The Calibre 4001 Door Closer
When we talk about door closers, very few come up at the top of the list. With the rising cost of materials and hardware in general, we find that some quality substitutes have to be considered as a viable alternative to some of the high priced name brands that make up the hardware market. The Calibre 4000 Series is one of those exceptions. I have installed many closers as well as different brands and have come to the conclusion that there is no one good product that serves the needs of every application. LCN proved this by introducing the QUEST closer a few years back. The general purpose easy to install product was removed from production this year because it didn’t serve the needs of every application as they said it would. My case and point.
The Calibre 4000 Series Closer has all the features of the top name brands in the similar category. I have installed several of these closers in the past year and have yet to find one problem with its service. The 4000 Series comes with all the mounting hardware to install this unit in standard inside or outside application. It is fully adjustable for strength and power and works well in parallel arm mode where you find most closers have their problems.
I like this unit for commercial door application and less of a store front type product due to its overall footprint. With most access control devices, the door closer is the heart of the system and this one works extremely well for the price (at around $140.00).
It may not seem that important an item, but, if the door doesn’t close behind you, the best lock in the world is not going to work! Just think, you spent two thousand dollars on a access control system with all the bells and whistles that can be installed in a lock…and it doesn’t do anything. Why, well, the best products in the world can’t function properly if the door doesn’t close. Hence, the door closer. Probably the second most important piece of hardware that you absolutely have to have to make the system actually do something. Its hard to see sometimes that a door really doesn’t close by itself. It has a little help in the way of a hydraulic device that is designed to control it. Opening speed and pressure, closing speed and pressure and of course the ability to have the door latch properly are the features of the closer and what makes the system complete.
Like most hardware products, door closers come in many shapes, sizes, functions and have a number of special features that sometimes can be useful if you need the door to do more than just close properly. Features like delayed closing, hold open, power assist opening, just to mention a few. But the real and most important feature of the door closer is its ability to actually do what it was designed to do, and that is to close the door so that your locks, access control devices and other products can do their job.
I can bet that 1 out of 4 door closers in the city have some sort of a problem that can very easily be dealt with. Maybe just a simple adjustment to make it slow down or to make it go a little faster, but an easy fix. The other more serious problem is that quite a few do need replacing. Oil leaks from the main seal around the drive shaft when the unit is blown and the tell tale signs flow down the face of the door. Those oil streaks came from the closer which needs to be replaced since it will either hurt someone or will damage the locks, hinges and if you have access controls, the system as well.
Get your door closers checked. Have them serviced regularly and adjusted as well. ADA requires that your door closers have to be kept in compliance and will levy a heavy fine if they are not.
One of the most asked questions is what type of access control should I use and which product is best for me? Well, its hard for me to determine that without having asked a few questions first. I guess it would serve you best to think about the long term of what you are really trying to accomplish with a very expensive piece of hardware. Traffic control is one of the main purposes of using these type of products since you can easily accomplish this with pretty simple products. Traffic control is being able to secure a doorway for the purpose of keeping those out of the area (building or room) with just average concern for security. Similar to that of physical keys, the locks ability is just to provide ingress and egress from a specific door without having to issue keys to everyone. The advantage is that all you have to do is change the combination of the lock and issue a note saying what the new code is. Cost effective and practical since you don’t have to issue a physical key to every person that needs to have access when you have to change the locks periodically.
Products that fit this criteria are the Trilogy T2 and the Simplex Unican L1000 series mechanical lock. Both of these locks come ADA compliant and work very well as a primary locking device that perform well and if not better than a keyed level lock. As explained before, you don’t have to worry about keys since a code is all you need to issue via text or email when you make the change. You no longer need physical contact with your employees or customers simplifying the process to merely a broadcast message.
The next level of security that concerns many businesses is being able to track users with an audit trail. Who is going in that door and when? An audit trail is a permanent record of each individual user codes activity concerning that access point. Generally, most computer rooms, pharmacies, medical records, supply storage and anywhere security and accountability is required is where this type of lock would be used. Pharmacies and medical records are the most likely candidates since they are required by law to maintain a record of everyone that enters the area. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accessibility Act) requires that all documents concerning patients must be secured and access restricted by lock and key or pass code and limiting access to said keys and pass codes. Now with keys, this means high security keys and locks that cannot be easily duplicated. Schlage Primus, Medeco and ASSA keys are not only expensive to get into, very expensive if you want to change the locks periodically. Even with this you still have to have some way of keeping track of who is entering the area. A log of some type is still required above and beyond the keys. Pass code means a code that you can issue or a badge card that keeps track for you every time someone enters the area. A log is automatically maintained and accessible when the need arises. Changing and deleting codes is also easily accomplished simply by a short process that continues to maintain the integrity of the lock and all of its content, such as other codes and pin numbers, but allows for immediate changes and deletions at a moments notice. With physical high security keys you would have to change the locks and issue new keys to every individual. Not as cost effective as using pass codes or pin numbers would be.
Of course, there are much more elaborate systems out there for multiple doors, elevator control and site to site communications via Ethernet, but when it comes to just a couple of doors, the stand alone, this is the most cost effective type of product that will serve your needs quite adequately. Just remember to determine what you are trying to do first before you buy a product, you may realize that you can spend less if you really determine what your requirements are first before you decide on a product.
If you have any further questions or would like me to make some recommendations for you concerning your access control requirements, just send me a note at: support@ronbarronco.com and I will be more than happy to assist you in any way I can. Not only can I save you money in the long run, I know that you will be more than satisfied with the products that really can fit your needs.
Ron Barron / Owner
The Ron Barron Company
support@ronbarronco.com