Stanley, McKinney & Securitron are but a few of the manufacturers who make these hinges used for transferring electrical service to an electronic locking mechanism for remote and/or coded activation.

Drilling through the lock-rail is but one of the techniques employed to get the juice to the lock. Electric Hinges are not the only option for getting power to a locking device, but it has become one of the most secure and popular.

Please note the Boring-Jig employed for keeping the 18″ long ½” drill-bit aligned. The 36″ wide door was drilled half-way through from one side, and then from the opposing side. It’s still much more difficult than it looks.

An Industrial area in N.E. Vancouver, Washington, not far from Meadowbrook Park.

For reasons undetermined because we were not asked to determine them…

…the existing Adams Rite 8800EL Electrified Panic Bar was apparently not latching and locking every time the door closed.

For this particular client…this potential lapse in security was unacceptable. In our experience, the Adams Rite 8800EL Electrified Panic Device is an adequate product for most applications.

But this client decided to error on the side of caution by going out themselves and purchasing this Von Duprin 33/35A Series Rim Exit Device.

And for reasons that were left unexplained, it was then thought that the Von Duprin device might not work on this particular application because of the lack of room on the door-face. It was at this point they decided to employ some professionals & were referred to our firm. Upon inspecting their new panic device and their door, we assured them that we could make it work. We acquired and installed an HES 9600-630 surface-mount electric strike-plate after some creative modification to the aluminum strike-jamb.

Then we installed the client-provided Von Duprin 33/35A Series Rim Exit Device on the narrow-stile aluminum storefront door, and as you can see above, there was JUST ENOUGH room on the door for the two devices. The remaining aluminum you see there on there on the door is actually the stop that sits over the glass.

Here we see our technician Brandon Todd modifying the door prep on the exterior of the door for the Von Duprin exterior trim.

Von Duprin calls this a “cylinder control housing.”

And it goes on the door like so.

Fisher Development out of Sand Francisco was engaged in a substantial remodel of a commercial property at Bridgeport Mall in Tualatin.

Our firm was employed to prep the exterior doors and jambs and to install some commercial door hardware. Specifically, new Hydraulic…

…Door Closers & Vertical-Rod & Non-Vertical-Rod Panic devices.

This is but a sampling of the work we are contracted to do for numerous contractors and remodelers, both commercial & residential.

So the question that begs to be asked here is why not have their own guys install the hardware…

And the not too obscure answer is that there is considerable value gained by employing the services of a specialty contractor who possess the degree of skill..

…that only comes by means of years and years of repeated practice and experience dealing with the unforeseen variables that arise in this specialty niche.

Powell Vista Manor in Gresham.

Features Studio and 1 Bedroom Apartments…

…designed especially for Seniors 62+ years old & older.

Two sets of old U.S. Aluminum Double-Entry Doors make for a good barrier from the elements on the exterior.

And these old handicap operators no doubt have plenty of miles on them, sort of speak.

We were called upon to repair the one on this exterior door, but we found it to be beyond repair.

So we gave our client a bid to replace it with a LCN Model 9142.

This operator has the added function of a feature called “Push ‘N Go.” Also known as “Power Assist.”

You need only begin to push or pull on the door and it engages the operator…

…to finish the function of opening by itself.

One of our property management clients had a problem with the header-hidden hydraulic door-closers intermittently failing to adequately draw the doors closed far enough to engage the electromagnetic locks. A fairly common problem that involves changing the closers to “surface-mount” closers installed in a “parallel-arm” configuration.

A secondary problem involved someone having installed the electromagnetic locks on the doors and jambs in such a location as to conflict with the surface-mount hydraulic-closers. So we engaged B&R Machine to fabricate custom “drop-plates” for the closer-bodies on the doors. But even more critically…were the aluminum drop-blocks we had them fab for the parallel-arm mounting brackets that fasten to the header-jambs.

The overall effect was to drop the closer-arms enough to swing into their parallel positions BELOW the electromagnetic locks, resolving the conflict. As you can see, we painted them to match to closers. Jared & Nathaniel are shown here drilling holes for fasteners that will reinforce the aluminum-cover header-piece to which our “drop-blocks” are fastened.

Anybody remember when the Chown Showcase was located in this building on N.W. 12th?

Before it was turned into Loft Condos in 1995? We do.

Our technician Eric Lewis applies his craft, getting prepared to install an electromagnetic lock.

An old Portland Church Building with doors in a fire-wall. For reasons we won’t go into, the occupants wanted new doors and to be able to prop the doors open.

But to continue to do this, the Fire Marshal was now requiring employing the use of door-hold-open-devices that are tied into the smoke detection system.

The economical way to do this sometimes, if the ceilings are low enough is to use a device that is BOTH, a hold-open device, as well as a smoke detector.

One of the problems that had to be overcome though, was the fact this opening was a bit narrow for a commercial opening.

The way in which this became a problem was that the smoke-detection door-hold-open devices that can be seen in this photo weren’t much narrower than the doors,…

…which created a conflict with where the vertical-rod panic device “strike-plates” needed to be placed. Many such applications would easily overcome this hurdle with hardwired electromagnetic door hold-open devices mounted to adjoining walls…

…that are tied into the smoke-detectors, such as you see in hospitals and such. But as with many churches, that option just wasn’t in the budget.

So anyway, for obvious reasons, we couldn’t drill into the smoke-detector door-hold-open devices to mount the strike-plates, so we had to come up with a custom bracketing system to hold the strike-plates for the vertical-rod latches.

And this is what we came up with. A combination Steel and Aluminum Angle conglomeration-bracket that held the strike-plates in proper position without damaging or interfering with smoke-detector-door-hold-open devices.

Unlike the original closer installation, the new hydraulic door closers were installed on the pull-side of the doors.

The Portland Vet Center on N.E. 122nd Avenue.

The have two doors they would like upgraded to include handicap operators.

The aluminum-glass entry door.

And the restroom facilities door.

Both doors have existing hydraulic door-closers that will need to be decommissioned. Remember, you can click on the photo to enlarge it if you want see something a little better.

And the latching mechanism on the restroom door will need to be removed with only the privacy-bolt remaining; otherwise the door would not open when the activation buttons were pushed.

The main entry door is outfitted as requested. We gave our clients two options on the brand of operators. LCN Brand and also Falcon Brand. Our client elected to have us install the Falcon…

…Brand Handicap Operators which were a wee bit more economical. Most folks in the trade would consider the LCN Brand to be a heavier-duty operator.

Something which a client might be wise to consider in a high-traffic application.

When the activation buttons are not pushed, the operators simply work like a stereotypical hydraulic door closer.

ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act has given us much work over the years. Widening door openings, installing wheelchair ramps & automated door operators…

…to name a few related services we offer. As you may be able to make out by the “signage” shown in these photos, this commercial building does have a ramp for wheelchairs at the lower level.

Now it was time for the provision & installation…

…of an electronic handicap door operator for the lower level doors.

Our technician Terrance is acutely focused on the task at hand

The wires dangling to the right side of our device are related to the pre-existing alarm system, the contacts of which can be seen just below our operator.

We didn’t want anyone thinking that our company might be associated with such slip-shod work. The electrical service for our device can be seen on the left.

The Atwater Place Condos. Probably don’t need to tell you what street this is on. One of several of the upscale condos on the Willamette River is S.W. Portland.

Some of the condo owners have expressed concern over the difficulty encountered in opening these doors with the heavy-duty closers designed to offset both the forced-air related air-differential, as well as the effect of the river’s stiff winds exacerbated by the canyon-like vortex’s created by these towering buildings.

Mike Casas of American Veterans Security works his magic to set-up the DoorKing 1837-080 Telephone Entry System to work in conjunction with the new LCN 9542 Handicap Door Operator we’ve been contracted to install.

Since the Dorma 9000 hidden vertical-rod exit devices are non-handed, we were able to switch out the panic-devices. The door to be opened by the new door operator was to be different than the door that had previously been designated as having the electrified version of the Dorma 9000. The change had to do with wheel-chair ease in moving from the access controls to the opened door. Our technician Brandon is shown above prepping the door for the Dorma ES105 power transfer hardware.

We bypassed the existing Rixson 27105S Floor Hidden Closer with a National Door Control 101 Retrofit Hinge Converter.
Eliminates the need and expense of replacing the closer with a dummy version.

Brandon finishes tweaking the installation of the new LCN 9542 Door Operator to the header-jamb, while technician David Castro mounts the exterior activation button near the DoorKing 1837-080 Telephone Entry System.

Our electricians go about running power supply lines through the storefront mull-posts down to the operator. Remember, you enlarge the photos by clicking on them if you can’t quite make out what you’re looking at.

Brandon & David putting on the finishing touches…

…and voila! The LCN 9542…the Lexus or BMW of the door operator world?

Access control married to handicap control.