we have a glass outer front door with a spring unit at the top of the door. not sure what the unit is called. if you push the door open you can push a button on the unit and the door will stay open, to release it you push the door open wider and let go.
we have had the door a few yaers and recently one of the screws on the bracket to this unit popped thru its slot in the bracket, almost as if the screw head was now to small. the bracket has two holes, a circle for a stationary screw at the end and a long oval for a sliding screw. the sliding screw is the one that slipped through. after this the door would only stay open a couple of feet instaed of its normal 3 to four foot span when the button was engaged
I replaced it with a larger headed scew and stays open to its full span now, butr when the door closes, it now slams shut. how do you adjust the spring in this unit for a less powerful close?
thanks for any help, please let me know if more info is required.
Still confused though. which screw are we talking about, the one on the end of the shaft just before the bracket, the one in the middle of the bracket in the elongated hole, or the one at the end of the bracket in the circular screw sized hole. I never realized these things were so complicated.
As I said, the adjustment screw adjusts the damping mechanism, not spring tension. Damping mechanisms in door closers work by forcing air or a viscous liquid through a small aperture. The faster the door closes, the higher is the opposing viscous force. The adjustment screw adjusts the size and/or shape of the passage the air/liquid is forced through, and thereby controls the amount of damping. Understanding how the damping mechanism works should help your troubleshooting.
I haven't seen your door closer, but maybe it's pneumatic and your replacement screw doesn't fit the original hole. If your replacement screw lets air out too easily, then there won't be much damping.
They aren't. I guess that is "not helping". ;-)
To answer your question, in a pneumatic door closer the screw which controls the resistance is the end screw of the cylinder that goes through the slotted part of the bracket. If you could point to a model it would help since you are convinced that it is spring loaded.....and it could be a spring situation, in which case the spring is usually visible in a track. If it is a pneumatic model, there will be a rod that comes out of the back of the cylinder as you open the door. From left to right the first 2 screws of the bracket should simply be the ones that attach the bracket to the door -- then a 90 degree angle and a slotted hole, larger opening closer to the door, which allows the screw head of the cylinder to go through and then snaps to the narrower end -- well, you actually have to pull it to the narrow end. With time and repeated openings, the screw head will wear until it slips out the narrow end. You are right that when it is described in this much detail it *sounds* complicated. :-)
Think of the thing as simple -- which it is -- and details fall into place.
Now this is going to get *really* complicated -- if it is a pneumatic, as described above, and the screw head is worn as described above, then pull the cylinder out from the rod by brute force (it will be easier with the door nearly closed) and put a small washer behind the boogered screw head, put that through the bracket, and screw it into the cylinder. My front storm door is like that. Hey, it works.
OR, if this all leaves you totally flummoxed, take the whole thing down except the bracket, the cylinder assembly should have a drop pin in the back that holds it then go to several hardware stores until you find Harold -- he's the old guy that looks like he is asleep in the back but seems to know everything about hardware. Tell Harold that you want another door closer like the one in your hand. If it costs you much more than $10, you wuz robbed....
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