Seeking "hold closed" catch for a bifold door
Jeff Wisnia
has been annoying us by refusing to stay closed. After it's closed it
mockingly drifts open a few inches by itself.
I've checked carefully and there's nothing in the closet which is
pushing back against the door panels, and all the hinges and hardware
are nice and free, nothing is binding and springing back.
From previous experience with other doors which "move by themselves" I
know this is happening because something in the door's framing is out of
plumb and gravity is moving the doors towards a position with lower
potential energy. I've tried moving the top hinge bracket sideways in
both directions as much as I could without making the door look out of
kilter, but that hasn't helped.
Before I go ahead and reinvent the wheel by figuring out how to mount a
magnetic catch somewhere (probably at the top, near the center), is
there a standard hardware solution already available to keep those doors
neatly closed, but still let you open them with just a tug on the knob?
Happy Holidays guys,
Jeff
--
Jeff Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
"If you can smile when things are going wrong, you've thought of someone
to blame it on."
Ron
against it. If your door has the spring type, adjust that to give more
pressure when closed. It sounds odd but you need the pressure when the door
is closed in order to keep it closed.
--
---
Ron
Port Dover Ontario
"Jeff Wisnia" <jwi...@conversent.net> wrote in message
news:3FE26FDD...@conversent.net...
Jeff Wisnia
> Adjust the stop peg in the track so that the door closes more tightly
> against it. If your door has the spring type, adjust that to give more
> pressure when closed. It sounds odd but you need the pressure when the door
> is closed in order to keep it closed.
> --
Capital idea, thanks much!
There's no obvious stop in the track right now, maybe it didn't come with one;
or if it did the builder "forgot" to install it.
I'll check it out with a mini C clamp or something similar to satisfy myself.
Should be pretty easy to machine up a little block of aluminum with mounting
slots and a spring plunger in it and screw it into the track with a couple of
toothed lock washers under it to help it stay where it needs to be. Something
to do the next time it's too crummy to want to leave the house.
Happy Holidays!
Jeff
--
Jeff Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
"If you can keep smiling when things go wrong, you've thought of someone to
place the blame on."
Jim Thompson
<jwi...@conversent.net> wrote:
>Ron wrote:
>
>> Adjust the stop peg in the track so that the door closes more tightly
>> against it. If your door has the spring type, adjust that to give more
>> pressure when closed. It sounds odd but you need the pressure when the door
>> is closed in order to keep it closed.
>> --
>
>Capital idea, thanks much!
>
>There's no obvious stop in the track right now, maybe it didn't come with one;
>or if it did the builder "forgot" to install it.
>
>I'll check it out with a mini C clamp or something similar to satisfy myself.
>
>Should be pretty easy to machine up a little block of aluminum with mounting
>slots and a spring plunger in it and screw it into the track with a couple of
>toothed lock washers under it to help it stay where it needs to be. Something
>to do the next time it's too crummy to want to leave the house.
>
>
>
>Happy Holidays!
>
>Jeff
Jeff, There should be a snap-in "doohicky" in the track with a
spring. You can probably get a replacement "doohicky" at HD or Lowes.
...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |
I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.
nosp...@vcoms.net
needed to be asked anyway. <;-)
www.wwhardware.com MIGHT help.
David Babcock
slightly closer together so that the pressure of door against door has the
same effect of tension keeping the doors closed, or adjust the pin guide at
the top of the offending door, so there is tension against the top of the
track when it is closed.
As far as something being out of plumb, it might not be the side to side
alignment of the doors, but the face plumb instead, meaning the top of the
door is leaning forward more than the bottom, and to complicate matters
more, it probably is just the door that opens.
Dave
"Ron" <sp...@kwic.com> wrote in message
news:GEEEb.155137$PD3.5...@nnrp1.uunet.ca...
Jeff Wisnia
<snipped>
>
> As far as something being out of plumb, it might not be the side to side
> alignment of the doors, but the face plumb instead, meaning the top of the
> door is leaning forward more than the bottom, and to complicate matters
> more, it probably is just the door that opens.
Yeah, that's just what I found on my own office's door when we rented the suite
we're in now. The damn thing wouldn't stay open against the wall like it should,
it just drifted about half way towards closed and then stopped there.
I mentioned it to one of the building owner's maintenance guys and a couple of
days later I found he'd "fixed" it by removing one of the hinge pins and bashing
it with a hammer so that it was bent. Then he rammed it back home in the hinge.
It "worked" but the door had such a annoying draggy feel to it that I undid his
butchery and bought a proper door "holder opener" gadget at a locksmith's place.
One piece mounts on the door and had a ball on it's end. The other screws to the
baseboard and has a spring loaded clip (a la a broomstick holder) to snag the
ball.
Works as advertised.
Happy Holidays,
Jeff
--
Jeff Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
"If you can keep smiling when things go wrong, you've thought of someone to
place the blame on."
Jeff Wisnia
Jim Thompson wrote:
>
>
> Jeff, There should be a snap-in "doohicky" in the track with a
> spring. You can probably get a replacement "doohicky" at HD or Lowes.
>
> ...Jim Thompson
Well, I made my own doohickey out of a bit of sheet steel, a compression spring and
a pop rivet. Took far less time than going to any store which might have had one
which would fit the19 year old track.
It works "slicker 'n snot on a brass doorknob" as they say one state north of us.
(Maine).
Since I had to take the track down to slip my doohickey into it from one end, I
moved the whole track 3/4" closer to the door trim. Now the doors stand parallel to
the trim rather than having a big gap near the top at the sides and almost none at
the bottom. It's downright rificulous that the guys who built our home called
themselves "craftsmen".
Thanks for the tips, guys...
Happy Holidays,
Jeff
Jeff Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
"If you can smile when things are going wrong, you've thought of someone to blame
it on."