Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2026-04-09 Origin: Site
As a core accessory for fire doors, fire-rated door closer are essential for fire safety compliance and life protection. This article covers 5 key points (What Why When Where How) to help you quickly grasp its standards application and usage, meeting global trade and project needs.
WHAT
What is the Fire-rated door closer?
A fire door closer is a metal device used in conjunction with fire doors, installed at the top of the door or built into the door leaf, composed of a metal spring and a hydraulic damping mechanism.
The internationally recognized fire door closers follow two standards: EN 1154 (European Standard) and ANSI/BHMA A156.4 (American Standard). For specific detailed differences, please refer to the list below:
Item | European Standard (EN 1154 / CE / UKCA) | American Standard (ANSI/BHMA A156.4 / UL) |
Applicable Markets | EU, European Free Trade Area, global compliance certification projects | USA, Canada, North American engineering / commercial projects |
Core Standard | EN 1154 | ANSI/BHMA A156.4 |
Durability Test | 505,000 opening and closing cycles | Graded by level, Grade 1 (highest) requires 2,000,000 cycles |
Environmental Test | Mandatory high-low temperature test (-15℃ ~ 40℃), closing time 3-25 seconds | Tested only at room temperature (60-85℉ / 15-29℃), no high-low temperature requirements |
Certification Focus | Emphasis on multi-environment adaptability, fire door compatibility | Emphasis on high strength, high durability, commercial / high-traffic locations |
Application Scope | Residential doors, hotel guest room doors, standard European fire doors | High-frequency commercial doors in shopping malls, office buildings, schools, hospitals, etc. |
WHY
Why have to use Fire-rated door closer?
First, we need to understand that the working principle of a door closer is usually assembled using internal mechanisms such as hydraulics or spring mechanics. When the door is pushed open, the internal pressure of the door closer increases, storing energy; when released, the pressure is released to push the door to close slowly. The entire process does not require electrical power, and it can operate normally even during a power outage.
After understanding the working principle, we can easily identify its suitable application scenario—a fire door in a passageway. Upon receiving a fire alarm signal, the fire door monitor can immediately ensure that the fire door will automatically close after being opened, thereby preventing the spread of flames and toxic smoke, providing valuable escape time, and protecting both personnel and property.
WHEN
When to use Fire-rated door closer?
Normally closed fire door:
Common fire door closer in the market are mainly normally closed fire door closer (usually called mechanical door closer). They are mainly used in passages with relatively low pedestrian flow and installed in a normally closed manner to keep fire doors closed. If a door closer is installed on the evacuation passage, a door magnetic switch must be installed to monitor the opening and closing state of the fire door in real time through the fire door monitoring system.
Always opened fire door:
The normally open fire door closer (usually called electric door closer) consists of an electric control module and a mechanical door closer. They are usually installed in the position where fire doors are always open with large pedestrian flow. In daily life, the fire door is always open. Once the fire alarm signal is received, the electric control module will send an instruction to make the mechanical door closer automatically close the door, thus closing the fire door, and the closing status of the fire door will be sent to the fire door monitoring system in real time.
WHERE
Where to use Fire-rated door closer?
Fire door closer seem to be far from our daily life, but is this really the case? The following questions and answers will help you understand the application scenario of fire door closer.
In which scenes are fire door closer usually used?
Fire door closer are usually used for fire doors in evacuation staircases, smoke-proof staircases and corridors in high-rise or multi-storey buildings, where personnel density is high.
I have installed a fire door. Do I need to install a fire door closer?
Generally speaking, fire doors need to be equipped with door closer. The normally open and normally closed fire doors mentioned above need to be equipped with fire door closer before they can be used as a whole. However, there are exceptions: maintenance doors and residential entrance doors for public access can be automatically closed by door closer. In other words, in both cases, if a fire door is installed, it may not be necessary to configure a fire door closer.
Fire doors are usually equipped with several door closer?
For wooden and steel doors, the number used is usually the same:
Door Type | Number of Closer Installed | Core Requirements & Supplementary Specifications |
Single Door | 1 piece | Equipped with 3C / Fire-certified door closer. |
Double Door | 2 pieces (1 for each leaf) | Must be equipped with a steel door sequence controller to ensure proper closing sequence. |
French Door / French Style Door | 1 piece (installed on the main leaf only) | The secondary leaf has no closer. The load capacity of the closer on the main leaf must match the total weight of the entire door set. No sequence controller required. |
Extra Tall / Extra Heavy-Duty Single Door | 2 pieces (1 at the top, 1 at the bottom) | Ensure the two closer operate synchronously to avoid uneven force distribution and deformation on the door leaf. |
Fire Door (Normally Open) | 1 piece (Special type) | Select a normally open fire door closer with linkage signal feedback (compatible with fire alarm systems). |
HOW
How to use Fire-rated door closer?
(1) Installation Step Guide
①Installation and fixation: the main body of the door closer is installed on the upper part of the door leaf, with its center 180-220 mm away from the top of the door leaf and its base close to the edge of the door leaf; The connecting rod is installed at the corresponding position of the door frame to ensure that the closer is vertical to the door leaf/door frame, and it is locked with the matching expansion screw after punching (steel door with spacer, wooden square door reinforced by wooden door);
②Connecting rod debugging: connect the main body with the connecting rod, and preliminarily adjust the length of the connecting rod to ensure that the opening angle of the door leaf is ≤ 90 (the common requirement of fire doors), and there is no lag when opening and no rebound when closing.
③Parameter adjustment: debugging through two control valves on the door closer (clockwise slow, counterclockwise fast);
④Speed control valve 1 (door closing speed): control the door leaf to close from 90 to 15, and adjust it to 3-15 seconds (mandatory requirement of national standards); Speed control valve 2 (door locking speed): control the door leaf to 15 of the closing speed, and adjust it to a slower speed to avoid hitting the door frame and preventing the seal from failing.
⑤Installation inspection: Conduct 50 consecutive switching operations to check whether the screws are loose, whether the door closer leaks oil, whether the gap after the door leaves are closed is ≤4 mm, and whether the automatic door closing is stable and free from jamming.
(2) Usage Notes
Daily use:
It is forbidden to manually fix the door leaf with hard objects to keep it normally open (except for the normally open type), and it is forbidden to disassemble or modify the control valve, connecting rod and other accessories of the door closer to avoid oil leakage and failure;
No operation:
Do not hang heavy objects on the door closer, or forcibly break the door leaf to make the door closer deform in linkage;
Fire prevention status:
The door closer will automatically trigger the door to close in case of fire, without manual operation, so as to ensure that the fire prevention and smoke isolation area is closed; Only open in linkage fire mode: only the normally open door controller linked with fire can keep the door open for a long time, and it is forbidden to convert the non-dedicated model into the normally open state without permission.
Master these 5 key points to select install and use fire-rated door closer correctly. Our products comply with EN 1154 and ANSI/BHMA A156.4 standards, suitable for global commercial projects, providing reliable fire safety solutions for your business.
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