search LCN T to locate info. Hi, I am building a large 43" x 94" storm door and it needs a closer.
I am concerned that standard screen door closers won't be strong enough so I am looking for a closer that will fit into the 3 inches between the storm door and comes in brass or bronze. When measuring door pressure for ADA compliance it is done with the door open slightly for two reasons. Firstly it overcomes any latching friction. Secondly it overcomes any stack pressure due to air conditioning. LCN makes a model that we use.
On the push side of the door you mimic a person pushing the door open using the gauge. For an interior door this pressure should be 5 lbs or less and for an exterior door it should be 8. Some states this is lower for exterior doors and in some cases local fire codes will have a lower requirement and this usurps the ADA code in this case. One thing often overlooked is the closing speed. It needs to be adjusted to allow a minimum 3 second sweep from 70 degrees to 3 inches from latching.
The lowest part of the closer that intrudes on the door opening must also be 80 inches or more. Oh, I forgot about your pressure gauging question. I will try to get back to this in a day or two. Sounds ingenious! I was often faced with challenging situations like these when I worked in the field. They are both aggravating and kind of interesting at the same time :. Round top doors, ah yes, I remember them all too well. Not the most attractive closer on the block, but it does do the job, I can attest first hand.
I've tried to include a link here, I hope it works. Gates are not too bad to work with as long as the customer understand the closer may rust out in five or six years. I usually had a welder come in and weld on a drop plate for the closer and another small plate for the shoe. That made installation easy. I realize this may run counter to some esthetics but only this way can I guarantee this foils the latch parkers, unless they stuff the strike hole with paper or rocks - in which case I call it vandalism and am not responsible for that.
I searched for Ementematic but could not find anything. Many US manufacturers make track closers. Not sure if this is what you mean. But you could check out the Sargent series or the Norton seris. Tom- nice site! Are there surface mounting closers that conceal the arm assembly in a track?
I've found one that may work Ementematic- European , but can't tell for sure from their site, and no sign of US dealers. The Touch n' Hold by Greenstar is a heavy duty screen door closer, but it does not offer back check.
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