On 7/14/2015 8:18 PM, gary wrote:
Very good. My question was how long should the unpainted portion of the piston rod be when the door is open.


My answer, it doesn't matter, a wind chain limits how far the door
opens,
I must have installed 500 or a 1,000 of these things. What I did was
use really long big screws that would go through the door jamb and into
the solid wood behind the jamb. I'd pin the closer and pull the piston
out about an inch and move the little stop to hold it there. Then affix
the door bracket to fit it. This will always keep some tension on the
storm/screen door even after it's closed. The door seals and latch must
allow the door to close and catch because someone isn't going to tug on
it to make sure it's latched. If it's a storm door the air trapped
between the storm door and solid front door changes how the storm door
closes and that depends on if the front door is open or closed and if
the storm door has a sliding window. There should be a wind chain that
limits how far the door will open. I always made the wind chain "short"
so the door wouldn't swing hard against it when the wind caught it (and
it will sooner or later). The wind chain can be unhooked and a pin
removed from the closure when the door has to be opened wide. It goes
on and on, latches, hinges, closures, seals, door jambs, kick plates,
cheap rent house or mansion, old folks or a family with 6 kids,... by
the way those rods bend when the wind catches the door and there is no
wind chain to catch it.