Can A Door Closer Be Repaired Or Do I Need To Replace It?

Door closers such as those supplied by MB Direct offer a high quality of performance and durability. They perform an important function and of course in most settings are used frequently throughout every day, and for many years. Indeed, it is only when they stop working, or don’t perform their primary function, that we pay them attention.

It is important to include door closers in a general preventive maintenance programme, and this should ensure they are good for several years of uninterrupted use. But unfortunately wear and tear can contribute to problems which you need to diagnose, and in some cases you can be faced with a question of whether to spend time and money repairing a door closer or whether to invest in a new one. In truth, you can both repair and replace a door closer, and in this article we aim to establish when that critical point comes and how you should make this decision.

What do we use a door closer for?

Door closers carry out an often critical function in many commercial buildings:

• Security – a door closer ensures a door is closed so that access control systems are activated.
• Safety – a door closer can be installed to ensure it closes under controlled conditions where the environment is windy, or so that it is slow enough not to injure people passing through it.
• Fire safety – a door closer may be a requisite of fire safety arrangements where a fire door is identified and therefore needs to be shut at all times.
• Climate control – door closers ensure doors remain closed to maintain climate conditions for air conditioning and air quality control.

When should I replace a door closer?

While the standard rack and pinion door closer is a robust design which should fulfil your needs for several years, there will come a time when it reaches the end of its serviceable life. At this point you should look to replace it with a new one. Signs to look out for include:

• Hydraulic oil – if there are signs of oil and hydraulic fluid on the floor or in and around the door closer, this is evidence that the oil reservoir is leaking and the door closer may have closed its final door.
• Adjusting the valves – a common maintenance task is to adjust the hydraulic valves within the door closer body to slow or speed-up the door closing action. If this action starts to have little or no effect and the door closes at the same speed as previously, this is probably a sign that the hydraulics are no longer functioning, and you may need to replace the door closer.
• Physical damage – if the arms of the door closer have become damaged and bent, or the body and the hydraulics of the door closer have somehow become damaged, there is not a lot you can do to safely restore the quality of the door closer, so you may need to replace it.

When do you need a new door closer?

At the same time as looking at replacing existing door closers, we should probably take a quick look at when you should buy and install a new door closer.

• When there is no door closer present but a need has been identified based on the four key functions highlighted above (safety, security, fire safety and climate control).
• When there has been a client or insurance request
• After a fire safety survey or audit
• When you are installing an access control system

When should I repair a door closer?

Of course we all like to save money and re-use materials and equipment where we can, so there are times when we want to take a closer look at a door closer and attempt to repair it. There are some instances in which the door closer just requires some minor adjustments and will return to performing at its optimum quality:

• When the door doesn’t quite close properly you can make small adjustments to the hydraulics which can solve this issue.
• When the door speed is too slow or too fast, you can make adjustments to the hydraulic valves to make this just right for your needs.
• If the door has not been installed properly this can be rectified. Usually it is because the arm or body has not been positioned correctly on the door, or the valves have not been positioned correctly to control the arm.
• Sometimes it is not the door closer that is at fault, but the door itself. So check the hinges, the door frame or the door for signs of damage or loose fixings.
• If a screw needs fixing or adjusting this can make a huge difference to the performance of the door closer, and this is quite easily rectified.

The key is to inspect the door closer and to diagnose the problem. Often it is a case of assessing how labour-intensive a repair job is and making a judgement whether it is more economical to purchase and install a new door closer, instead of trying to resurrect an old one which may never function to the same level again.