This is the kind of situation where I totally support not buying two and disassembling 😂 Those things are not as terrifying as automotive coil springs, but, that doesn't mean I'd be messing with the ones in these, ever.
Damn right they are! Stored potential energy in a physical form... ready to pop? Just ask anyone who has worked on the suspension of a vehicle. Spring compressors can go horribly wrong and when thy do, it can be fatal.... or at the very least a spectacular jump scare.
Like a Victrola motor spring that I opened and tried to fix! I nearly took my fingers off! Fortunately my Dad was right there and cleaned and bandaged me!
People in my apartment complex always let the hallway doors slam shut and my dog barks every time. Just took a screwdriver down the hall and fixed this. Thank you!
@@acmhfmggru we lived in the country and then had to move into an apartment complex. He’s 7 and has never had this much noise around him. We try to stop him, but doesn’t always work. Anyways, thanks for your brilliant input.
Legitimately life improving video, my neighbour has been complaining about my front door slamming since before I moved in and the landlord never did anything about it. I've just adjusted the speed of my door closer and it no longer slams.
@@angelicamichelle1646 You are giving the landlord enough money every month for them to be able to afford a door technician. The landlord doesn't need to know, they should be able to hire professionals that know.
The one on the house we bought last year was completely loose, and we just assumed it was broken. Now we don't need to worry about holding the thing open while worrying about a dog sneaking through as it slams shut!
13:35 Pro-tip on this point: if the door stays open after adjusting DO NOT attempt to forcefully shut the door. The oil will compress and the valve will explode, shooting gross oil everywhere. Ask me how I know this.
As a locksmith I was going to chime in a bunch of times with stuff I thought you had missed but by the time I finished the video you had covered pretty much everything. Very thorough, well done.
As a commerical locksmith you would not BELIEVE how many calls I get that say "our door is slamming/our door is not latching" that require about 2 turns of a screwdriver to fix and cost the customer $300+. Everyone who owns, rents, or manages a commercial building should know how to adjust a door closer. Edit to add: another key reason to have a hydraulic or spring closer is that aluminum storefront doors are absolutely heavy enough to shatter the glass if for example thrown shut by a gust of wind or allowed to swing downhill in an unlevel doorframe. Even a minor slam, if it happens to that door dozens of times a day over the course of years, can also cause the early death of expensive locking hardware.
It seems immoral to charge someone that much for something like that. LIke a mechanic charging you hundreds of bucks because your gas cap wasn't on. Maybe just... don't do that? I'unno, I'm sure life's complex, seems not-great though.
@@coldravioli7839 It's not $300 to turn 2 screws. It's $50 dollars to _know_ that there are two screws to turn, and where to find them. The other $250 is because it's a house-call. That's the cost of driving out to the location (gas and other costs of operating the vehicle), the time involved (potentially a 30-60 min job when you factor in travel time, and billing often starts at default 2h regardless of job size), and the opportunity cost of not being available in the shop when someone *else* comes by or calls in with a much bigger, much more profitable job.
@@coldravioli7839 Usually with these kinds of service, there is a minimum fee as typically the service tech has no idea what the issue is or how long it will take to fix. Ideally is is communicated before the customer follows through with the job. Sometimes its a case of tech gets on-sight and discovers the 'issue' is not as bad as the customer made it out to be. Also in some cases, they may be an extra fee for "emergency" rush jobs or weekend jobs.
Broadcast worker here! Our studio doors swing fast and latch slow. That way the studio is quickly sealed from outside air and noise, but the slam can't be heard on microphones.
Exactly, this seems like the obvious thing to want it to do. I don't understand why it was tacked-on like an afterthought and a "for whatever reason you'd ever want that". Of course the door should not slam and close when you want it to close!
@@ggkol8745 Well, I still think this is probably a rare situation. Most of the time you will want the door to give you time, for accessibility's sake. This doesn't mean just wheelchair users, but as Alec pointed out, even just an able-bodied person carrying some groceries would appreciate that
Fun Fact, working in TV on sets we usually adjusted the speeds backwards. For continuity we want the door to close as quickly as possible to reduce the odds of cutting from shot to shot with a door closed different amounts. We set the latch speed to as slow as possible for the sound department to make the door closing quiet.
@@EmeraldHill-vo1cs Based on the explanation of the mechanism in the video, *neither*. The hydraulic damper limits the speed, but the force when the door isn't moving is determined by how strong the spring is. And apparently they sell closers with different spring strengths.
20 minute video about actual *door closers* shows up in my recommendations, and yet as soon as I see the channel name, I know it's somehow going to be the most fascinating thing I see all day. You, sir, are a master of your craft.
Apparently revolving doors became rather desirable when skyscrapers became a thing. An open door at ground level, an open window tens of floors up, and lots of loose paper between the two was a great way to demonstrate convection currents, with hilarious results.
its not just convection but wierd pressure pulses the convection provides energy too. close every window in your house except one and doors will slam as the pressure gets forced in and out
@@neilyoung2723a company full of nerds is a problem. My friends and I are nerds with different "problems", but we all dislike big cities and too much human interaction. One lives in the mountains, the other lives at the seaside and I live in the fields. We had to hire quite a few people for our company, so that it actually runs 😂 When we're done, we will have created jobs and a somewhat passive income. So there's that.
alternatively you need a boss with an office near one of these doors and you learn how to adjust it. Not that it is complicated. Ours have little min-max pictures and actual text next to the screw, not just some cryptic letters.
You've now successfully explained my long-dormant curiosity over the little magnets that held open my school's doors. Checking another one off the list.
Same, and that explains why they often didn't work when I was trying to move marching band equipment through doors: they weren't powered! My school building was pretty old and not well maintained. I frequently had to use random stones and bricks as door stops.
What’s extra annoying is when they put a fire door with a magnetic latch on an elevator and the magnetic latch is unreliable! An elevator opening into a closed door is not a fun puzzle to solve.
Locksmith here, I find it really exciting reading the number of people in the comments who IMMEDIATELY went out to adjust their doors. Slow closers and fast closers are usually an easy fix. Two items I wanted to bring up is that there are closers with adjustable power, in case you have a heavy door or increased air pressure. As well, having the arm of the closer in the correct potion is incredibly important. Your warehouse door that was used as an example should have the arm lock nut moved up, so the arm that is attached to the frame is parallel when the door is closed and not the closer arm itself. This lets the closer apply pressure to hold the door shut. Incorrect arm position is one of the even more common issues on closer install.
I find misadjusted closer arms one of the biggest reasons for a slamming door. The arm runs out of swing so it doesn't latch. The previous maintenance guy turns up the speed to overcome this issue. Instead I adjusted the arm to always apply pressure to the closed door. Then readjust the speed
The temptation to take a screwdriver/alen wrench and adjust all of my apartment doors so they stop slamming on me when I'm trying to do my laundry at 11pm at night is strong.
As I was watching this I got an email from the last hotel I was staying in, requesting a review. I think I'll send them this video in the "What could we do better?" section. Preach it brother, slamming hotel doors are the bane of travel.
Yeah… gotta be honest, as a fire alarm technician of over 15 years, your description about the fire alarm system tie in is 100% right. No matter what the topic you always do your research. I appreciate it.
“That’s why you need a weird obsessive nerd on your staff” Absolutely true! The really cool things I’ve done at my various workplaces over the years to improve all the little pieces of technology and make sure things function as intended. Having a weird nerd who knows how to deep dive into something simple with a goal of understanding it is such an under-valued and under-utilized capability.
It bothers me how many people buy a beautifully-designed and very-capable thing, then never bother to understand it well enough to utilize the functionality that they ostensibly purchased it for in the first place. What a mundane and mediocre existence they must lead.
I am not certain that "knowing how to deep dive" is the most critical factor. Caring about the matter and feeling empowered to act (that something _can_ be done, that one can do that, and that taking action will not be punished) may be more important. Persistence driven by caring can overcome significant lack of research aptitude. Caring and believing improvement is possible probably do correlate with nerdiness. Some workplaces discourage initiative and improving things that work "well enough". Even without such discouragement, caring can increase the likelihood of burnout and not all managers are skilled at maintaining worker health/productivity.
My favorite thing is when a table is wobbly, to reach under and adjust the levelling feet to fix it. Everyone's like "what did you do? Shove some napkins under??" "No i fixed the table"
Quarter million views within eight hours of being uploaded. A video about a device that makes doors close slowly. This has got to be one of the best channels on record.
Wait till you hear about a thing called "television". Some shows there get millions of views the INSTANT they're on.... ... yes, I will see myself out.
Also a good portion of the comments are workers/people either complimenting the new knowledge, recognizing the validity of the information, or relaying work stories. A refreshing bunch of comments, for sure.
Thank you! You got a sub from me - I live in a building where these hydraulic door closers are in every unit, and mine always slammed shut with the thunderclap of a thousand monsoons. Now it closes ever-so softly. Had no idea I could make the adjustments like you demonstrated!
@@henningerhenningstone691 English may not manage 90%, but it's a lot higher than most people think... just... most of the words are like that... in the language we nicked them from... or were like that before centuries of sound changes made it really hard to tell, or etc.
Thank you SO MUCH for posting this. I've been complaining about my apartment building's front door slamming shut for years, and the landlord had me convinced it was just because it was heavy. I walked down, adjusted the latch speed, and now it closes like a normal door.
On my apartment building, someone who was bothered by the self-closing door and too lazy to move the bucket of sand (for winter ice) four feet to hold the door open while they brought in groceries decided it would be better to rip the closing arms hardware out of the door. They are the loudest, floor-stomping-est, loud music playing-est neighbors I've ever had. They also litter in the parking lot a mere fifteen paces from the dumpster. - Thank you for being present during my anger management session.
When I moved into my apartment, every door in the public spaces slammed shut 24/7 with zero slowing. Within 2 days of this at 2am I got up and with a screw driver adjusted all ten of them which took only about 15min, and since then they all close silently. I never told another human being about this. This seemed the place.
Sometimes it's nice to make secret fixes. Eventually everyone notices that the doors closed smoothly and gently, maybe some didn't notice the issue, but they'll probably notice at some point the absence of slamming and realize it's nice.
Definitely best to stay quiet. As soon as someone finds out you fixed it, 2 things will happen. 1, you will get asked to fix so much other random crap, for free, both building and personally owned items. And 2, the worst part - when it wears out or fails, all fingers will point to you, blaming you for things that are just natural wear and tear, or failure due to age.
been struggling with a "really heavy" door at work for nearly two years now, it always slams shut instantly with an ear-shattering bang, and it only gets worse on days with strong winds. the week after this video came out, suddenly it opens like a normal door! and doesn't slam shut! and i can hold it open for other people without them narrowly avoiding serious injuries! THANK YOU!!!!!!!
Sitting in a hospital ER room, the door wouldn't stay open; a nurse pushed it back against the wall several times and said "I don't know why this one won't stay open, it's the only one in the department that won't." A little while later she came in again and pushed the door back against the wall, and this time it stayed. She looked at it in surprise, then looked at me, and I just shrugged. If she had inspected the door more closely before, she might have noticed the entire closer was loose, with all four of its mounting screws backed out by a quarter inch, and all four were now fully tightened. Somehow. 🤷♂️ 😂
4:14 I'm gonna need to see some sources on that. I've got a buddy, Ted, and based on what he's told me about his job he does nothing but drives trucks and bare knuckle box fire all day and he's 57, so fire can't be all that bad.
I love it when things are adjustable! It's like reaching a higher level of consciousness when you figure out there's a solution to one of your pet peeves in everyday life. You start seeing your surroundings in a new light.
I reached enlightenment when I realized that the sink faucets that you smack to receive .5 seconds of water are adjustable. Guess who has clean and non soapy hands at work now!
Thanks for pointing out that you can remove the valves and leak hydraulic fluid everywhere. It's one of those systems where you can go from "is this doing anything?" to "it's broken forever" in a matter of seconds
Yea this is a very important aspect of door closers. I was a maintenance dude for a cooperative house and they warned us about this several times in training.
Don't you think you can fill it up with oil and close the valves again...? It will certainly require that you take the closer down and to a workshop but I doubt it can't be done.
The front door of my shop used to slap shut, but thanks to this video, I adjusted the door closer and solved that. Thanks so much for making this video.
This went into immediate effect. Went out into our apartment lobby and adjusted the mechanism to prevent it from slamming, and then sometimes the mechanism not engaging that keeps it shut. Bravo 🎉🎉
I am neither a facilities manager, nor a person who works in the building in question, but I do live there, and both the front and back doors are CONSTANTLY slamming! I am going to put this knowledge to the test immediately today.
Automatic Door / fire door tech here. You did a great job of explaining this. Fun fact, those handicap doors use a spring to close but most control the closing speed by using the motor as a generator and placing a load across it to make it harder to spin. That way they will close smoothly even if the power fails.
The only problem with the ones that do that, is that making the door harder to close by running the motor in reverse, makes it EQUALLY harder to OPEN, unless you put a diode across the load, usually some form of power resistor (or array of such) because that's the cheapest electrical load there is. EDIT: And all the ones that are at the hospitals and other medical facilities in my area are always a pain in the butt to open manually, so even tho I'm perfectly able bodied, I just push the button.
@@44R0Ndin I have never encountered one that wasn’t directional. Either they use a one-way clutch somewhere in the gearbox or they have diodes inside control. Most of the handicap (Referred to as “low energy” ) in hospitals are heavier units that can be set up as full power or low energy. They tend to have a bigger motor/gearbox assembly and the springs are at the upper end of what’s allowed for low energy. Through the weight of a 44 x 83” door and they can require a bit more effort. There are a few models that use a that functions like the one in the video, but they are usually smaller models intended for much lighter duty work than the stuff you see in most hospitals.
And that is profoundly annoying if you have a different disability and have to wait for the door to close at snail place. This is especially unwelcome on a door to a public restroom where privacy is the main reason for closing the door
We have on furnace room simpler pre 1950s tech , spring loaded rod that engage a roller on the door , you can turn the rod 90° down or up, so it does not engage the roller at all , not very effective because the spring deliver most turning power when door is open and very little when its closed ... but because building code mandated it.
0:07 "it's bothering me so much that I decided to shelve it for now. But, when one door closes -" Looks like we can expect a long video on shelves this year. You know how he puns.
It is painful to know for how DARN LONG people work, live or just exist with millions little things that annoy them every day, withoit knowledge or will to learn about and fix the darn thing! You just get used to it! I was recently loosened the latch and oiled the hinges on communal area door so it doesn't scree and slam early in the morning or late at night, and 3(!) people come to thank me because it was bothering them longer than i even known them, it's near insane!
I had no idea the "how hard the door is to open" was also adjustable. A very few times, I've encountered doors that took a ludicrous amount of effort to open. In one case, I had to open a door with that problem for a very old and tiny woman who was completely blocked from entry by the force to open it. - Also, I had no idea the screen/storm door pistons were adjustable! I thought the only solution was to get the heck out of the way.
@@mrShift_0044 The first thing I do in any place I spend time is to oil the heck out of everything, I mean I oil, adjust, fix and clean everything I can get my hands on and it is so satisfying to have everything smooth and silent. On the other hand, it is sad how people tortured by things for a long time until someone fixes things.
@@mrShift_0044 In my experience, people are too scared to TRY fixes. The door closer at my office literally has instructions printed on it, but no one before me cared to attempt a fix.
@@novarazz I noticed this back in late high school and most people I brought it up to were like, well duh, so I'm happy to find some other people that had this same realization. At the time there were a few others that came to mind, but I haven't been able to think of many others, and google hasn't helped me much. Actually, ChatGPT might be the way to ask this... and indeed: "Fireplace" is literally a "place for fire." "Bookshelf" is a "shelf for books." Bedroom - A room for a bed. Teapot - A pot for tea. Toothbrush - A brush for teeth. Snowball - A ball of snow. Mailman - A man who delivers mail. Doghouse - A house for a dog. Raincoat - A coat for rain. Sunlight - Light from the sun.
Thank you so much for this video! I was working in an office close to a stairwell with a firedoor. The door was closing sooo violently that my desk was shaking. It was sooo loud. It was closing so violent in fact that the door handle started to fall off. I complained. The custodian came. Looked at it and explained to me: "Its a fire door, it's supposed to close like this". The audacity!! 30 min of online research. Learning about swing and latch speed. Plus an allen wrench from my bicycle repair kit. Presto. The door closed soft like a whisper. Thank you for shedding light on the mechanism and making this world just a bit more quieter.
I'm glad you mentioned HVAC pressurization issues. Adjusting exterior door closers and fixing pressurization issues has been at least 10% of my 25-year building engineer career. 😊
I was on a job building a four story chem lab. The rooftop units fans would glitch and kick all of them on at full power. Talk about pressurization issues. Opening those doors first thing in the morning was a test to see who ate their Wheaties that day.
@SoberAddiction I worked in two million square feet of lab space across 6 buildings. Local FD says we have to shut AHUS off during a fire alarm but keep the fume hood exhaust fans running at all times for occupant safety. When the fire alarm went off, it was all but impossible to open the exterior doors due to the negative pressure.
In my line of work. I'm in the construction phase of buildings. The amount of times the doors were adjusted and the installers called it a day before the HVAC was running is crazy. "it worked fine when I was there, what did you do?"
I literally stopped the video 4 minutes in and went to adjust the door closer on the room to my door. It no longer slams at super sonic speed. THANK YOU. ❤
I did the same on the door that leads to my garage. Unfortunately only one of the screws works -- the latching one. The other one does nothing to slow down the door so mine must be busted in some way.
I want you to know the positive impact you’ve had on my life. My apartment is next to the trash shoot, with my office being the adjoining wall. For years the trash door slamming shut has been a major pain point and this video inspired me to grab my tools at 11pm and fix it finally. Thank you so much
Not only did you teach us how to more efficiently use our dishwasher but you also taught us how to fix our screen door to actually close ❤ It seems like a small issue but has been a huge annoyance for like 3 years now lol. So thank you!
Okay, two things here (Additions, not corrections I note): Firstly, up here in Canada, the vast majority of places have manual "Automatic doors" (that is, activated by button for disabled people). Because it gets VERY cold, and motion activated doors would leak *so much* air. So here it's a matter of efficiency and cost. Second, my grandparents house in the UK had auto-closing doors, without any kind of spring or closer on them. They instead used what are called "Rising butt" hinges, where the shear line for the hinge is a slope rather than flat. Opening the door causes it to spiral up slightly as it opens, and the weight of the door then causes it to rotate back on the inclined hinge line. So the door itself is the closer.
😅 Rising Butts😅. I've noticed those hinges a lot especially on walk-in coolers/freezers and the bathroom stall doors etc. I did not know that's what they're called. I thought that's just how I was every morning.😂
Touch button auto doors in Japanese shops too cause very hot summer and very cold winter. I work in retail in UK and our auto sliding open doors (at least at the 3 retailers I have worked at) have half open only and slow sliding open function to help with temp control.
Thanks! My apartment building got a new door closer and the door wouldn't shut all the way. I had been worrying about security, but it was almost midnight when I watched this video, so I just went and adjusted it while no one was around, and now it shuts every time!
@@tylerpeterson4726 it's still kinda rough because I couldn't get the swing adjustment to slow down, so it just slams, but at least it doesn't hang open now. I did the one at work the next day and now it doesn't slam anymore! It's been interrupting front-desk conversations since I started there 2 years ago! No longer!
I have literally paused the video after you demonstrated adjusting the closer, went to fix the door that has been bugging me for over a year, and now I’m resuming the watching to learn how they work. 😅 Thanks, Alec! 👍
literally just used this video to fix a problem my work has had for months. the door would never latch when we locked it so people always got in after we closed and literally 10 minutes into the video I already got it to work… thank you TC!
I worked on theater maintenance, and I can confirm that the "hidden" door closers are adjustable. The whole mechanism is concealed in a cavity in the top of the door. To make adjustments you just grab a ladder and prop the door open. The screws face upward and easily accessible from the top.
As soon as the video was over, I went over to my screen door that's notorious for taking an eternity to close, adjusted the door closer, and now it works flawlessly. Excellent video, 10/10. Also a side anecdote but as a small child I got my finger smashed in the door of a poorly adjust door closer at the doctor's office. They thankfully fixed my finger right there but ever since then all the door closers in that office have closed as softly as they're able.
There's also a second "adjustment" on those not mentioned here. There's two holes and a pin on the side closer to the hinge. One is for a lighter screen door, the other is for a heavier glass door. Make sure yours is using the correct one.
Property Manager in Chicago, who rose to that position from Maintenance Technician - Your work has already been such a tremendous value to me professionally - I started to list the videos which made the greatest difference to me, until the list got overly-long, and too unwieldy. Thank you for Everything. But this is one piece I've already been so curious about, though has never directly-mattered enough to research in earnest. Thank you again for an entertaining education, which will make mine and many other peoples' lives better in an almost-imperceptible way.
dude i hope you understand how therapeutic your videos are. super informative. super chill. i throw these on during my crazy work day to slow down and not get too far ahead of myself.
After watching this I immediately went out and adjusted all the doors around my apartment complex. Just want you to know you're making the world a better place.
Indeed, we do need a "weird obsessive nerd" on basically all staff teams, and to treat that person well with all their differences. You're a saint for taking the time to do something so specific, impactful, and yet easy. Thank you for sharing!
I have given so many tours of the schools that I have worked in, pointing out doors that do not meet the ADA requirements and require adjustments, wishing I had a video like this that I could provide them with. This issue cost me the use of my left shoulder, many years of physical therapy, and tens of thousands of dollars. I have never encountered a maintenance worker who knew what a force gauge was or knew how to adjust these closers. It typically takes about 5 or 6 requests before any given maintenance worker has been able to understand and make these necessary adjustments. Thank you. The service this video provides is invaluable to me. I honestly wondered if anyone who wasn't disabled understood the need and function of door closers.
@donperegrine922 The force was set to about 18lbs, with a swing speed of about 2 seconds. It only took about 2 or 3 weeks of that for the injury, but it took a full 7 months before they did anything about it / were able to fix the door closer.
Thanks so much! The door closer at my work one day just started closing super slowly. The owner didn't want to pay someone to fix it, and it was getting pretty annoying, especially when the wind caught it and kept the door open. Fortuitously, youtube randomly recommended this video to me. Now I've binged all your videos. Thanks again!
I paused the video halfway through, grabbed a screwdriver, and properly adjusted my door closer. Now it no longer slams shut and allows me to pass through a gate easily with my bicycle. Thank you!
21:31 Since we love annoying little details here, “damping” is the word to use, not “dampening”. You damp vibrations/oscillations or movement, but to dampen is to make something wet. Acoustic damping, shock-absorber damping, door-closer damping, etc. are what we’re talking about here.
Bless you for making this video. I briefly learned in passing how to adjust these when there was a security tech adjusting ours and I thanked him for making the doors close nicely. And he gently explained that him coming out to adjust the door closer is a waste of money and that we could do it ourselves if we wanted. Which is great because the doors he fixed were only a problem because of security. There’s all kinds of non security doors that routinely try to kill me. I have used his training and now this video to make my and hopefully everyone else’s live better. Love your videos. Keep them up. The going down a rabbit hole like this and explaining everything on one topic is fantastic
I will take this video, show it to the GM at my hotel along with all the guests complaints and reviews that mentioned the door slamming and keeping them up. Your work will be put to good use.
The door just outside my apartment is always slamming and I feel so self conscious about opening it at night. You have saved me an ounce of sleep with this one!
Remember to open the door, walk away, then come back with the appropriate driver. If you just walk up to the door and start turning screws, you'll look like you're maliciously tampering with it on any security camera that happens to be nearby.
I just moved, and my apartment door is so close to the exterior door that it makes it sound like somebody is slamming MY front door. Freaks out me and my cat every single time. I'm fixing it tonight, lmao.
Yet another DIY video to justify my Patreon subscription. Thanks, Alec! The front door on my apartment no longer swings closed like a guillotine trying to chop off my fingers!
I'm a former locksmith and present maintenance man. Every one of us should have this as a training video. You even commented on my go to giveaway of a dead door closer (oil leak). Very impressed. I can't even describe how many normal maintenance crew cannot tune a door closer. Absolutely bang on. Fun fact about ADA auto door opener buttons. They're RF. I was convinced I had corroded terminals and it was in fact a dead battery. I didn't know they were basically little transmitters by battery power.
Huh. You'd think they'd be designed to take some of the power needed to run the electric motor instead of swapping batteries. Then again, I guess you'd only need to replace them like, every 2 years?
@@Appletank8 I think the lifetime on the one I did first was no joke like five years old. They old do a very short burst to tell the arm to open. Once it's triggered the rest of the power comes from the AC wired to the opener.
Sounds like someone just took the technology from garage door openers (or vice versa). It makes some sense as it gives flexibility of where to mount the button without worrying about wiring it.
@@tboneforreal That is part of it for sure. I believe the other part is that it allows present doors to be updated if they become ADA required without much violent updating. The button has a standardized height requirement, and the door closer isn't usually too difficult to get power too. Most I've worked on have maglock interfaces so 120v is already present. More facts taking up brainspace: it can't be more than a 5lb push to open a door per ADA compliance. I know most doors with closers are not that soft.
Okay this might be an incredibly dumb question (and ofc I understand it you have no desire to answer it! Your comment itself is already very interesting and will set me off on my own research aha!) so my apologies if so--I'm afraid I'm not very technically minded, which is why I enjoy watching Alex's content! LOL--but if accessible door buttons are RF, does that mean it would theoretically be possible to open them by some kind of external transmitter like how garage door buttons work? Because that could be game-changing for us disabled people 👀
I'm 33, can't believe I never knew this, I've always hated doors slamming, I thought that's just what these things did. I paused the video and adjusted mine and it's perfect. Thank you!
I watch a LOT of videos of many types on UA-cam. They range from woodworking tutorials to movie reactions to guitar or drum gear reviews to standup comedy to police body cams and much more….. but this video on door closers, as well as nearly any video from Technology Connections… just makes me happy. Thanks for doing what you do in the way that you do. 🙂
Thanks for fixing our door in less than 5 minutes. Me and my neighbors are very happy. Turning that screw half a turn turns out much more effective than the previous solution: "please make sure the close the door after you". This is just so good knowledge to have.
I'm amused that the auto shop I used to work in had better-adjusted door closers than some hotels, just because I RTFM when installing them. Every door closer comes with a manual and lists the sizes of door it should be used on the packaging, extremely convenient! Also, replacing a door closer takes a lot of the guesswork out: you're putting everything in the same orientation and approximate position as the old one, so the S/L adjustment is pretty much all you need to figure out. So much easier than a first install. I highly recommend you always install replacement door closers instead of new ones. Of course, being a mechanic, I took the old door closers apart to try fixing them before heading across the street to Lowe's with the company card, but in addition to the seals being shot, the outside of the hydraulic piston and/or the inner walls of the hydraulic cylinder had been worn over time to the point that the cylinder basically was its own bypass valve - kind of obvious in that all that material was now dispersed through the hydraulic fluid - and replacing the black hydraulic fluid with new clean oil actually made it worse because of that. (Eyeballing the viscosity is probably not the best idea either, but I'm still convinced that, if the only problem is that you accidentally opened a valve too far and spilled it all, you can replace it with 85W-140 gear oil.)
@@X0pVnN1z You're not lying. I used to do specialty ceilings, and the first thing we always did was find the shop drawings, and study the shop drawings.
Thank you!!! Thank you for putting this information out there. As a Facilities Manager for 30 years, I can't tell you how many of these I have adjusted in the buildings I managed. I have also volunteered to adjust them at places and restaurants I visit. They had no idea they could be adjusted.
Dude, oh my god. I’m so glad you did a video on door hardware. I work at one of the largest hospitals in my region and I’m always finding slamming doors that need closer valve adjustments. I feel like nobody understands how important or nice it is to have properly adjusted doors. When the backcheck, sweep, and latch are perfectly adjusted, it’s such harmony. Also it’s important to have the proper spring adjustment as well to overcome HVAC stack pressure or allow the door to open with ADA-compliant forces. My whole job is door repairs (operated and non) and egress compliance, with a background coming from commercial door repair and locksmithing. If you ever want me to talk your ear off about interesting door solutions, master keying, etc, I would totally love that. By the way, the algorithm fed me an old video of yours a couple weeks ago about elevator chimes and ADA compliance and I haven’t been able to restrain myself from flexing that knowledge onto others. Thank you so so much for your quality content. Easily my favorite channel to watch on here. ❤
@TechnologyConnections You need to interview this guy. I am sure it would make a great video and imagine the shorts you could make from it to grow your audience.
@@MorganTN honestly it would be so fun to just DM over discord or something and talk about door stuff. I forgot to mention in my original comment that my background included access control. There’s a lot of interesting electrified door hardware out there, for starters. Exit devices (crash bars) are also really fascinating and complicated, but nobody really gives a second thought as to what all is going on when they interact with them. If @TechnologyConnections ever wanted to chit-chat about door stuff and maybe even do a door hardware series, I’d be so honored for the chance to help.
This kind of design can also be found on high end offroad suspension, like in Baja trucks. The use case is similar, as it allows tuning different parts of the shock travel independently. For example to have soft initial dampening when landing off a jump, a controlled middle stroke and harder dampening towards the end to prevent bottoming out.
Teaching everyone how to break a door closer with a simple twist of a screwdriver! I love it! Going to go around my apartment building wrecking all of these now.
We've just had a few of these installed at work to block customer access to the warehouse and office. On Friday, the boss and I were trying to figure out how to adjust the closing speed because the installers left them so that they close awfully quick and slam so violently they shake the entire wall of the office and shake the door open pin latch (I'm sure it has proper name, but I cannot think of it, the one that goes into the floor to hold it open) so hard it falls closed and then drags on the carpet. So, tomorrow, I'm going to walk into work, grab my LTT screwdriver and fix them thanks to this fortuitously timed video. And, I will probably leave the swing speed mostly the same but crank the latch speed right down as they too have no latch (by design, they're just a discouragement at present and will get electronic locks if they ever do have latches added), lower than the swing just so they close nice and quiet and gently, while the door open time isn't that big of an issue for us.
During my last internship as a janitor, we had to re-adjust a bunch of them. So ofc I took 10 minutes a piece to adjust each of them to perfection. Me? Very happy. My employer? Less happy that I took so long. :')
Thank you! Oh my god the Laundry room door for my apartment complex has been triggering my anxiety attacks every time someone wants to do laundry. Now people are thanking me for fixing the sweep and latch speeds on all the doors. This is awesome.
The explanations on this channel are excellent. Nothing is left out. Thank you for this, it's a lot of fun to have things explained that I wouldn't have thought about otherwise.
A retirement home near me has those airlock doors in which the next door only opens when the previous door has closed. It's great at keeping the elderly nice and warm. It also has an emergency button for, you guessed it, emergencies!
Happy to report that when my workplace replaced the doors, I properly adjusted the door closers to make them happy :) Thanks for taking the time to explain how they work!
I just watched a 23-min video about door closers 🤔 and somehow I was genuinely interested, says something about the quality of this Chanel. It's like the UA-cam version of modern marvels.
So my new apartment had a door that absolutely SLAMS shut behind you. Wouldn't you know it, this video falls into my feed, and now my door is perfect. It took some adjusting, but it was so easy, and I feel that improvement every time I come home or leave home. So, genuinely speaking, thank you Tech Connect.
A fast sweep speed is important for heavily used but secure doors. You want the door to close quickly so someone can't come through and prop it open for unauthorized access, but you don't want it to slam shut. Hotel doors are a good example of this. When you enter your room, this reduces the time someone has to follow you in.
I'm that "weird obsessive nerd" on the staff! Several years back, I got annoyed with squeaky chairs in our main conference room. They were the same as our desk chairs (which also squeaked) so I figured out how to adjust and oil mine and then stayed after work one day to do the same with all the chairs in the conference room. What I didn't know was that there was a board of directors meeting the next day that was scheduled for that room. I ended up getting a gift card from my boss and until we replaced all those chairs, I was constantly being asked for help by coworkers to fix theirs as well! Oh, and after our maintenance people improperly reinstalled a door closer, I fixed it so that the door (which was for a secured area) would actually close and latch! I discovered this as I was leaving at the end of the day using the same door that the rest of our suite used to exit, but was the only one who was bothered by the broken closer and actually did something about it instead of leaving the door open / unlocked overnight!
A great video for people who don't know how it works. There is only one little detail you might missed. These door closers are sensitive to temperature changes. On cold weathers the oil becomes more dense and brakes the door dlosing movement severly. On warm weather the oil is thinner and do not brake the door closer so it might star slamming the doors. Thanks for making this type of videos for regular people.
Commercial building owner here. Few things are more satisfying than tuning up a closer to give that perfect blend of velocity and power so that nobody gets jabbed by a door handle, but the door will just click into its latch. Sometimes the closers wear out and can no longer be properly adjusted. When that happens, I eschew the single-screw devices and go for the 2 screw adjustment. If I'm feeling particularly splurgy, I'll look for the 3 screw adjustment. I always feel bougie putting those in, but in reality, the 2 screw units are just fine.
You explained all of it so clearly it took me 10 minutes to adjust my garage through door which was banging shut for a few good years. Thanks for that. It took a big pain off my brain. It was like a small warm stuck there, every time i heard it bang.
Awnings, motion sensors and now door closers?!? I think my adult life is way better than expected. I have learnt so much from you… I love having random facts to confuse and astonish my colleagues!! Thank you for making me the “random fact person “ at work… or at least thats what I think they call me…
As somebody that has installed countless various types of door closing mechanisms as well as having to go out and readjust them for people, this video is much needed. I get that some people might be intimidated by mechanical devices. But these are super simple and much cheaper for the customer to adjust than to call somebody like me out to do it for them. Cheers.
Fun fact: a small enough closed room also creates a pressure imbalance when closing the door. Whenever i close my dorm door with the window shut, it bounces off the latch because of the slight underpressure created by the closing action itself.
Back when my house was new I purchased a Notrom commercial Door Closer similar to yours. I had building maintenance experience so I was familiar with them. Just like yours, mine is installed on an exit to the attached garage. That was 40 years ago. I adjusted it when I installed it. Have not touched it since. Never worried about an open door there again. Besides the important fire safety, I have always had an indoor cat (or 3). It’s important the exit door to the garage door always latches. Thank for creating this video I enjoyed the topic. Another first class production sir.
Fun fact: Did you know that door closers can be set to open LESS than the maximum range of the door they are mounted to? I found out the hard way when I opened a door about 95° a little too fast and ripped the closers screws right out of the wood. :/
Thats probably the back-check being a little too powerful. I don't think they can ordinarily be set so tight that they break the frame unless the wrong screws are being used.
If you're wondering why I didn't buy a second one to take apart, objects with strong, compressed springs in them are terrifying.
This is the kind of situation where I totally support not buying two and disassembling 😂
Those things are not as terrifying as automotive coil springs, but, that doesn't mean I'd be messing with the ones in these, ever.
As a person who deals with strong compressed things, I can respect that decision.
Damn right they are! Stored potential energy in a physical form... ready to pop? Just ask anyone who has worked on the suspension of a vehicle. Spring compressors can go horribly wrong and when thy do, it can be fatal.... or at the very least a spectacular jump scare.
Like a Victrola motor spring that I opened and tried to fix! I nearly took my fingers off! Fortunately my Dad was right there and cleaned and bandaged me!
As a person who's taken one apart before, the spring compression isn't really a safety issue, but it does make putting them back together a pita.
This guy could probably get me to watch a two hour video on packing peanuts.
☝️😛.
Hi Cody :)
If this is what the aforementioned "scope creep" script is referring to, I'm so excited.
Yeah I vote for that!!😅
Suddenly curious about packing peanuts....
People in my apartment complex always let the hallway doors slam shut and my dog barks every time. Just took a screwdriver down the hall and fixed this. Thank you!
@@acmhfmggru Screwdrivers are versatile tools.
@@privacyvalued4134instructions unclear. Dog is now servicing all of my neighbors' door latch speeds
Oh, now I’m going to be that guy that brings a set of Allen keys and screwdrivers on every vacation.
@@davemccage7918 Check out screwdriver bracelet. Very fun just for that.
@@acmhfmggru we lived in the country and then had to move into an apartment complex. He’s 7 and has never had this much noise around him. We try to stop him, but doesn’t always work. Anyways, thanks for your brilliant input.
Legitimately life improving video, my neighbour has been complaining about my front door slamming since before I moved in and the landlord never did anything about it. I've just adjusted the speed of my door closer and it no longer slams.
Landlord might not have had that information I'm sure they would have if they did
Is your neighbor happy now?
@@angelicamichelle1646 You are giving the landlord enough money every month for them to be able to afford a door technician. The landlord doesn't need to know, they should be able to hire professionals that know.
Now that's a legitimate human being for ya! I'm half-neigbor myself (on my mother's side), so I thank thee on behalf of neighbors everywhere.
The one on the house we bought last year was completely loose, and we just assumed it was broken.
Now we don't need to worry about holding the thing open while worrying about a dog sneaking through as it slams shut!
13:35 Pro-tip on this point: if the door stays open after adjusting DO NOT attempt to forcefully shut the door. The oil will compress and the valve will explode, shooting gross oil everywhere. Ask me how I know this.
How do you know this?
😂@@Gnometower
I know why you said this
Cause I know
Thank you for the warning
oh maybe that's why that happened...
As a locksmith I was going to chime in a bunch of times with stuff I thought you had missed but by the time I finished the video you had covered pretty much everything. Very thorough, well done.
Who are you? And how did you get in here?
@@JohnSmithShields He's Ian Leggett and he's a locksmith he can go where he wants when he wants 😂
I kept waiting for the comment about backcheck, I'm glad it was included.
He's not Lammykins that's for sure
As someone who can post a UA-cam comment, I agree this video is very accurate.
A warehouse holding a pinball machine, the World's best toaster and the Ark of the Covenant.
ARK HAHAHA
*Indiana jones noises*
And an endless supply of old flash bulbs, enough to be considered an explosive hazard
And of course he has two Arks
@@leetri "And I've got one here that we've taken apart, thru the magic of buying two of them"
Thanks to your video, I have now gone through my place of business setting the close speed to every door. AND I WOULD DO IT AGAIN
Zach Hazard??? In the wild???
Hey Wild Zach appeared!
Holy shit a rare Zach Hazard sighting!
That is such a Zach hazard thing to do 😂
haha of course you're here lol, fellow ADD'ers/autism folks come here like a moth to a flame (thats why Im also here)
As a commerical locksmith you would not BELIEVE how many calls I get that say "our door is slamming/our door is not latching" that require about 2 turns of a screwdriver to fix and cost the customer $300+. Everyone who owns, rents, or manages a commercial building should know how to adjust a door closer.
Edit to add: another key reason to have a hydraulic or spring closer is that aluminum storefront doors are absolutely heavy enough to shatter the glass if for example thrown shut by a gust of wind or allowed to swing downhill in an unlevel doorframe. Even a minor slam, if it happens to that door dozens of times a day over the course of years, can also cause the early death of expensive locking hardware.
Good points
Resisting fast movement is often overlooked. Until the glass breaks, or the frame sags.
It seems immoral to charge someone that much for something like that. LIke a mechanic charging you hundreds of bucks because your gas cap wasn't on. Maybe just... don't do that? I'unno, I'm sure life's complex, seems not-great though.
$300 for two turns is nothing to be sniffed at. 😉
@@coldravioli7839 It's not $300 to turn 2 screws. It's $50 dollars to _know_ that there are two screws to turn, and where to find them. The other $250 is because it's a house-call. That's the cost of driving out to the location (gas and other costs of operating the vehicle), the time involved (potentially a 30-60 min job when you factor in travel time, and billing often starts at default 2h regardless of job size), and the opportunity cost of not being available in the shop when someone *else* comes by or calls in with a much bigger, much more profitable job.
@@coldravioli7839 Usually with these kinds of service, there is a minimum fee as typically the service tech has no idea what the issue is or how long it will take to fix. Ideally is is communicated before the customer follows through with the job. Sometimes its a case of tech gets on-sight and discovers the 'issue' is not as bad as the customer made it out to be. Also in some cases, they may be an extra fee for "emergency" rush jobs or weekend jobs.
Broadcast worker here! Our studio doors swing fast and latch slow.
That way the studio is quickly sealed from outside air and noise, but the slam can't be heard on microphones.
Do you have to put your shoulder into it to open? I'm doing a few so would help.
@@EmeraldHill-vo1cs The speed has no direct relation with the strength. If the door is too hard to open, someone bought a too strong closer.
Exactly, this seems like the obvious thing to want it to do. I don't understand why it was tacked-on like an afterthought and a "for whatever reason you'd ever want that". Of course the door should not slam and close when you want it to close!
@@ggkol8745 Well, I still think this is probably a rare situation. Most of the time you will want the door to give you time, for accessibility's sake. This doesn't mean just wheelchair users, but as Alec pointed out, even just an able-bodied person carrying some groceries would appreciate that
as someone who worked in radio....ohhhh thats why the doors were like that. LOL
Fun Fact, working in TV on sets we usually adjusted the speeds backwards. For continuity we want the door to close as quickly as possible to reduce the odds of cutting from shot to shot with a door closed different amounts. We set the latch speed to as slow as possible for the sound department to make the door closing quiet.
Which one makes it so ya dont have to put your shoulder into it to open the door?
@@EmeraldHill-vo1cs Based on the explanation of the mechanism in the video, *neither*. The hydraulic damper limits the speed, but the force when the door isn't moving is determined by how strong the spring is. And apparently they sell closers with different spring strengths.
@@EmeraldHill-vo1cs You buy and install a unit with a weaker spring.
@@EmeraldHill-vo1cs 19:58 he answers that: the 'back-check adjustment', if it has one
@@essendossev362 Yes heard that and no we dont have them.
20 minute video about actual *door closers* shows up in my recommendations, and yet as soon as I see the channel name, I know it's somehow going to be the most fascinating thing I see all day. You, sir, are a master of your craft.
Apparently revolving doors became rather desirable when skyscrapers became a thing. An open door at ground level, an open window tens of floors up, and lots of loose paper between the two was a great way to demonstrate convection currents, with hilarious results.
Sounds like there weren't any fire safety standards yet
@@Max24871 oh, they *were* added later!
*Guess after what event they were added.*
@Max24871 You'd be surprised what the wind can do in a high rise building, even when all the doors are shut according to fire safety regulations.😮😂
its not just convection but wierd pressure pulses the convection provides energy too. close every window in your house except one and doors will slam as the pressure gets forced in and out
People might not see a path but the air will.
"this is why you need a weird obsessive nerd somewhere on your staff"
I feel oddly validated all of a sudden
Is this not the very essence of the channel? 😂
Why stop at one? The more, the merrier, although anyone outside that category may find conversation a little obscure at times.
@@neilyoung2723a company full of nerds is a problem. My friends and I are nerds with different "problems", but we all dislike big cities and too much human interaction. One lives in the mountains, the other lives at the seaside and I live in the fields. We had to hire quite a few people for our company, so that it actually runs 😂
When we're done, we will have created jobs and a somewhat passive income. So there's that.
Oh crap, it’s me. I’m the weird obsessive nerd.
alternatively you need a boss with an office near one of these doors and you learn how to adjust it.
Not that it is complicated. Ours have little min-max pictures and actual text next to the screw, not just some cryptic letters.
You've now successfully explained my long-dormant curiosity over the little magnets that held open my school's doors. Checking another one off the list.
I'm surprised you never noticed during their fire drills. They're pretty neat. 🙂
heh. dormant.
Same, and that explains why they often didn't work when I was trying to move marching band equipment through doors: they weren't powered! My school building was pretty old and not well maintained. I frequently had to use random stones and bricks as door stops.
What’s extra annoying is when they put a fire door with a magnetic latch on an elevator and the magnetic latch is unreliable! An elevator opening into a closed door is not a fun puzzle to solve.
So true
Locksmith here, I find it really exciting reading the number of people in the comments who IMMEDIATELY went out to adjust their doors. Slow closers and fast closers are usually an easy fix.
Two items I wanted to bring up is that there are closers with adjustable power, in case you have a heavy door or increased air pressure.
As well, having the arm of the closer in the correct potion is incredibly important. Your warehouse door that was used as an example should have the arm lock nut moved up, so the arm that is attached to the frame is parallel when the door is closed and not the closer arm itself. This lets the closer apply pressure to hold the door shut. Incorrect arm position is one of the even more common issues on closer install.
I find misadjusted closer arms one of the biggest reasons for a slamming door. The arm runs out of swing so it doesn't latch. The previous maintenance guy turns up the speed to overcome this issue. Instead I adjusted the arm to always apply pressure to the closed door. Then readjust the speed
"For storing two of them" was simultaneously unexpected and made complete sense
Absolutely embraced the meme he created with full empowerment.
Took me an embarrassingly long time to get that joke lol
timecode plz
@@squidwardfromua 1:01
I don't get it
The temptation to take a screwdriver/alen wrench and adjust all of my apartment doors so they stop slamming on me when I'm trying to do my laundry at 11pm at night is strong.
Let the intrusive thoughts win. This time.
I think everyone would appreciate your effort.
Do it.
Just get yourself a high vis vest, maybe a clipboard, and ppl won't look twice at you setting up a ladder anywhere
Dooo iiiiit. Pro tip, ball-end hex drivers may save your knuckles.
As I was watching this I got an email from the last hotel I was staying in, requesting a review. I think I'll send them this video in the "What could we do better?" section. Preach it brother, slamming hotel doors are the bane of travel.
Now we need a video on the door latch mechanism so we can figure out how to make them quiet too.
Lies.
@@TJ-W Nothing ever happens
I will be doing this from now on 😂
All of this and a great idea! As someone who uses mobility aids it would be epic not getting shut in doors😭
Yeah… gotta be honest, as a fire alarm technician of over 15 years, your description about the fire alarm system tie in is 100% right. No matter what the topic you always do your research. I appreciate it.
“That’s why you need a weird obsessive nerd on your staff”
Absolutely true! The really cool things I’ve done at my various workplaces over the years to improve all the little pieces of technology and make sure things function as intended. Having a weird nerd who knows how to deep dive into something simple with a goal of understanding it is such an under-valued and under-utilized capability.
Every engineer I know is a weird obsessive nerd and I love them for it
It bothers me how many people buy a beautifully-designed and very-capable thing, then never bother to understand it well enough to utilize the functionality that they ostensibly purchased it for in the first place. What a mundane and mediocre existence they must lead.
I am not certain that "knowing how to deep dive" is the most critical factor. Caring about the matter and feeling empowered to act (that something _can_ be done, that one can do that, and that taking action will not be punished) may be more important. Persistence driven by caring can overcome significant lack of research aptitude. Caring and believing improvement is possible probably do correlate with nerdiness.
Some workplaces discourage initiative and improving things that work "well enough". Even without such discouragement, caring can increase the likelihood of burnout and not all managers are skilled at maintaining worker health/productivity.
Agreed!
My favorite thing is when a table is wobbly, to reach under and adjust the levelling feet to fix it. Everyone's like "what did you do? Shove some napkins under??" "No i fixed the table"
Quarter million views within eight hours of being uploaded. A video about a device that makes doors close slowly.
This has got to be one of the best channels on record.
Wait till you hear about a thing called "television". Some shows there get millions of views the INSTANT they're on....
... yes, I will see myself out.
Also a good portion of the comments are workers/people either complimenting the new knowledge, recognizing the validity of the information, or relaying work stories. A refreshing bunch of comments, for sure.
who says they need to close slowly? Now I know how to speed them up!
@@Hans-gb4mv UA-cam, where you can learn just enough to be dangerous!
This has got to be one of the dumbest comments on record
The warehouse for storing "two of them" makes me believe you keep your other jokes in storage as well.
I'm sure he also has two warehouses..
Does he share them with Cathoray Dude and Krazy Ken
@@qazhr Exactly what I came here to comment.
Though this suggests there are a lot of cats in the warehouse...
@@WooShellwhat is this, a Borges novel? 😅
I'm pretty sure his warehouse is for storing "two warehouses."
Thank you! You got a sub from me - I live in a building where these hydraulic door closers are in every unit, and mine always slammed shut with the thunderclap of a thousand monsoons. Now it closes ever-so softly. Had no idea I could make the adjustments like you demonstrated!
“It’s really just called ‘fire place’ huh?” got me 😂
Same 😁 but then you think about it, and you realize that's all it ever needed: a descriptive name. A place for your fire. A fire place. A fireplace! 🎉
Now imagine a language where 90% of the words are like that!
There's also "hearthe".
@@henningerhenningstone691 English may not manage 90%, but it's a lot higher than most people think... just... most of the words are like that... in the language we nicked them from... or were like that before centuries of sound changes made it really hard to tell, or etc.
there is also "waterfall"
Thank you SO MUCH for posting this. I've been complaining about my apartment building's front door slamming shut for years, and the landlord had me convinced it was just because it was heavy. I walked down, adjusted the latch speed, and now it closes like a normal door.
Now let's hope landlord does not complain about it after the fact.
I just did the same for my unit haha
On my apartment building, someone who was bothered by the self-closing door and too lazy to move the bucket of sand (for winter ice) four feet to hold the door open while they brought in groceries decided it would be better to rip the closing arms hardware out of the door.
They are the loudest, floor-stomping-est, loud music playing-est neighbors I've ever had.
They also litter in the parking lot a mere fifteen paces from the dumpster.
-
Thank you for being present during my anger management session.
You better make sure it still closes if it's freezing outside.
Hell yeah. Taking the initiative! Fuck landlords
When I moved into my apartment, every door in the public spaces slammed shut 24/7 with zero slowing. Within 2 days of this at 2am I got up and with a screw driver adjusted all ten of them which took only about 15min, and since then they all close silently.
I never told another human being about this. This seemed the place.
Sometimes it's nice to make secret fixes. Eventually everyone notices that the doors closed smoothly and gently, maybe some didn't notice the issue, but they'll probably notice at some point the absence of slamming and realize it's nice.
❤
Not all heroes wear capes
Malicious compliance: Readjust just *one* of them back to slamming and watch all the tenants go apesht on the super. 😅
Definitely best to stay quiet. As soon as someone finds out you fixed it, 2 things will happen. 1, you will get asked to fix so much other random crap, for free, both building and personally owned items. And 2, the worst part - when it wears out or fails, all fingers will point to you, blaming you for things that are just natural wear and tear, or failure due to age.
been struggling with a "really heavy" door at work for nearly two years now, it always slams shut instantly with an ear-shattering bang, and it only gets worse on days with strong winds. the week after this video came out, suddenly it opens like a normal door! and doesn't slam shut! and i can hold it open for other people without them narrowly avoiding serious injuries! THANK YOU!!!!!!!
Sitting in a hospital ER room, the door wouldn't stay open; a nurse pushed it back against the wall several times and said "I don't know why this one won't stay open, it's the only one in the department that won't." A little while later she came in again and pushed the door back against the wall, and this time it stayed. She looked at it in surprise, then looked at me, and I just shrugged. If she had inspected the door more closely before, she might have noticed the entire closer was loose, with all four of its mounting screws backed out by a quarter inch, and all four were now fully tightened. Somehow. 🤷♂️ 😂
Wow! A real life superhero! 🦸
Not all heroes wear capes.
4:14 I'm gonna need to see some sources on that. I've got a buddy, Ted, and based on what he's told me about his job he does nothing but drives trucks and bare knuckle box fire all day and he's 57, so fire can't be all that bad.
Hero
Did you go into hospital with a screwdriver?
I love it when things are adjustable!
It's like reaching a higher level of consciousness when you figure out there's a solution to one of your pet peeves in everyday life. You start seeing your surroundings in a new light.
This guy is the true red pill, making you see the matrix for what it is.
I reached enlightenment when I realized that the sink faucets that you smack to receive .5 seconds of water are adjustable. Guess who has clean and non soapy hands at work now!
Thanks for pointing out that you can remove the valves and leak hydraulic fluid everywhere. It's one of those systems where you can go from "is this doing anything?" to "it's broken forever" in a matter of seconds
Yea this is a very important aspect of door closers. I was a maintenance dude for a cooperative house and they warned us about this several times in training.
@@abbyzoetewey538 So, can you tell when you've reached the point where you need to stop? Or do you just have to be conservative and hope for the best?
Hmm... Sounds as though if you've reached the point where you need to stop, it's already too late 🙁@@halbronk7133
Don't you think you can fill it up with oil and close the valves again...?
It will certainly require that you take the closer down and to a workshop but I doubt it can't be done.
The front door of my shop used to slap shut, but thanks to this video, I adjusted the door closer and solved that. Thanks so much for making this video.
This went into immediate effect. Went out into our apartment lobby and adjusted the mechanism to prevent it from slamming, and then sometimes the mechanism not engaging that keeps it shut. Bravo 🎉🎉
I am neither a facilities manager, nor a person who works in the building in question, but I do live there, and both the front and back doors are CONSTANTLY slamming! I am going to put this knowledge to the test immediately today.
Report back, soldier.
Did you do it? Haha
..
I think he died in the progress
@@Rerbun He got captured by the enemy.
Automatic Door / fire door tech here. You did a great job of explaining this. Fun fact, those handicap doors use a spring to close but most control the closing speed by using the motor as a generator and placing a load across it to make it harder to spin.
That way they will close smoothly even if the power fails.
The only problem with the ones that do that, is that making the door harder to close by running the motor in reverse, makes it EQUALLY harder to OPEN, unless you put a diode across the load, usually some form of power resistor (or array of such) because that's the cheapest electrical load there is.
EDIT: And all the ones that are at the hospitals and other medical facilities in my area are always a pain in the butt to open manually, so even tho I'm perfectly able bodied, I just push the button.
@@44R0Ndin I have never encountered one that wasn’t directional. Either they use a one-way clutch somewhere in the gearbox or they have diodes inside control.
Most of the handicap (Referred to as “low energy” ) in hospitals are heavier units that can be set up as full power or low energy. They tend to have a bigger motor/gearbox assembly and the springs are at the upper end of what’s allowed for low energy. Through the weight of a 44 x 83” door and they can require a bit more effort.
There are a few models that use a that functions like the one in the video, but they are usually smaller models intended for much lighter duty work than the stuff you see in most hospitals.
And that is profoundly annoying if you have a different disability and have to wait for the door to close at snail place. This is especially unwelcome on a door to a public restroom where privacy is the main reason for closing the door
@@trueriver1950 What kind of disability forces you to wait for doors to close? Can't think of anything else than OCD.
We have on furnace room simpler pre 1950s tech , spring loaded rod that engage a roller on the door , you can turn the rod 90° down or up, so it does not engage the roller at all , not very effective because the spring deliver most turning power when door is open and very little when its closed ... but because building code mandated it.
I genuinely think this might be one of the most important UA-cam channels to exist.
0:07 "it's bothering me so much that I decided to shelve it for now. But, when one door closes -"
Looks like we can expect a long video on shelves this year. You know how he puns.
Everybody bookmark this comment, cause it's absolutely happening now! Great catch!
For 24 years I have had this problem and NOBODY knew how to adjust the swing. THANK YOU FOR POSTING...my neighbours also thank you for posting!!!
It is painful to know for how DARN LONG people work, live or just exist with millions little things that annoy them every day, withoit knowledge or will to learn about and fix the darn thing! You just get used to it!
I was recently loosened the latch and oiled the hinges on communal area door so it doesn't scree and slam early in the morning or late at night, and 3(!) people come to thank me because it was bothering them longer than i even known them, it's near insane!
Hey welcome time traveler from the 80's. Here in SciFi world we could just google it :P
I had no idea the "how hard the door is to open" was also adjustable.
A very few times, I've encountered doors that took a ludicrous amount of effort to open. In one case, I had to open a door with that problem for a very old and tiny woman who was completely blocked from entry by the force to open it.
-
Also, I had no idea the screen/storm door pistons were adjustable! I thought the only solution was to get the heck out of the way.
@@mrShift_0044 The first thing I do in any place I spend time is to oil the heck out of everything, I mean I oil, adjust, fix and clean everything I can get my hands on and it is so satisfying to have everything smooth and silent. On the other hand, it is sad how people tortured by things for a long time until someone fixes things.
@@mrShift_0044 In my experience, people are too scared to TRY fixes. The door closer at my office literally has instructions printed on it, but no one before me cared to attempt a fix.
4:14 “Fire, it turns out, is bad”
The delivery of that line was absolutely priceless lmao
Fire...place is what got me
@@novarazzit’s really just called that…. 🤔
@@novarazz I noticed this back in late high school and most people I brought it up to were like, well duh, so I'm happy to find some other people that had this same realization. At the time there were a few others that came to mind, but I haven't been able to think of many others, and google hasn't helped me much. Actually, ChatGPT might be the way to ask this... and indeed:
"Fireplace" is literally a "place for fire."
"Bookshelf" is a "shelf for books."
Bedroom - A room for a bed.
Teapot - A pot for tea.
Toothbrush - A brush for teeth.
Snowball - A ball of snow.
Mailman - A man who delivers mail.
Doghouse - A house for a dog.
Raincoat - A coat for rain.
Sunlight - Light from the sun.
Thank you so much for this video! I was working in an office close to a stairwell with a firedoor. The door was closing sooo violently that my desk was shaking. It was sooo loud. It was closing so violent in fact that the door handle started to fall off.
I complained. The custodian came. Looked at it and explained to me: "Its a fire door, it's supposed to close like this". The audacity!!
30 min of online research. Learning about swing and latch speed. Plus an allen wrench from my bicycle repair kit. Presto. The door closed soft like a whisper.
Thank you for shedding light on the mechanism and making this world just a bit more quieter.
I'm glad you mentioned HVAC pressurization issues. Adjusting exterior door closers and fixing pressurization issues has been at least 10% of my 25-year building engineer career. 😊
I was on a job building a four story chem lab. The rooftop units fans would glitch and kick all of them on at full power. Talk about pressurization issues. Opening those doors first thing in the morning was a test to see who ate their Wheaties that day.
@SoberAddiction I worked in two million square feet of lab space across 6 buildings. Local FD says we have to shut AHUS off during a fire alarm but keep the fume hood exhaust fans running at all times for occupant safety. When the fire alarm went off, it was all but impossible to open the exterior doors due to the negative pressure.
The building I work in runs at significant negative pressure. Open the door and get a 15mph wind source.
There are doors/systems that provide an air bypass when you press down the door handle. Rare and hard to find, but they are out there.
In my line of work. I'm in the construction phase of buildings. The amount of times the doors were adjusted and the installers called it a day before the HVAC was running is crazy. "it worked fine when I was there, what did you do?"
I literally stopped the video 4 minutes in and went to adjust the door closer on the room to my door. It no longer slams at super sonic speed. THANK YOU. ❤
🎉
Ah, would you like a room with your door?
I did the same on the door that leads to my garage. Unfortunately only one of the screws works -- the latching one. The other one does nothing to slow down the door so mine must be busted in some way.
"the room to my door" is what im going to call my tiny apartment from now on
@@pao-lumu Ah, NYC?
I want you to know the positive impact you’ve had on my life. My apartment is next to the trash shoot, with my office being the adjoining wall. For years the trash door slamming shut has been a major pain point and this video inspired me to grab my tools at 11pm and fix it finally. Thank you so much
Unless there's gunpowder involved, what you've got there is a trash *chute* fella.
@@SanchoPanza-wg5xfWho are you to judge Mister_Salem's high-power trash cannon?
@@RyanTosh I answered an hour ago but censorious YouYube has apparently deleted my response without notice, as YT is wont to do.
Not only did you teach us how to more efficiently use our dishwasher but you also taught us how to fix our screen door to actually close ❤
It seems like a small issue but has been a huge annoyance for like 3 years now lol. So thank you!
Okay, two things here (Additions, not corrections I note):
Firstly, up here in Canada, the vast majority of places have manual "Automatic doors" (that is, activated by button for disabled people). Because it gets VERY cold, and motion activated doors would leak *so much* air. So here it's a matter of efficiency and cost.
Second, my grandparents house in the UK had auto-closing doors, without any kind of spring or closer on them. They instead used what are called "Rising butt" hinges, where the shear line for the hinge is a slope rather than flat. Opening the door causes it to spiral up slightly as it opens, and the weight of the door then causes it to rotate back on the inclined hinge line. So the door itself is the closer.
Rising butts are great, but need a shallower pitch for a heavier doors, and maybe a rubber or felt/fabric stop inside the frame to stop it bumping
I have seen rising butt springs used on bathroom stall doors and two way swinging doors.
😅 Rising Butts😅. I've noticed those hinges a lot especially on walk-in coolers/freezers and the bathroom stall doors etc. I did not know that's what they're called. I thought that's just how I was every morning.😂
Thank you for this info, now I can't wait to spot a rising butt hinge so I can tell people that's what it's called
Touch button auto doors in Japanese shops too cause very hot summer and very cold winter.
I work in retail in UK and our auto sliding open doors (at least at the 3 retailers I have worked at) have half open only and slow sliding open function to help with temp control.
Thanks! My apartment building got a new door closer and the door wouldn't shut all the way. I had been worrying about security, but it was almost midnight when I watched this video, so I just went and adjusted it while no one was around, and now it shuts every time!
The hero we need.
I love how many people in these comments are doing vigilante adjustments for slamming doors. Assuming you did it right, thank you!
@@tylerpeterson4726 it's still kinda rough because I couldn't get the swing adjustment to slow down, so it just slams, but at least it doesn't hang open now. I did the one at work the next day and now it doesn't slam anymore! It's been interrupting front-desk conversations since I started there 2 years ago! No longer!
I have literally paused the video after you demonstrated adjusting the closer, went to fix the door that has been bugging me for over a year, and now I’m resuming the watching to learn how they work. 😅 Thanks, Alec! 👍
Lovely 😂
Glad that we have a nerdy UA-camr that explains little quality of life improvements. Never regretted subbing to Alec channel!
Now that I understand how a door closer works, I can finally have *CLOSURE.*
literally just used this video to fix a problem my work has had for months. the door would never latch when we locked it so people always got in after we closed and literally 10 minutes into the video I already got it to work… thank you TC!
When I was in school I used to adjust one of the exterior doors so it wouldn't latch closed and I could skip class outside and then get back in.
@@jonnyphenomenon That is fucking amazing. Did you put it back each time, or just let it ride?
It have been 30+ years of life without knowing the engineering and complexity of closing a door. Today, this channel changed that and I love it.
I worked on theater maintenance, and I can confirm that the "hidden" door closers are adjustable. The whole mechanism is concealed in a cavity in the top of the door. To make adjustments you just grab a ladder and prop the door open. The screws face upward and easily accessible from the top.
Interesting!
This channel really helps me be a well rounded person.Learning About things I would otherwise just assume nothing about
As soon as the video was over, I went over to my screen door that's notorious for taking an eternity to close, adjusted the door closer, and now it works flawlessly. Excellent video, 10/10.
Also a side anecdote but as a small child I got my finger smashed in the door of a poorly adjust door closer at the doctor's office. They thankfully fixed my finger right there but ever since then all the door closers in that office have closed as softly as they're able.
There's also a second "adjustment" on those not mentioned here. There's two holes and a pin on the side closer to the hinge. One is for a lighter screen door, the other is for a heavier glass door. Make sure yours is using the correct one.
I bet they still asked for loads of cash to fix your finger hahaha 🌈
Oh yeah, I've been looking forward to this one! ☺️👍
@@DeviantOllam commercial door hardware mentioned, I am very hype
It's him!
@@Leo9ine Hiya! 👋☺️
👋The collab we always needed lol.
Hahahahaha and you were glued, right?
Property Manager in Chicago, who rose to that position from Maintenance Technician - Your work has already been such a tremendous value to me professionally - I started to list the videos which made the greatest difference to me, until the list got overly-long, and too unwieldy. Thank you for Everything.
But this is one piece I've already been so curious about, though has never directly-mattered enough to research in earnest. Thank you again for an entertaining education, which will make mine and many other peoples' lives better in an almost-imperceptible way.
dude i hope you understand how therapeutic your videos are. super informative. super chill. i throw these on during my crazy work day to slow down and not get too far ahead of myself.
After watching this I immediately went out and adjusted all the doors around my apartment complex. Just want you to know you're making the world a better place.
And you too my child too long and prosper
Are you a superintendent or just some guy?
Indeed, we do need a "weird obsessive nerd" on basically all staff teams, and to treat that person well with all their differences. You're a saint for taking the time to do something so specific, impactful, and yet easy. Thank you for sharing!
I have given so many tours of the schools that I have worked in, pointing out doors that do not meet the ADA requirements and require adjustments, wishing I had a video like this that I could provide them with. This issue cost me the use of my left shoulder, many years of physical therapy, and tens of thousands of dollars. I have never encountered a maintenance worker who knew what a force gauge was or knew how to adjust these closers. It typically takes about 5 or 6 requests before any given maintenance worker has been able to understand and make these necessary adjustments.
Thank you. The service this video provides is invaluable to me. I honestly wondered if anyone who wasn't disabled understood the need and function of door closers.
Can you explain about your shoulder injury? I am guessing that a fast-closing door gave you a push and tore your shoulder tissue?
@donperegrine922 The force was set to about 18lbs, with a swing speed of about 2 seconds. It only took about 2 or 3 weeks of that for the injury, but it took a full 7 months before they did anything about it / were able to fix the door closer.
@@awaggenspack thanks. Damn that really stinks. Wild that a door closer can cause such severe injury.
Thanks so much! The door closer at my work one day just started closing super slowly. The owner didn't want to pay someone to fix it, and it was getting pretty annoying, especially when the wind caught it and kept the door open. Fortuitously, youtube randomly recommended this video to me. Now I've binged all your videos. Thanks again!
I paused the video halfway through, grabbed a screwdriver, and properly adjusted my door closer. Now it no longer slams shut and allows me to pass through a gate easily with my bicycle. Thank you!
21:31 Since we love annoying little details here, “damping” is the word to use, not “dampening”. You damp vibrations/oscillations or movement, but to dampen is to make something wet. Acoustic damping, shock-absorber damping, door-closer damping, etc. are what we’re talking about here.
And he got it right earlier at 14:09 too. 🙁
Scope Creep and Technology Connections, name a more iconic duo 😂 Edit: Trust me, I appreciate the constant exhaustive effort.
Technology Connections and five part trilogies.
I hate it when people call me a scope creep.
Storage warehouse and the-Magic-of-buying-two-of-them is a solid silver medal
No effort November is coming - which is just the month when Alec can't stop himself and puts out satisfying videos anyway xD
Simon & Garfunkel?
Bless you for making this video. I briefly learned in passing how to adjust these when there was a security tech adjusting ours and I thanked him for making the doors close nicely. And he gently explained that him coming out to adjust the door closer is a waste of money and that we could do it ourselves if we wanted. Which is great because the doors he fixed were only a problem because of security. There’s all kinds of non security doors that routinely try to kill me. I have used his training and now this video to make my and hopefully everyone else’s live better. Love your videos. Keep them up. The going down a rabbit hole like this and explaining everything on one topic is fantastic
I will take this video, show it to the GM at my hotel along with all the guests complaints and reviews that mentioned the door slamming and keeping them up. Your work will be put to good use.
Do you guys not have maintenance staff that handles this stuff?
It could be an air pressure issue, HVAC related, more than door closers. But adjusting the closers can always help!
The door just outside my apartment is always slamming and I feel so self conscious about opening it at night. You have saved me an ounce of sleep with this one!
Time for some secret fixing of apartment stuff?
@@Jaker788I'm about to start doing this on super annoying ones that I'm not in charge of
Remember to open the door, walk away, then come back with the appropriate driver.
If you just walk up to the door and start turning screws, you'll look like you're maliciously tampering with it on any security camera that happens to be nearby.
I just moved, and my apartment door is so close to the exterior door that it makes it sound like somebody is slamming MY front door. Freaks out me and my cat every single time. I'm fixing it tonight, lmao.
i just spent 23 minutes watching a video about door closers.
i enjoyed it thoroughly
same
The way you can take mundane objects and turn them into tv length documentaries is outstanding. Thank you!
That's literally his superpower.
Yet another DIY video to justify my Patreon subscription. Thanks, Alec! The front door on my apartment no longer swings closed like a guillotine trying to chop off my fingers!
I'm a former locksmith and present maintenance man. Every one of us should have this as a training video. You even commented on my go to giveaway of a dead door closer (oil leak).
Very impressed. I can't even describe how many normal maintenance crew cannot tune a door closer. Absolutely bang on.
Fun fact about ADA auto door opener buttons. They're RF. I was convinced I had corroded terminals and it was in fact a dead battery. I didn't know they were basically little transmitters by battery power.
Huh. You'd think they'd be designed to take some of the power needed to run the electric motor instead of swapping batteries. Then again, I guess you'd only need to replace them like, every 2 years?
@@Appletank8 I think the lifetime on the one I did first was no joke like five years old. They old do a very short burst to tell the arm to open. Once it's triggered the rest of the power comes from the AC wired to the opener.
Sounds like someone just took the technology from garage door openers (or vice versa). It makes some sense as it gives flexibility of where to mount the button without worrying about wiring it.
@@tboneforreal That is part of it for sure. I believe the other part is that it allows present doors to be updated if they become ADA required without much violent updating. The button has a standardized height requirement, and the door closer isn't usually too difficult to get power too. Most I've worked on have maglock interfaces so 120v is already present.
More facts taking up brainspace: it can't be more than a 5lb push to open a door per ADA compliance. I know most doors with closers are not that soft.
Okay this might be an incredibly dumb question (and ofc I understand it you have no desire to answer it! Your comment itself is already very interesting and will set me off on my own research aha!) so my apologies if so--I'm afraid I'm not very technically minded, which is why I enjoy watching Alex's content! LOL--but if accessible door buttons are RF, does that mean it would theoretically be possible to open them by some kind of external transmitter like how garage door buttons work? Because that could be game-changing for us disabled people 👀
I'm 33, can't believe I never knew this, I've always hated doors slamming, I thought that's just what these things did. I paused the video and adjusted mine and it's perfect. Thank you!
I watch a LOT of videos of many types on UA-cam. They range from woodworking tutorials to movie reactions to guitar or drum gear reviews to standup comedy to police body cams and much more….. but this video on door closers, as well as nearly any video from Technology Connections… just makes me happy.
Thanks for doing what you do in the way that you do. 🙂
Thanks for fixing our door in less than 5 minutes. Me and my neighbors are very happy. Turning that screw half a turn turns out much more effective than the previous solution: "please make sure the close the door after you".
This is just so good knowledge to have.
I'm amused that the auto shop I used to work in had better-adjusted door closers than some hotels, just because I RTFM when installing them. Every door closer comes with a manual and lists the sizes of door it should be used on the packaging, extremely convenient! Also, replacing a door closer takes a lot of the guesswork out: you're putting everything in the same orientation and approximate position as the old one, so the S/L adjustment is pretty much all you need to figure out. So much easier than a first install. I highly recommend you always install replacement door closers instead of new ones.
Of course, being a mechanic, I took the old door closers apart to try fixing them before heading across the street to Lowe's with the company card, but in addition to the seals being shot, the outside of the hydraulic piston and/or the inner walls of the hydraulic cylinder had been worn over time to the point that the cylinder basically was its own bypass valve - kind of obvious in that all that material was now dispersed through the hydraulic fluid - and replacing the black hydraulic fluid with new clean oil actually made it worse because of that. (Eyeballing the viscosity is probably not the best idea either, but I'm still convinced that, if the only problem is that you accidentally opened a valve too far and spilled it all, you can replace it with 85W-140 gear oil.)
RTFM FTW
Seeing that at least some people still open manuals slightly restores my faith in humanity.
If you're willing and able to read instructions, you're already better than at least half of contractors.
@@X0pVnN1z You're not lying. I used to do specialty ceilings, and the first thing we always did was find the shop drawings, and study the shop drawings.
@@X0pVnN1z _But I've done it this way for ever!_ Yeah, and that way is fucking wrong.
Thank you!!! Thank you for putting this information out there. As a Facilities Manager for 30 years, I can't tell you how many of these I have adjusted in the buildings I managed. I have also volunteered to adjust them at places and restaurants I visit. They had no idea they could be adjusted.
Dude, oh my god. I’m so glad you did a video on door hardware. I work at one of the largest hospitals in my region and I’m always finding slamming doors that need closer valve adjustments. I feel like nobody understands how important or nice it is to have properly adjusted doors. When the backcheck, sweep, and latch are perfectly adjusted, it’s such harmony. Also it’s important to have the proper spring adjustment as well to overcome HVAC stack pressure or allow the door to open with ADA-compliant forces.
My whole job is door repairs (operated and non) and egress compliance, with a background coming from commercial door repair and locksmithing. If you ever want me to talk your ear off about interesting door solutions, master keying, etc, I would totally love that.
By the way, the algorithm fed me an old video of yours a couple weeks ago about elevator chimes and ADA compliance and I haven’t been able to restrain myself from flexing that knowledge onto others.
Thank you so so much for your quality content. Easily my favorite channel to watch on here. ❤
@TechnologyConnections You need to interview this guy. I am sure it would make a great video and imagine the shorts you could make from it to grow your audience.
@@MorganTN honestly it would be so fun to just DM over discord or something and talk about door stuff. I forgot to mention in my original comment that my background included access control. There’s a lot of interesting electrified door hardware out there, for starters. Exit devices (crash bars) are also really fascinating and complicated, but nobody really gives a second thought as to what all is going on when they interact with them. If @TechnologyConnections ever wanted to chit-chat about door stuff and maybe even do a door hardware series, I’d be so honored for the chance to help.
14:18 That Latch Speed Bypass design is so clever. I appreciate your clear explanation of it.
This kind of design can also be found on high end offroad suspension, like in Baja trucks. The use case is similar, as it allows tuning different parts of the shock travel independently. For example to have soft initial dampening when landing off a jump, a controlled middle stroke and harder dampening towards the end to prevent bottoming out.
13:51 "...which is A) unpleasant and 2) will break the door closer."
These videos are plum full of easter eggs and I love it
Coming to say how that little thing triggered my TOC so much😂
Teaching everyone how to break a door closer with a simple twist of a screwdriver! I love it! Going to go around my apartment building wrecking all of these now.
That's either an intentional or unintentional reference to Home Alone (where Buzz's points are a. 2. and d.)
I felt something was off about that line, but I couldn't quite place it!
@@avinotion Knowing this channel, it was undoubtedly intentional
This genuinely helped me with a compression cylinder type on my screen door that's been clipping the back of my heels for months. Thanks!
We've just had a few of these installed at work to block customer access to the warehouse and office. On Friday, the boss and I were trying to figure out how to adjust the closing speed because the installers left them so that they close awfully quick and slam so violently they shake the entire wall of the office and shake the door open pin latch (I'm sure it has proper name, but I cannot think of it, the one that goes into the floor to hold it open) so hard it falls closed and then drags on the carpet.
So, tomorrow, I'm going to walk into work, grab my LTT screwdriver and fix them thanks to this fortuitously timed video. And, I will probably leave the swing speed mostly the same but crank the latch speed right down as they too have no latch (by design, they're just a discouragement at present and will get electronic locks if they ever do have latches added), lower than the swing just so they close nice and quiet and gently, while the door open time isn't that big of an issue for us.
i wasn't expecting LTT product placement in this story but alright
During my last internship as a janitor, we had to re-adjust a bunch of them.
So ofc I took 10 minutes a piece to adjust each of them to perfection.
Me? Very happy.
My employer? Less happy that I took so long. :')
an internship as a janitor?? wtf
And then one day wind comes along and fucks up yuor setup
@@ssl3546 I have my reasons for it and believe me they make perfect sense given the situation I was in.
@@ssl3546 Custodial Engineer
@@ssl3546right?! Who has to have an apprenticeship to clean toilets and adjust doors?!
Thank you! Oh my god the Laundry room door for my apartment complex has been triggering my anxiety attacks every time someone wants to do laundry. Now people are thanking me for fixing the sweep and latch speeds on all the doors. This is awesome.
The explanations on this channel are excellent. Nothing is left out. Thank you for this, it's a lot of fun to have things explained that I wouldn't have thought about otherwise.
A retirement home near me has those airlock doors in which the next door only opens when the previous door has closed.
It's great at keeping the elderly nice and warm. It also has an emergency button for, you guessed it, emergencies!
Just like an Aviary.
In the Netherlands this system is pretty standard (and, guessing by your name...)
I deal with them a lot at work (pharmaceutical industry). It's pretty much standard for any sort of clean space.
Keeping the dementia patients in too.
@@mandowarrior123easy elopers
Happy to report that when my workplace replaced the doors, I properly adjusted the door closers to make them happy :) Thanks for taking the time to explain how they work!
I just watched a 23-min video about door closers 🤔 and somehow I was genuinely interested, says something about the quality of this Chanel. It's like the UA-cam version of modern marvels.
That's my thought at the end of every TC video. "Did I just watch a 30 minute video on a 35 year old video format no one's ever heard of?!" Yes. I did
welcome to technology connections, baby
Oh no you're right, this is just modern marvels / how it's made in a new format, that's exactly why I'm here...
So my new apartment had a door that absolutely SLAMS shut behind you. Wouldn't you know it, this video falls into my feed, and now my door is perfect. It took some adjusting, but it was so easy, and I feel that improvement every time I come home or leave home. So, genuinely speaking, thank you Tech Connect.
A fast sweep speed is important for heavily used but secure doors. You want the door to close quickly so someone can't come through and prop it open for unauthorized access, but you don't want it to slam shut. Hotel doors are a good example of this. When you enter your room, this reduces the time someone has to follow you in.
As someone who needs to sleep in hotels for work related trips, I wanted to say; Thanks for taking the time, man.
I have a fire door for my kitchen and I'm so grateful for this video. The years of the door slamming shut in the middle of the night are finally over
I was going MAD with a similar device at the office. I have now fixed it, thanks to YOU.
Much appreciated!
I'm that "weird obsessive nerd" on the staff!
Several years back, I got annoyed with squeaky chairs in our main conference room. They were the same as our desk chairs (which also squeaked) so I figured out how to adjust and oil mine and then stayed after work one day to do the same with all the chairs in the conference room. What I didn't know was that there was a board of directors meeting the next day that was scheduled for that room. I ended up getting a gift card from my boss and until we replaced all those chairs, I was constantly being asked for help by coworkers to fix theirs as well!
Oh, and after our maintenance people improperly reinstalled a door closer, I fixed it so that the door (which was for a secured area) would actually close and latch! I discovered this as I was leaving at the end of the day using the same door that the rest of our suite used to exit, but was the only one who was bothered by the broken closer and actually did something about it instead of leaving the door open / unlocked overnight!
A great video for people who don't know how it works. There is only one little detail you might missed. These door closers are sensitive to temperature changes. On cold weathers the oil becomes more dense and brakes the door dlosing movement severly. On warm weather the oil is thinner and do not brake the door closer so it might star slamming the doors. Thanks for making this type of videos for regular people.
So how do you fix this issue?
@Nick-dx9nl change the oil to different viscosity depending on season. LOL
@@Nick-dx9nlAdjust it seasonally for the conditions if it's not behaving as desired
Commercial building owner here. Few things are more satisfying than tuning up a closer to give that perfect blend of velocity and power so that nobody gets jabbed by a door handle, but the door will just click into its latch. Sometimes the closers wear out and can no longer be properly adjusted. When that happens, I eschew the single-screw devices and go for the 2 screw adjustment. If I'm feeling particularly splurgy, I'll look for the 3 screw adjustment. I always feel bougie putting those in, but in reality, the 2 screw units are just fine.
I have the ability to jab into a stationary door handle, watch out
That back check adjustment tho
By building ownerthat spends 300 to 500 bucks on a door closer. You must be a true hero.
It is the little things that people don't pick up but make life better when they go some where else and it isn't the same.
You explained all of it so clearly it took me 10 minutes to adjust my garage through door which was banging shut for a few good years. Thanks for that. It took a big pain off my brain. It was like a small warm stuck there, every time i heard it bang.
Awnings, motion sensors and now door closers?!?
I think my adult life is way better than expected. I have learnt so much from you… I love having random facts to confuse and astonish my colleagues!!
Thank you for making me the “random fact person “ at work… or at least thats what I think they call me…
As somebody that has installed countless various types of door closing mechanisms as well as having to go out and readjust them for people, this video is much needed. I get that some people might be intimidated by mechanical devices. But these are super simple and much cheaper for the customer to adjust than to call somebody like me out to do it for them. Cheers.
Fun fact: a small enough closed room also creates a pressure imbalance when closing the door. Whenever i close my dorm door with the window shut, it bounces off the latch because of the slight underpressure created by the closing action itself.
Back when my house was new I purchased a Notrom commercial Door Closer similar to yours. I had building maintenance experience so I was familiar with them. Just like yours, mine is installed on an exit to the attached garage. That was 40 years ago. I adjusted it when I installed it. Have not touched it since. Never worried about an open door there again. Besides the important fire safety, I have always had an indoor cat (or 3). It’s important the exit door to the garage door always latches. Thank for creating this video I enjoyed the topic. Another first class production sir.
Fun fact: Did you know that door closers can be set to open LESS than the maximum range of the door they are mounted to? I found out the hard way when I opened a door about 95° a little too fast and ripped the closers screws right out of the wood. :/
Thats probably the back-check being a little too powerful. I don't think they can ordinarily be set so tight that they break the frame unless the wrong screws are being used.