Medico Deadbolt Problem

[Altashot]

At the risk of being blunt, I will raise an issue here.

-A door equipped with a push bar, a crash bar, a panic bar or an emergency exit device or whatever you want to call it is normally part of an exit path. They are normally installed on certain doors because they NEED to be there as per the fire and/or the building code to ease egress and preserve lives. Where I come from, the fire code AND building code state that In case of an emergency and/or an evacuation is necessary, all the doors in the egress path must: open in a single motion, open with the flow of traffic, without prior knowledge and be self latching...Three of these rules are being broken here. It does not latch (the magnet), it requires more than a single motion to open (push bar AND turn deadbolt) and requires prior knowledge of the secondary locking device (the deadbolt)...

Many will say "but everybody here knows to turn the deadbolt to exit..." The thing is, the fire department does not. In the event that they need to get into a shop to combat a fire, a chemical spill a hostage situation or to diffuse a bomb or whatever, they rely on that unobstructed egress path to save/preserve the lives of other and their own.

IMO, the problem here is having a deadbolt in the first place...Perhaps you should bring this life saving issue with your safety officer or powers that be. Where I live, safety comes BEFORE security. The solution then is easy. Comply with the fire code, remove the deadbolt, plug the holes and have a good day.


M.

[easy-e]

I understand what you are saying. It is unlocked during all business hours. We only use the magnet to keep the door open because from the outside it requires a key to open. It's the same as using a wedge under the door. We've got multiple fire permits and they come and inspect at least once a year. We explained it to them and due to the nature of our business they weren't worried about it.

[easy-e]

So I haven't made any progress on this in the last year. Now that I signed up with a locksmith distributor I can order the stuff I need a lot easier.

I'm taking MrWizard/Richard's advice along with non-permanent loctite (222 or 242)

I'm going to order the Ames support and the Major Manufcaturing bracket but I'm having trouble figuring out which latch I need to order. I don't know the correct terminology for it. The picture below is comparing an Abloy, Schlage, and Kwikset latches. The Abloy (On the left) has the same drive mechanism as the Medeco I have. I believe the Medeco item number is 11-0A1912-XX but I'd love to find a cheaper one if possible. The drive in version I have has no markings on it at all. I was hoping to just look up the item number and find the equivalent in the other style.

While typing this up I found Security Snobs also has what I need and the best pictures of any place that is selling them. I was just hoping to find a substantially cheaper version and I can get the medeco one cheaper from H.L. Flake. https://securitysnobs.com/Abloy-Standard-H2X-Extreme-Bolt.html

From: http://www.weasel.com/house_locks.html#compare
Left to right, the Abloy, Schlage, and Kwikset

[jones]

I had much the same trouble with a steel door, the latch kept falling through the hole at the edge of the door. I took a roll of black electrical tape and taped around the edge of the drive-in bolt, until it was too thick to fall in. Medeco can be picky about the tightness of the hold down bolts, so i always make them a little looser than they need to be while turning the key to make sure.