uPVC Front Door - deadlocking adjustment

N

NotSoFast

I have to force the handle of my uPVC front door (Zenith, about 8 years old) up quite hard for the deadlocks to engage sufficiently that I can double lock it. It works OK when its open so I presume the catches in the frame need a little adjustment.

Is it just a case of loosening the catches slightly, operating the handle a few times till they shift and re-tightening everything or is there a better way?
 
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It sounds like its probably dropped, look under the hinge pins and you should see an allen headed bolt, just wind these up, do one hinge and check the locking, then when it locks smoothly just wind the other two up to take the slack out
 
It does look like its dropped but no more than a mm. There's no allen bolt just a very thin slot. I can't even get a screwdriver in it.

Can I adjust from the lock side?
 
As a temporary measure open the door, get on your knees and cup your hands together under the door, give it a pull upwards listening for a creak, this'll be the rubbers on the glass so don't worry, do it a few times and try the door to see if its any better.

A photo of the hinge would be ace though and i could tell you if theres any adjustment in it, other than that the door may need toeing and heeling to get it square again, quite a simple 3 min job for a service engineer but can be confusing for others.
 
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As a temporary measure open the door, get on your knees and cup your hands together under the door, give it a pull upwards listening for a creak, this'll be the rubbers on the glass so don't worry, do it a few times and try the door to see if its any better.

A photo of the hinge would be ace though and i could tell you if theres any adjustment in it, other than that the door may need toeing and heeling to get it square again, quite a simple 3 min job for a service engineer but can be confusing for others.

Thanks. That seemed to help a bit. Don't have to force the handle so hard :)

Pic as requested, top and bottom.

hinge.jpg
 
We used these hinges a few years back, find the little allen key holes and loosen of( there should be one that you can see and maybe one against the wall side), once loose bang the pin out from underneath on the top and middle hinge (whilst somone has the weight of the door, or if your good at it you can hold it with your foot) once the pins are out the door will come away from the frame, so twist the hinges ( the part that is left on the door sashes 1 or 2 turns, push the door back on and drop the pins in,,,, hey presto
 
No allen key holes just the slot on top. Oddly, the kitchen and patio doors are are exactly as you describe.
 
probaly still the same method, try and turn like a screw first then bang from underneath
 
No allen key holes just the slot on top. Oddly, the kitchen and patio doors are are exactly as you describe.

Hi NotSoFast,

I have exactly the same door hinges as you and I cant seem to be able to adjust them either. My door has dropped at the lock end and I can't see a way to adjust it. Mine is maybe 3mm too low at the lock side.

Cheers,
Paul
 
No allen key holes just the slot on top. Oddly, the kitchen and patio doors are are exactly as you describe.

Hi NotSoFast,

I have exactly the same door hinges as you and I cant seem to be able to adjust them either. My door has dropped at the lock end and I can't see a way to adjust it. Mine is maybe 3mm too low at the lock side.

Cheers,
Paul

Okay - I worked it out. For the benefit of anyone else looking at this post and wanting to know how to adjust the hinges on a Zenith / Staybrite door here is the way.

The slot in the top of the hinge pin is cosmetic only - it does nothing. In order to adjust the hinge you need to extract the pin from the hinge by using a scrwdriver / holepunch and tapping it out from below with a hammer. i.e. the hinge pin comes out the top / upwards. Once out you should be careful to support the lower edge of the door with shims so it does not fall out totally or damage the other hinges you have not extracted the pins from (the door is very heavy!!).

once you have taken the top two or bottom two pins out (depending on which way you need to adjust the door) you can pull the door away slightly from the opening using the remaining hinge to help hold the door if you are working on your own (as I was).

Then comes the adjustment. You need to rotate the centre part of the hinge either in or out of the actual door to bring it closer or further away from the door. Once adjusted (you have about 7-8 turns worth of adjustment) the door should once again be level.


Hope this helps!!

Paul
 
I have to force the handle of my uPVC front door (Zenith, about 8 years old) up quite hard for the deadlocks to engage sufficiently that I can double lock it.

Did you sort this out in the end? Just that I have just replaced the seals on my door and found that I needed to adjust the gap on the handle side slightly. (see my thread) I found the adjustment is by turning an allen key in the cam bolts that move up when you push the lever up. They kind of swivel as you rotate them. What I found was that if I reduced the gap too much, then (as you are having) I had to force the lever up quite hard to allow it to lock properly. Obviously you also need to make sure they are all aligned the same.
 

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