Jackson Concealed Door Closer - Think Again Before Buying!

 The Jackson overhead concealed door closer, which sells wholesale to the locksmith industry at around $100, does not appear to be holding up to normal usage.  Six months ago, I installed two of the heavy duty models for a client.  These closers were used to replace two others of the same model that had been installed less than a year earlier.  Professional locksmiths and glass door service technicians cannot afford to to waste valuable time and money dealing with this closer.

Another client, who had the International concealed closer installed in his two front door, had one of them go bad in four months.  The other is on the way out.

One movie theater in Smyrna, Tennessee had all eight of their concealed overhead closers go bad in one year.  These were the Husky models.

Not only is Jackson having problems, but the other manufacturers are as well.

So, what can the service technician do in regards to the problem of the overhead concealed closer?

1.  Install the closers and tell the customers that you cannot guarantee the performance of the closer.

2.  Remove the overhead closer, substitute a dummy closer in its place, and install a surface-mounted door closer.  However, the overhead closer is designed to enable the door to swing in both directions.  If you do retrofit a door to a surface-mounted closer, be sure to install an "L" bracket on the side of the door to act as a door stop.  By doing this, the door will now open in one direction only as opposed to swinging in both directions.
One salesperson at a very famous locks distribution facility suggested that the manufacturers are selling re-manufactured devices as new.

Although the concealed overhead closer serves a valuable purpose when it comes to many door mount configurations, the use of such closers may be too expensive for your clients over the long haul, especially when the closers are not performing properly. 

Manufacturers of these types of closers must soon address quality issues in regards to the performance of their products.  If the cost of manufacturing a quality, durable closer is higher, then so be it.  Customers would gladly pay a higher price if the closer would last.