Door Closer Slamming, Dragging, or Not Latching?

Before you touch a valve, open the door all the way and let it go. Watch the whole swing. Note where it speeds up or slows down, and whether the latch catches. Then look for oil on the closer and on the floor under it. A door that stops open at the same angle every time most likely has a hold-open arm engaged.

A surface closer is the kind you can see, mounted on the face of the door or the frame. It is a spring and fluid sealed in one metal body, with an arm linking the door and the frame. The trade magazine Locksmith Ledger describes it as a spring-loaded piston running in fluid. Opening the door compresses the spring. As the spring pushes the door shut, small valves meter the fluid. The valves set the speed. Fluid that moves too freely lets the door slam. Held back too much, it leaves a door that crawls or stalls and, in the Ledger’s words, “will not close and latch.”

Of the five surface mounts the Ledger lists, three cover most of the commercial doors we see:

• Regular arm. The closer is high on the side you pull, and its arm sticks straight out to the frame above.
• Top jamb. The closer is on the frame above the door, on the side you push, with the arm reaching out to the door.
• Parallel arm. The closer is on the side you push, mounted on the door itself, and the arm folds flat along the door when it is closed.

Some storefront doors have the closer hidden in the frame overhead or set into the floor. Call us about those before you adjust anything.

We find a separate valve for each part of the swing on most commercial closers. The closer maker LCN lists them in the installation instructions for one of its closers:

• Backcheck cushions the opening swing as the door nears 90 degrees open. LCN says not to use it as a door stop. It recommends a separate stop wherever the door cannot swing a full 180 degrees.
• Main speed controls most of the closing swing. You may also see it called sweep.
• Latch speed controls the last few degrees, where the latch catches.
• Delayed action is only on closers made with it. It slows the first part of the closing swing so much that the door hangs near full open before the main speed takes over.

Make every change in small steps, by the instructions for your closer. LCN’s sheet warns that a valve opened too far can make the closer leak oil. The leak can damage property and hurt someone. Stop and call us if a small change does not help, or if you do not have the instructions. On a door that is or might be fire-rated, call before you change anything.

For a door that swings fine but stops short of the latch, LCN’s instructions say to leave the latch speed valve alone and adjust the spring force. The spring also sets how hard the door is to open. We make that adjustment ourselves. The Ledger warns that when the door itself is not operating properly, “no door closer will be able to solve the problems.” A hinge or pivot that sticks can hold a door short of the latch.

In common closers, the fluid thickens as temperatures drop, and the door closes very slowly. Warm weather thins it out again. Closers made with an all-weather fluid need fewer seasonal adjustments.

The National Weather Service office in Paducah, Kentucky, tracks freeze dates for Evansville. The average first freeze is October 29. The first hard freeze, at 28 degrees Fahrenheit, averages November 8. From late October on, watch your exterior closers for a slow close.

If your closer still controls the door, the main-speed valve usually handles a winter drag. Check that setting again when the weather warms. Once the fluid thins out, the door can close faster than the 5-second minimum in the ADA Standards.

The U.S. Access Board’s guide to the ADA Standards lists wind, door gaskets, heating and air systems, and the weight of the door as things that affect the force on an exterior door. When a door closes properly on a still day but not while the wind blows or the fans run, we treat it as an air-pressure problem. No speed valve will fix that. A heating and air contractor balances the air. A drafty doorway, or one with air-pressure differences, may need more closer power. That can mean a higher spring setting or a larger closer. We choose between them after seeing the door.

House doors stick in winter for other reasons. Our guide to frozen locks in a cold snap goes through them.

The same Access Board guide covers the ADA rules for closers. A door with a closer must take at least 5 seconds to swing from 90 degrees open to 12 degrees from closed. The opening-force limit is 5 pounds. It is measured with the latch already released. Fire doors are held to the “minimum opening force allowed by code.” Exterior hinged doors have “no maximum specified.” For an exterior door, check the building code your state or city has adopted.

Closing an exterior door all the way to a firm latch usually takes more than 5 pounds. That is why the Standards set no maximum there. The guide still recommends setting closers with the least force that will close the door. It calls hard-to-open entrance doors “a common access complaint.”

A closer set light for easy opening may not have enough power to reliably close and latch the door. A spring set too heavy makes the door harder to open. We set the spring ourselves. We add only as much force as it takes to latch the door.

The 2014 Indiana Fire Code says swinging fire doors “shall close from the full-open position and latch automatically.” The closer “shall exert enough force to close and latch the door from any partially open position.” Fire doors also “shall not be blocked or obstructed, or otherwise made inoperable.” A wedge under the door keeps it from closing and latching on its own. LCN’s instructions rule out hold-open arms on fire-rated doors. If a fire door stops short of its latch, call us before anyone touches the valves. Doors in Kentucky and Illinois fall under the codes those states have adopted. The local fire inspector decides what passes.

You can make the valve changes yourself, as long as the closer still controls the door and the door is not fire-rated. Leave the spring and the arm to us. The spring sets how hard the door pulls shut. Its size depends mainly on the width of the door.

We replace the closer or the arm when we find:

• Oil on the closer, the door, the frame, or the floor.
• A door that swings free, with no resistance at all, while the arm is still attached.
• A bent or cracked arm. We replace the arm and check the closer for damage from the same impact.
• A closer too small for a wide, heavy, or drafty door, with its spring already at the top of its range.

Call us at A-1 Lock & Safe if small valve changes have not helped. Call too if the door closes at a normal speed but will not latch. Oil, a free-swinging door, and a bent arm are reasons to call as well. So is a bracket pulling loose. It may need a firmer mounting or a new closer.

Tell us what the door does. Does it slam, drag, stop short, or leak? We have serviced commercial doors in Evansville and the towns around it since 1983. From your description, we can tell you whether it sounds like an adjustment or a replacement. Whatever it sounds like on the phone, we confirm the closer and the door ourselves before any work starts.

For anything beyond a single door, we walk the building first. The price comes from what is there. We count every opening and write down what is installed. If the building needs new keys as well, see how a master key system works. Our commercial locksmith service page lays out what drives the price.

None of this is legal advice. Accessibility and fire-door requirements come from the ADA Standards and the building and fire codes your state and city have adopted. On a fire-rated door, go by what the local fire inspector says.