New door handle has a stop on it so it wont pull down far enough to fully retract the latch. Old handle opened the door perfectly but all new handles I have looked at seem to have this same issue. Is there a work around?
Grind the stop disc down if it's not removable. If you don't have an angle grinder or dremel, it's cut or hand file it. I'm not going to suggest the horrid bodge of mounting the handle on the piss :) Or get handles from a salvage yard.
NT
It may well be the latch that is worn, and not opening even with normal rotation. I have one at home I have been meaning to replace for a year or two, for exactly that reason. The usual kind, mortised and without an additional lock, are cheap and easily available. There are (at least) two sizes though, which are not very different to look at. Also more than one distance from the door edge to the hole for the handle. So it may be best to take the old one to the shop or measure it very carefully.
You may have the grind the stop off. But it could also be an old imperial lock mechanism and a modern square section rod. Any slack in the system which doesn't move the latch makes it harder to open.
If a previously working door lock develops this fault then it is on the verge of failure as the casting that the square shaft sits in has fractured on one side and will eventually fail completely.
You can also get this effect if the square hole in the latch is worn (or, less commonly, the bar). ISTR that older bars are also slightly smaller across the flats, giving a bit of slack in new handles. I've sometimes fixed this with a suitable bit of shim. Following Robert Pirsig, if this is the problem you might get away with one or two strips cut from a coka cola can using a scissors.
This quite often happens when the latch mechanism itself wears. Basically such that a "normal" amount of rotation no longer fully retracts the latch.
Replacing the latch is usually the only proper fix.
Latch fitting is usually fairly easy:
The question though is, why does it not agree with the actual lock movement. It sounds like its designed for somebody elses lock mechanism. To over stress the actual innards is not a good idea, and if you think it won't happen, believe me a few tradesmen or what ever will prove you wrong. If its only a smidgen, and you can get to the plate which is hidden where the stop is, then do take it out and use a small screw slightly further round if you must use the handle you have. this works quite well since its hidden by the flange of the handle. Brian
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