Door Closers

About

Door closers buying guide A door closer is a spring and damper unit that pulls a door shut after you open it and controls the speed so it does not slam. The closer in this collection is the Lockwood 404 hydraulic screen door closer, made for screen doors and sold in black, white and silver. It is rated for screen doors up to 29kg, mounts on the surface of the door and frame, has a closing speed you adjust by hand, a hold-open function and an automatic latch. This guide explains how a door closer works, what its adjustments do, how to match a closer to a door, what the Lockwood 404 suits and what it does not, and how to fit and look after it. If you need a closer for a screen door specifically, see screen door closers , and for the rest of the screen door, see screen door hardware and screen door locks . What a door closer does Open a door and let go, and without a closer it stays where it is or swings back on its own. A closer fixes that. It stores energy in a spring as you open the door, then releases that energy slowly to bring the door back to the frame and latch it. The slowing comes from a sealed fluid chamber, which is why this type is called hydraulic. Fluid squeezes through a small passage as the piston moves, and the size of that passage sets the speed. The result is a door that closes by itself, quietly, every time. That matters for a screen door that keeps insects out, for a door that protects a space from draughts or for a door that must not be left ajar. The two speeds a closer controls Many closers split the closing swing into two stages. The first stage is the main swing from wide open down to nearly closed. The second stage is the final part of the swing, where the door meets the latch. Each stage can be set separately on closers that have two valves. A fast main swing with a slower final stage brings the door home quickly and still latches it gently. The Lockwood 404 has an adjustable closing speed that you set by hand. You spin the whole cylinder t