Von Duprin 99 series exit device problem

not having seen one of these, per se.. did this come on SUDDENLY? or 'over time'? the 990 and 1990 series panic bars have a 'pot metal' gear that the rim cyl lock drives and it gets wear on it.. both the center pin and the teeth themselves. and it presents a somewhat similar problem..

if the thing happened SUDDEN, on 1 side, then something 'broke'.. if both sides, then, perhaps someone got heavy handed with the key or such, and has knocked something out of time.. like a twisted tail piece on a rim cyl lock would present this situation. THIS I HAVE seen happen.. a 45 degree twist in the tail piece causes interesting things to suddenly show up,

--Shiva--

Glen:

Besides Shiva's suggestion of a bent tail piece you might want to check for is the hanging of the door... Especially if this is a Concealed Vertical Rod type device... If the door hinges are loose or the door is not hung properly the door will exert force on the top latch mechansim (which is like the nexus of the entire lock for most of the locking issues)... Another problem along this thought line is a problem with the screw projecting from the top of the frame that actually trips the latch action... If this screw is extended too far it effects the OPENING action of the lock...

I have never worked on the Von Duprin exit lock, but I have worked on Adams Rite and Monarch exit devices of the same vintage... Eight years is a very long time for an exit device to go without maintenance... The first thing I would do is clean out all of the grease enriched dustcicles that are clogging the action of the lock...

Given the environment (a school gym) and the apparent sudden onset of the problem I would look for something that can be caused by vandalism...

Evan, ~~formerly a maintenance man, now a college student

The lock cylinder probably has the wrong cam or a worn cam. Other possabilities are probably going to be obvious things like something bent or broken, crud, alingment/installation, or lubrication issues.

Thanks everyone. I'll let you know what happens.

He said one door lock works sometimes and sometimes it doesn't and the other was causing problems for a while.

I'm thinking lack of proper care is the main problem because it is for an elementry school but I also need to check for damage from vandalism.

I'll also check the gear. I wonder if they sell that seperate? Maybe it's set up where I can change the position of the gear to make it work?

I guess I'll find out. BTW, those exit devices list for 895.00 each. I sure would like to fix the problem without replacing them. I'll try what everyone said. Thanks again.

of a gym. The

standard lever on the

turn to the right to

lever, (standard

vertical rod type.

turn clockwise to

by turning the key

degrees and stops.

it wont turn all

door to remove the

cost a lot. Hint:

there since 96.

sounds like the tail piece is loose or the cylinder has turned out of alignment.

my2

Glen , before you go and buy one make sure they don't have spares on the property somewhere. Most large facilities have spares somewhere

One nice thing about Von Duprin is their parts availability. Defiantly not cheap, but certainly fixable.

Well I went there this morning. I took the cover off and decided it would be best to get my friend to look at it also. He has a lot of extra parts around. I think he may be able to fix them. Those suckers now list for

1.059.00 each. I figure I owe it to the customer to have him look at it before hollerin' they need to be replaced. Maybe he knows a trick or two. He deals with those all the time.

you always talk this sexy??