Noisy door closer slamming with a bang

[Guest Ronpri]

We recently moved into a 3rd Floor Flat with very noisily closing Fire Doors on each landing stairwell. These doors are fitted with Overhead Damper type closing devices. They close very slowly from 90 deg to around 10-15 degrees and then the final 10 degrees they BANG shut.
A locksmith I recently employed insisted that this is the wrong way around, he said, they should close from 90 degrees very fast and then SLOW Down to a gentle close on the last 10 or 15 degrees. Is this correct as the NOISE from these fire doors BANGING is driving us all MAD.
Thanks,
Ron

[Safelincs]

Hi Ron,

Without knowing the exact model door closer you have it is difficult to advise you on exactly how to correct the problem, but your locksmith is essentially correct.

The body of the door closer (depending on the model) will have several adjustment screws, one of which will be the closing speed and one which will be the latching action. The closing speed adjustment, as the name implies, will change how fast the door swings closed. The latching action will increase or decrease the amount of force used in the last few degrees. This allows the closer to compensate for different door latches.

It sounds as though the wrong adjustments have been made so that the closing speed is at its slowest and the latching action is set to its strongest. I would assume that the fire doors on a landing/stairwell would not have latches so the latching action should be set very low (it can actually be set with less force than the initial closing so that it essentially slows down and softens).

So you need to adjust the closing speed so that it is quicker and the latching action so that it is softer.

If this does not solve your problem there is the chance that the door closer is damaged/faulty due to age or misuse. If that is the case and you wish to replace it, we would recommend the Briton 2003V (if the door meets the size/weight requirements) as it has all the functionality previously mentioned with the addition of an adjustable backcheck. This makes the door more difficult to open past a certain angle, meaning that if the door is flung open it will slow down past a certain point ensuring that the door doesn’t slam against the wall. It is a very handy feature to have, especially when the banging doors are driving you mad!

Hope this helps

Harry

[Guest YaZ S.]

First try adjusting the latching speed valve.