PVC door - drilled a hole for a roller keep in the wrong place

[Rollerball]

I've recently had to replace a broken roller keep and while doing so thought I'd address a long-standing problem where the original property owner installed the keeps a bit too low. This meant that the rollers in the door frame weren't engaging the keeps fully which sometimes caused the door to pop open if the handle wasn't pushed all the way up to engage the keeps. Even the latch wasn't engaging correctly.

So I placed the keeps a bit higher. Three went without a hitch (even the latch works fine now) but for the fourth keep I managed to drill one hole somewhat offset to one side (by about 1mm or 2). Because of the location of the old holes and the limited space I have to move the keep I can't drill another hole, and a larger diameter screw won't help either as the hole would need to be widened so much (to adjust for the offset hole) that I'd not be able to find a suitable screw with a small enough flat head for the keep.

I could leave it as it was, the other keeps are fine, but being a fussy beggar I'd like to get this last keep in the right place even though it being the odd one out won't make much difference.

So what are my options? As there is a metal frame underneath the plastic (both of which I have of course drilled through) is there any kind of really strong glue which I could use to fill up the hole in the plastic and metal frame, then re-drill it?

 

[crank39]

When you say offset to one side by 1 to 2mm will the door not lock, is it too tight to lift the handle?

 

[Rollerball]

Not at all, the handle lifts okay (it's a bit stiff since I moved the keeps up due to the rollers now engaging correctly).

In fact, that leads to another question - I guess it should be possible to move the door inwards by adjusting it at the hinges so that it's not quite so stiff to push up the handle? There's a tiny allen screw in the middle of the main part of each hinge but I can't see anything else that could be adjusted. I guess I need to adjust it for compression? The door does though close okay, it's just that moving up the handle it feels noticeably stiffer (perhaps a little too stiff now that I've re-checked it).

The hinges on my door are similar to this:

 

[crank39]

There should be an Allen key hole in the centre of each roller cam and maybe a dot or line, the cam is mounted concentrically and can turn through 360° adjusting the compression on the lock side, the line or dot if adjusted so it's closer to the gasket on the door means it has full compression, backing it off 180 means it has the least compression so somewhere in between is a happy medium hence it doesn't matter that the keep you fitted is 1 or 2mm offset, you can fine adjust with the cam.

As for the hinges, the tiny grub screw just stops the hinge pin falling out or riding up as you open and close the door. The other two Allen holes move the door sideways that is all, they aren't the best hinges for adjustment, we call them 2d, modern hinges are 3d flag hinges because they allow for side to side, up and down and in and out(the compression you mentioned)

If you only have roller cams(4 probably) then you have a real old door

 

[Rollerball]

Yes, just the four roller cams. It is a pretty old door, I'd guess about 20 years or so. That means I only have the 2D type of hinges.

The roller cams are the type that just freewheel/rotate.

Regarding the tiny grub screw in each hinge - mine are all in pretty tight (but I can of course loosen them) - should they be in tight?


Out of interest, can the 2D hinges be replaced with 3D flag hinges, or is it more complicated than just replacing the hinges? I can it's not a simple swap out?

 

[crank39]

In theory they can be but theres a whole load of measuring needed to get ones that fit or as close as possible, the factory uses jigs for precise drilling so they are mounted straight and true but on site you won't have that luxury so it can be a PITA

The grub screw should be nipped up just enough

 

[Rollerball]

Thanks for the information.