Garage Door Lock, ain’t never seen this before

[gahrajmahal]

Nothing bizarre or out of order, I’ve just never had one apart to see how it works! A few months ago I lubed the door lock because it was making that “fingernail on the blackboard” screech I’m sure you have all heard. Immediately, smooth effortless door locking on the non-electric garage door opening side of our two car garage.

Then, the other day, I pull the smooth and quiet latch to open the door and out it pops into my hand. WTH?

In all my years I’ve never had cause to take one of these mechanisms apart, but I knew by operating it it had a catch keeping it from sliding all the way out, plus it seemed to have some sort of device keeping it in the open and closed positions. Well, with the attached photographs, the secret is out of the bag! Kind of like the first time you take the tank cover off on the back of a toilet and watch it flush and refill.

 

[Hooked]

I don't think any of ours have ever been used.

 

[Sumboodie]

I don't think any of ours have ever been used.

Mine do just to keep the doors down. The wind lifts them up after a while.

 

[Rc_Guy]

I don't think any of ours have ever been used.

Ours either, in fact I put a self taping screw in it in the open position so nobody slides it shut.

 

[NUTTSGT]

When I bought them for my garage doors. I saw what was inside and thought to myself...pretty damn simple design.

 

[The Cobbler]

they are very common when no opener or outside key is used . and yes, very simple & effective .

 

[bbxlr8]

I like those as an extra precaution step when I am gone for a while (like on vacation etc).
Have openers and they prevent the ole wire hanger trick of grabbing the release cord from the top center...

Back to the fact that if someone has the time and motivation, they can get in anyway.
Never opened one.

 

[OccupantRJ]

When I insulated my shop door months back a second lock got added for a bit more security, and I operate the door manually. If the building was used as a parking garage I would have an opener, but not for a working shop that is inside a fence in the back yard for me. I do dislike the screech though. It looks like it would be a good 3d print project to make a couple of snap in rectangular plastic glide bushings. If I could clamp my younger son down long enough from his midlife new sweetie and scuba diving adventures I might could get some bushings. If.

 

[driftpin]

Hooray for the electric solenoid lock.

The satisfying thunk! they make closing reassures me that it will take a lot of noise to overcome one of those. The Liftmaster side of the door bellcrank is now 10 years on and I use spray lube when the clock changes, spring/fall.

 

[OccupantRJ]

The latches are usually also easily reversible for mirror image right and left by switching the slider inside the housing.

 

[gahrajmahal]

The screw holding on the spring tab/stop fell out. That’s how the handle was able to slip out of the housing.

 

[firebirdparts]

High tech stuff there. I use them every day - my shop is so equipped.

 

[The Cobbler]

The latches are usually also easily reversible for mirror image right and left by switching the slider inside the housing.

actually you just turn them over

 

[Michael B.]

It also appears that the depth of engagement is adjustable.

 

[Rc_Guy]

It also appears that the depth of engagement is adjustable.

Unless you drink too much.

 

[Hooked]

I like those as an extra precaution step when I am gone for a while (like on vacation etc).
Have openers and they prevent the ole wire hanger trick of grabbing the release cord from the top center...

Back to the fact that if someone has the time and motivation, they can get in anyway.
Never opened one.

What are these release cords you speak of? I got tired of dodging them.

 

[OccupantRJ]

actually you just turn them over

Not symmetrical like that. This is GJ.

 

[Gutman]

...and out it pops into my hand. WTH?

Same reason for me to open one up.

I too was amazed at the simplicity of that design.

About that same time, I was fighting issues with the opener for the one door that had it, and I decided to just decommision it in place since the door wasn't hard to open manually.

That door did not have the sliding bar, but it had the spring and retainer, so I bent some 1/8" flat bar I had onhand, and voila. Back in business. I keep reminding myself that I need to upgrade it to 3/16" now that I have some, but someday.

 

[ronr80]

I think they are great , when I go away for vacation or whatever ,I unplug my electric opener and push this lock on , safety for sure.

 

[wolfhawk73]

Damn. I thought they'd be WAY more complicated than that.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

On our lake garage the installer said not to install with a door opener. Supposedly if in lock position and you use the electric opener you can do some damage the opener.

 

[zimman]

they are very common when no opener or outside key is used . and yes, very simple & effective .

I'm buying two in about 32 minutes. Can't stand walking around the garage and locking from the outside. At 21:30 there are bears, lions and deadly racoons wandering around. I'm armed, but those racoons put up a good fight. LMAO
Zim

 

[racecougar]

I'm buying two in about 32 minutes. Can't stand walking around the garage and locking from the outside. At 21:30 there are bears, lions and deadly racoons wandering around. I'm armed, but those racoons put up a good fight. LMAO
Zim

The armadillos are the ones to watch out for.

 

[nadogail]

Garage Door Locks like that seem to be on every sectional door I have seen.

 

[Mainiac Mat]

That manual latch design has been around for eons... but it didn't come with my OHDs when I built my COVID garage. So I purchased them online and installed myself. I find them very handy when:

1. we go away on vacation.
2. we lose power and have to release the automatic openers to open & close the doors.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Like I mentioned above, I have them for the doors on my garage, 3 Doors and 2 locks on each door. I have a wood wedge in each lock to hold the door tight against the frame/seal...works great to keep that extra cold air out in the winter or doors from rattling when it's windy.





For those that were reading and expecting a 3 doors down joke in there. . . .

 

[Rc_Guy]

What are these release cords you speak of? I got tired of dodging them.

You don’t have to dodge them if you cut them a little shorter.

I sure liked having it when the power went out two weeks ago so I could at least get the side-by-side out

On our lake garage the installer said not to install with a door opener. Supposedly if in lock position and you use the electric opener you can do some damage the opener.

You think?

 

[lolaetype]

I think they are great , when I go away for vacation or whatever ,I unplug my electric opener and push this lock on , safety for sure.

Our Lift Master garage door openers have three button wall controls. One opens and closes the door, one turns the light on and off and the third locks out signals from remote devices but still allows the wall button to open and close the door. I've also used the track lock to secure the door when we're gone.

 

[aggie113]

If you have one of these electronic door locks from lift master I would recommend opening them up and adding some JB Weld or other hardening putty to help reinforce the support for the locking mechanism. I have had two fail after just 2 years each with the same issue. The internal plastic support fails and causes it to not work.

 

[3baygarage]

They're on all the roll up doors at work. At least I now know only basic tools are required for if (when) it happens there.

 

[zimman]

I'm buying two in about 32 minutes. Can't stand walking around the garage and locking from the outside. At 21:30 there are bears, lions and deadly racoons wandering around. I'm armed, but those racoons put up a good fight. LMAO
Zim

Update. Total fail. Tried to reverse the existing, not happening. New slide lock will work with some fabrication. Lots of fabrication. LOL
Zim

 

[larry4406]

If you have a garage door motor operator, I would defeat that manual slide latch or remove it all together.

One day, someone will try to open the door while the latch is engaged, and then you power mangle the upper door section and perhaps the next one down as well. Seen it happen too many times at the day job; our door installers put a bolt thru them so they can't latch.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Since we are on the subject of latches and doors, when I added a second latch to my door I also ordered a new bottom rubber seal from Amazon for around $20. That one uses a tadpole or P shaped retainer area which was a bit of a pain to get into the retainer groove, as the sharp corners of the metal kept snagging the rubber seal as it was being pulled in. I used a small file to deburr the leading edge of the metal, then used a ratchet strap and vise grips with jaw pads to clamp onto and pull the seal along during a liberal application of both WD40 and silicon lube. I already knew to never install rubber in a stressed position so I left it a couple of inches long and worked it around a bit, then left it overnight before flexing it a bit more and then trimming to length.

I then decided what the hell so I ordered the different style required for the door on the “contingency materials“ barn and proceeded to change it out. Luckily it was of a different type that then retainer track could be removed from the door. That seal came as a flat piece that got rolled into a bulbous shape that required two separate corners to be pulled into the track simultaneously. The retainer track got put into a vise and that one proved to be a bit easier than the previous gorilla wrestling session. I hope this info will help someone attempting a lower door seal replacement. The profile of the installed seal and retainer lip along with the needed length determine what you buy. Here is a link to one of the installs.

What did you do "IN" your garage today?

All, while a very interesting conversation, exchange, and debate, we're very much off topic here. Maybe peel it off to another thread on career/employment continuity vs cutting all association...? Put a bunch of guys in a garage and these types of conversations happen. :badteeth:

www.garagejournal.com

 

[gahrajmahal]

If you have a garage door motor operator, I would defeat that manual slide latch or remove it all together.

One day, someone will try to open the door while the latch is engaged, and then you power mangle the upper door section and perhaps the next one down as well. Seen it happen too many times at the day job; our door installers put a bolt thru them so they can't latch.

The company that installed both our garage doors put a screw through that hole on the electric garage door opener side of the garage (we have two doors). If my original removal discovered some broken component inside the latch, I had planned to switch the broken latch with the “held open” latch. As it turned out, the screw holding the compression spring had merely backed out. I only needed to re-install the screw tightly and compress the spring and capture the bottom post and the slider bracket.

 

[mike93lx]

If you have a garage door motor operator, I would defeat that manual slide latch or remove it all together.

One day, someone will try to open the door while the latch is engaged, and then you power mangle the upper door section and perhaps the next one down as well. Seen it happen too many times at the day job; our door installers put a bolt thru them so they can't latch.

Your opener should be adjusted properly to stop when encountering resistance far lower than this would create, no?

 

[larry4406]

Your opener should be adjusted properly to stop when encountering resistance far lower than this would create, no?

One would think so, but the doors do get mangled.

 

[nh_yota]

Back when I was a kid in the 1980s I remember one cold winter day when my mom hit the inside button to open the garage door, the opener groaned for a second and then the door raised up, leaving the bottom of the door frozen to the ground. It was a wooden panel garage door and the Craftsman garage door opener (with no safety features) ripped the bottom panel of the door in two.

 

[The Cobbler]

Update. Total fail. Tried to reverse the existing, not happening. New slide lock will work with some fabrication. Lots of fabrication. LOL
Zim

Please explain, pics ?

 

[mikedodge]

Your opener should be adjusted properly to stop when encountering resistance far lower than this would create, no?

Our 1980s opener does that and stops with resistance opening. Same thing when a spring breaks.

If you're only trying to secure the door occasionally and don't have a latch (or someone disabled it) you can also hold it shut with a ratchet strap.