Oddball door question

Recently, I was at a 150-year-old restaurant, which had a spring loaded door for one room. The door was very hard to open—you had expend some noticeable force.

Leaving, however, was very easy; the door rode as if perfectly balanced, but closing it remained difficult. I finally let it close itself. It did so up to the point where it caught on the doorframe.

I thought it was something requiring adjustment, but then, when my back was turned, the door slammed forcefully for that last half-inch.

It’s an odd question, but it’s been bothering me: why would a door behave like that? Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

Sounds like it had a door closer.

 

Many commercial door closers have two different close speed adjustments......swing and final close.
The adjustments allow the door to have a faster swing throughout the arc and then slow down for the final closing to prevent the door from slamming shut.
Either function can mess up but if nothing is broken can be adjusted separately.

 

I assumed it was something like that, but thought I’d check. Thank you.

 

Sounds like some form of double acting door closer, do you have a pictire of the door/closer? I ask as some closers (such as Rixson 30/40 one valve handles opening while the other handles closing and depends on which way the door is swinging

Hello Pilot Dane!