Locking mechanism on Anderson French Door
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Locking mechanism on Anderson French Door
We had Anderson Frenchwood 2-panel Hinged Patio doors installed when our home was built in 1992 (only one panel swings open to the inside). Both came with a 3-point "Active Lock Mechanism". (To lock these doors, you must lift up the handle and either turn the knob on the inside or the key on the outside.) One of the doors can no longer be locked -- when the handle is lifted, the top and bottom "points" extend fully, but the middle "bolt" only extends about 1/4 inch, and the knob will not turn the full quarter turn as it's supposed to. After contacting the Anderson WindowCare Service and explaining my problem, they said I needed a new locking mechanism (for $150 !) Is there anything else I could do to repair this problem that won't cost so much?? We've even considered just switching the downstairs broken locking mechanism with the upstairs working one just to have some security! Thanks in advance for your help.
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I am not familiar with that lock so I cannot give you much specific advice. I assume you tried to lubricate it? Are parts available from Anderson? Does not sound like it from tech support but that is probably their answer for everything. If not, then your cheapest option would be to remove the lock and bring it to a locksmith to see if they can determine what the problem is. If after you remove the lock the bolt extends, then there may be some other problem such as binding.
Hopefully some of the other folks on the forum have worked on this type before and can shed some more light on this.
Hopefully some of the other folks on the forum have worked on this type before and can shed some more light on this.
#3
Hi,
I'm not familiar with the doors either, however, I have a few thoughts. First of all, I agree with the lubrication angle first. Because it probably won't be too accessable, try removing any plates from the edge of the door. Once they have been removed, check to see if there is an allen type set screw holding the handle on. If there is, remove the handle from one side only. (There is probably a spindle connecting the handle to the body of the lock. Here's where caution is needed. Take a rag, and some liquid wrench, wd-40, crc, or what ever you have, and spray into the body of the lock. Don't spray the lock cylinder, just the part it goes into. The rag? that's for overspray, and drips. Spray everything you can, and exercise the handle while you do it. It just might free it up. It can't do any harm.
Now to maybe give you another avenue, as stated, there may be some binding. This could be the lock body parts, or the lock rods. You said they were fine, so I suspect the body mechanism first.
As far as the cost of the lock, please keep in mind the locks you have were probably made specifically for Anderson. They may be the only people to get them from. I know that's not good news, but is highly likely. I've run into that before.
There is another company that makes medium grade locks for patios, and aluminium doors, called Omnia. They are good retrofit locks for out of production locks. (Not saying yours is out of production, I don't know). However, they are expensive. As an average here in south florida, they are around $275, labor not included.
I hope all this gives you place to at least start fighting this problem. Drop back and let us know how it is going.
cuedude
I'm not familiar with the doors either, however, I have a few thoughts. First of all, I agree with the lubrication angle first. Because it probably won't be too accessable, try removing any plates from the edge of the door. Once they have been removed, check to see if there is an allen type set screw holding the handle on. If there is, remove the handle from one side only. (There is probably a spindle connecting the handle to the body of the lock. Here's where caution is needed. Take a rag, and some liquid wrench, wd-40, crc, or what ever you have, and spray into the body of the lock. Don't spray the lock cylinder, just the part it goes into. The rag? that's for overspray, and drips. Spray everything you can, and exercise the handle while you do it. It just might free it up. It can't do any harm.
Now to maybe give you another avenue, as stated, there may be some binding. This could be the lock body parts, or the lock rods. You said they were fine, so I suspect the body mechanism first.
As far as the cost of the lock, please keep in mind the locks you have were probably made specifically for Anderson. They may be the only people to get them from. I know that's not good news, but is highly likely. I've run into that before.
There is another company that makes medium grade locks for patios, and aluminium doors, called Omnia. They are good retrofit locks for out of production locks. (Not saying yours is out of production, I don't know). However, they are expensive. As an average here in south florida, they are around $275, labor not included.
I hope all this gives you place to at least start fighting this problem. Drop back and let us know how it is going.
cuedude
#4
Anderson Doors
Hi, it's been a while since I've reviewed this thread, but it's time to get back to it. I'm in the middle of working on an Anderson Door right now. What I've found is on the passive door, (the door that has no lock), in the bottom hardware, there is what is called a bolt stop. These are plastic, and as time goes by, these can break. (That's what I found with the ones I'm working on now). Go to the big orange box store, and order the lower bolt stop. This should get you on the right track.
cuedude
cuedude
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Hinge adjustment
Is the deadbolt hitting the doorframe? You can check this by opening the door and activating the locking mechanism. If the deadbolt comes all the way out, then it is probably hitting the doorframe when the door is closed. You can adjust the height of the door via the hinges. Using an allen key in the bottom of the hinge, adjust the height of the door until the deadbolt aligns with the hole in the doorjamb.
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Hi everyone, I am the original (6 year old poster!) I am so sorry I never replied to the wonderful posters who tried to solve my problem, and only was reminded of this post by a recent email. My sincere apologies to all!
I tried all of the suggestions (disassembling and lubricating the lock mechanism, checking the vertical/horizontal position of the door, and, since the pins and deadbolt go into the door frame, I know the problem is with the locking mechanism itself.
Unfortunately, we never did "fix" the lock, and kinda rely on the 1/4 turn to lock the door (foolish, I know). The $150 price tag for a new lock is probably much more expensive now (and that doesn't include the price of professional installation as suggested by Anderson!)
If we ever do get around to calling a locksmith (or somehow magically fix the lock ourselves), I'll be SURE to post back. In the meantime, many, many thanks to all.
(P.S. If this message is posted twice, it's because I had to enter more info to my OLD profile...sorry)
I tried all of the suggestions (disassembling and lubricating the lock mechanism, checking the vertical/horizontal position of the door, and, since the pins and deadbolt go into the door frame, I know the problem is with the locking mechanism itself.
Unfortunately, we never did "fix" the lock, and kinda rely on the 1/4 turn to lock the door (foolish, I know). The $150 price tag for a new lock is probably much more expensive now (and that doesn't include the price of professional installation as suggested by Anderson!)
If we ever do get around to calling a locksmith (or somehow magically fix the lock ourselves), I'll be SURE to post back. In the meantime, many, many thanks to all.
(P.S. If this message is posted twice, it's because I had to enter more info to my OLD profile...sorry)
#8
sket...I'm surprised the deadbolt will function without the bolts being thrown. Mine from 2008 sure won't.
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Gunguy45...the deadbolt doesn't actually function correctly (it only extends about 1/4 of its length as observed when using the "lift handle/twist lock knob" routine with the door open), but the "points" on the top and bottom of the door do fully extend and enter the appropriate holes of the frame. It's those points (and the measly 1/2 inch of deadbolt) that we rely on to "lock" the door...not really that secure!
#10
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About 15 yrs ago I took one of these Anderson 3-point locks apart to make some modifications for a customer....if I recall correctly, on the model I had, raising the lever
would throw the top & bottom "hook" bolts...then, still holding the lever up with one hand, the other hand turns the thumbturn (or the key) to throw the center deadbolt. But If the hookbolts do not extend fully, due to binding, misalignment, etc.,
the deadbolt would not extend fully & click (deadlock) in place.
Assuming you have eliminated binding as a cause by attempting to operate the lock with the door open, it would indicate that the internal linkages are worn to the point where the vertical boltwork is not traveling far enough to allow the center bolt to project...whatever the cause, you will not know until you can take the center lock case apart.
Unfortunately, (if it's like the ones I worked on) the case halves are riveted together
and not designed to be serviced....you won't know this unless you remove the lock from the door first, which involves removing a zillion screws & lifting the whole vertical assy. out from the edge of the door....
Anderson uses several different models, generations, so your particular case may be different.
would throw the top & bottom "hook" bolts...then, still holding the lever up with one hand, the other hand turns the thumbturn (or the key) to throw the center deadbolt. But If the hookbolts do not extend fully, due to binding, misalignment, etc.,
the deadbolt would not extend fully & click (deadlock) in place.
Assuming you have eliminated binding as a cause by attempting to operate the lock with the door open, it would indicate that the internal linkages are worn to the point where the vertical boltwork is not traveling far enough to allow the center bolt to project...whatever the cause, you will not know until you can take the center lock case apart.
Unfortunately, (if it's like the ones I worked on) the case halves are riveted together
and not designed to be serviced....you won't know this unless you remove the lock from the door first, which involves removing a zillion screws & lifting the whole vertical assy. out from the edge of the door....
Anderson uses several different models, generations, so your particular case may be different.
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rstripe...you described the 3-point lock on our Anderson door perfectly! And, since we had the door installed when we built the home 19 years ago, it probably is the same as the one you worked on.
It doesn't sound as if I should even bother "removing a zillion screws & lifting the whole vertical assy. out from the edge of the door...." if indeed it's most likely unserviceable.
Apparently our only option is an entire new lock assembly... I was really hoping this would have been a "Do It Yourself" project, but thanks to Anderson, I guess not. At any rate, thanks for your input, rstripe!
It doesn't sound as if I should even bother "removing a zillion screws & lifting the whole vertical assy. out from the edge of the door...." if indeed it's most likely unserviceable.
Apparently our only option is an entire new lock assembly... I was really hoping this would have been a "Do It Yourself" project, but thanks to Anderson, I guess not. At any rate, thanks for your input, rstripe!
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Same exact problem here with a 1991 door. Had pull out the "zillion" screws to access the top and bottom hooks because they too stopped working. Got that back working but after unscrewing the two screws on the handle portion I could not separate the handle mechanism to access the middle latch. Is there a trick to that? I hate to break something and then have noting working just before winter.Ron