Q: The photos show clearly the failed pivot spring hinge. A brand not familiar to me and quite cheaply made; the Bommer is single piece hardened steel, as far as I can tell. (I have never seen an original Bommer fail, though I have adjusted and re-greased a few units.) The install was smooth with only a minor modification to the cut on the bottom edge of the door and proper edge roundovers on the door. The Bommer trim assembly has prominent shoulders, which is a minor design flaw. The gap between door and jamb needs to be closer to 1/4 inch, wider than I anticipated. So, thanks for shipping this. Images attached.
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Norman P. Lincoln, Mass.
A: Thank you for sharing.
Q: Hold open listed as aprx 85 degrees. Can door travel beyond that 85-90 degrees? My current hardware does not operate smoothly, but allows door to hold open tighter to wall at approx 105 degrees, which is a plus.
A: The Bommer 7811 Horizontal Spring Pivot with Floor Plate-Medium Duty-Hold Open-Steel Trim is not designed for this type of application and according to the manufacturer's published documentation the 7800 series are designed to hold open at approximately 75° to 90° and the page I refer to can be seen here:
Click Here
If yours opens closer to 110° it's possible at the item may not be a Bommer product or maybe simply has the yoke part of the internal mechanism worn or did it to such a point where it holds open a little bit wider than the prescribed modern documentation - what I'm driving at is your unit could be severely old several decades in fact and may have been manufactured with a different degree of hold open at that time.
Q: Hi! We bought a Bommer 7811 floor-mounted spring pivot from you a loooooong time ago. A few days ago I had to take out the swing door to get some appliances through and had the BAD idea of cleaning and greasing the ball-bearing at the base *as visible/reachable without disassembling the device) as they looked stuck in place by dust and old, blackened grease. I say it was a bad idea because the cleaning and re-greasing was so effective that now, the door swings so hard that it bangs against the wall on both sides, - even when pushed very gently. It did not do that before. I watched your instruction videos and figured I might need to adjust the spring to release some tension and slow the door swing down. BUT 1) I do not succeed to turn that spring adjustment ring (with the holes using a hex key) - even when tapping lightly with a hammer. 2) Even if I succeeded, it looks like the spring only has about 1-2/4 in. more to be released. Not much. Do you have any advice how to make that door swing less violently again? My next step is to try and loosen that tension ring with WD-40 or similar... but I am a bit wary of making things worse. Many thanks for you advice!
A: How heavy is the door?