[Andy Champ]

For internal doors.

I tapped on my son's bedroom door the other day. The door wouldn't
open. Nor when he tried. So I got a screwdriver and took the handle
off. The little square hole in the latch for the drive shaft would go
round and round quite happily. A little lateral thinking later and I
got him to drive the pins out of the hinges, then levered the door
across a bit, gave it a smart tap and the hinges popped off so at least
he could get in and out. But it's kind of worrying that the doors might
decide to sulk like this - especially as the latch on that one is only a
few months old, as the old one wore off.

The reason it failed seems to be a dodgy casting:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l1...rokenCatch.jpg

Full of bubbles, and IAC IMHO totally the wrong metal - it ought to be
steel or brass, not some zinc-rich things like it seems to be.

The real reason I'm writing this is - can anyone recommend a decent make
so I can replace them as they die with decent ones? They normally
fail gradually, but they still fail to often for my liking.

Ta

Andy

[Scabbydug]

"Andy Champ" wrote in message
...
For internal doors.

I tapped on my son's bedroom door the other day. The door wouldn't open.
Nor when he tried. So I got a screwdriver and took the handle off. The
little square hole in the latch for the drive shaft would go round and
round quite happily. A little lateral thinking later and I got him to
drive the pins out of the hinges, then levered the door across a bit, gave
it a smart tap and the hinges popped off so at least he could get in and
out. But it's kind of worrying that the doors might decide to sulk like
this - especially as the latch on that one is only a few months old, as
the old one wore off.

The reason it failed seems to be a dodgy casting:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l1...rokenCatch.jpg

Full of bubbles, and IAC IMHO totally the wrong metal - it ought to be
steel or brass, not some zinc-rich things like it seems to be.

The real reason I'm writing this is - can anyone recommend a decent make
so I can replace them as they die with decent ones? They normally fail
gradually, but they still fail to often for my liking.


Union, Legge, Yale etc.
What is stamped on the face of yours?

[Andy Champ]

Scabbydug wrote:
"Andy Champ" wrote in message
...
For internal doors.

I tapped on my son's bedroom door the other day. The door wouldn't open.
Nor when he tried. So I got a screwdriver and took the handle off. The
little square hole in the latch for the drive shaft would go round and
round quite happily. A little lateral thinking later and I got him to
drive the pins out of the hinges, then levered the door across a bit, gave
it a smart tap and the hinges popped off so at least he could get in and
out. But it's kind of worrying that the doors might decide to sulk like
this - especially as the latch on that one is only a few months old, as
the old one wore off.

The reason it failed seems to be a dodgy casting:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l1...rokenCatch.jpg

Full of bubbles, and IAC IMHO totally the wrong metal - it ought to be
steel or brass, not some zinc-rich things like it seems to be.

The real reason I'm writing this is - can anyone recommend a decent make
so I can replace them as they die with decent ones? They normally fail
gradually, but they still fail to often for my liking.


Union, Legge, Yale etc.
What is stamped on the face of yours?


ERA.

English Racing Automobiles???

Some of the others around the house are tagged "Mafol" - or something
like that, the F isn't too clear.

Andy

[The Medway Handyman]

Andy Champ wrote:
For internal doors.

I tapped on my son's bedroom door the other day. The door wouldn't
open. Nor when he tried. So I got a screwdriver and took the handle
off. The little square hole in the latch for the drive shaft would go
round and round quite happily. A little lateral thinking later and I
got him to drive the pins out of the hinges, then levered the door
across a bit, gave it a smart tap and the hinges popped off so at
least he could get in and out. But it's kind of worrying that the
doors might decide to sulk like this - especially as the latch on
that one is only a few months old, as the old one wore off.

IME they aren't desinged to last long under any sort of stress, they need to
be a very free fit in the latch plate.

Might be easier to adjust the existing ones before they jam up.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article ,
Andy Champ wrote:
The real reason I'm writing this is - can anyone recommend a decent make
so I can replace them as they die with decent ones? They normally
fail gradually, but they still fail to often for my liking.

Look around the architectural salvage yards? Some of mine are over 100
years old and still fine.

--
*Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Andy Champ]

The Medway Handyman wrote:

IME they aren't desinged to last long under any sort of stress, they need to
be a very free fit in the latch plate.

Might be easier to adjust the existing ones before they jam up.



Let me cut that to the right bit:

"they aren't desinged to last long".

As for adjust... his door rattles, I really ought to tighten it up!

Andy