Closing the Door with the Arrow 7700 Power Door Operator

Power door operators are becoming a necessity for specific applications in order to provide unrestricted access for people. The Department of Justice Title III Regulations, 28 CFR Part 36, is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA covers non-discrimination on the basis of disability by public accommodations and in commercial facilities. The ADA requires public accommodations to provide equal access to goods and services for people with disabilities. For locksmiths, non-discrimination includes access into buildings as well as interior doors including public access to offices, hotel rooms, restrooms, etc.

The ADA regulation requires structural and communication barriers be removed in public areas of existing facilities when their removal is readily achievable. In addition, most states have their own regulations regarding accessibility. The ADA requires the use of the more stringent technical requirements for every modification. That is the requirements that provide greater access for individuals with disabilities. For this reason, it is extremely important to know your state and local codes as they may mandate changes.
One of the major problems for interior doors is the ADA requires a maximum of five pounds force (lbf) in order to open the door. The five lbf door closer requirement cannot be met by some large or heavier doors or even some lighter weight doors because of the attachment method. Possible solutions include adjusting or replacing the door closer, hinges/pivots, or installing a lighter door or an automatic door opener.
The Arrow 7700 Operator is an electrically powered door opener and closer that functions with a track arm. The Arrow 7700 is designed to operate interior doors weighing up to 150 pounds. The non-handed 7700 is installed onto the pull side of the door. This low energy operator is designed for interior doors in non-fire rated openings. The Arrow 7700 powered door operator is ADA compliant, ETL Listed and meets the requirements of ANSI/BHMA standard A117.1 and ANSI/BHMA A156.19.
The Arrow 7700 operates using 120VAC. Power is required to open and close the door. In the event of power loss, the door will remain in the position at the time of the power loss during the opening or the closing cycles.
There is an on-board 24VDC 1.1 Amp power supply and access control interface for powering an electric strike, magnetic lock or mechanical lock (that when powered retracts the latching mechanism) and the hardwired activation switches.
This power operator can be activated with the press of a wall switch, device or manually opening the door. If a wall switch is used, it must be positioned within view of the opening. Switches for the Arrow 7700 power door operator include hardwired and wireless wall switches and radio frequency devices.
The Arrow 7700 Door Operator’s “Push & Go feature senses the movement of opening the door and powers the operator to the full open position.
When an activation signal is transmitted from a wall switch or operating device to the power operator, the door will open once the lock's latch has been retracted or released.
The Arrow 7700 has Obstruction Detection during the opening cycle. If an obstruction is detected during opening, the operator will stop and the motor will reverse closing the door. If no obstruction is detected, the door will stop at the open position. After remaining in the Open Position for an adjustable time of 0 to 30 seconds, the door will begin to close. During closing cycle, the door operator motor closes door using a closing force not exceeding 15 lbf.

Installation

I was invited to the installation of an Arrow 7700 Powered Door Operator, Model 7710PRF1.AL. The aluminum finish unit came with a 433 MHz radio frequency receiver and power cord. The door is equipped with a Sargent Profile Series V.G1 standalone electromechanical cylindrical lock.
The decision was made to install the 7700 onto an interior office entry door within a large teaching facility. The office has a drop ceiling with an electrical connection box above the drop ceiling, approximately 10 feet away. The interior office has a right handed, inswing door.
To complete the installation, a BEA Touch Less Switch and an HES 8000 series electric strike will be mounted. The Touch Less Switch is to be mounted onto the interior wall adjacent to the lock edge of the door to provide egress. Later, a remote release will be programmed to provide access for unauthorized people.
Prior to installing the Arrow 7700, the operation of the door was checked. The opening was checked to be certain the door fit properly. The hinges were inspected for wear and cleaned. Latch marks on the strike plate were checked for positioning. The only repair required was the door was slightly out of square within the opening having a gap at the bottom of the door. The gap was adjusted using a ¼" hex wrench to adjust the lower hinge. With the hex wrench inserted between the two leafs of the hinge, pressure was exerted towards closing the door. The hex wrench pushed against the leaves of the hinge, spreading them slightly. After several adjustments and checking the closed door, the lock edge of the door was within adjustment.
The Arrow 7700 door opening angle is 80-95 degrees. This opening range is excellent for the design of this uniquely shaped office. A perpendicular wall is located approximately six inches from the hinge side of the entry door. Mounted onto this perpendicular wall is a shallow cabinet. The positioning of the wall and the cabinet limits the door opening to less than 90 degrees.
To begin the installation, the existing regular arm mount door closer was removed. Having mounting holes in the doorjamb made it easy to determine the gauge of the hollow metal doorjamb. Looking into one of the screw holes drilled for the foot, we were able to roughly determine the gauge of the metal.
The doorjamb needs to be thick enough to support the weight and the operation of the door operator. A doorjamb should be re-enforced with an additional metal plate large enough to accommodate all of the mounting screws.
The removed foot screws were 12-24. This second number indicates the numbers of threads per inch. In this instance, the number of threads per inch is 24. We counted the number of threads in the doorjamb holes and there was about one thread per hole. We made an educated guess that the thickness was 18 Gauge. If the doorjamb had been re-enforced, there would have been additional threads indicating the re-enforcement. In my opinion, sufficient re-enforcement would be more than three full threads.
Here is a simple thickness gauge for steel hollow metal doorjambs. If the steel is galvanized or stainless, the thickness is different. Screw threads are per inch. For example, a ¼-20 screw has twenty threads per inch.
• 20 Gauge is residential
• 18 Gauge is .0478" thick
• 16 Gauge is .0598" thick
• 14 Gauge is .0747" thick
• 12 Gauge is detention
For our purposes, 24 threads per inch would have a bit less than one thread at the 18 gauge thickness of .0478”. Mounting the screws only into the doorjamb would not provide sufficient support for the door operator.
Important: If there was not sufficient structural support for mounting the power operator; ribbed steel inserts and additional mounting holes would have also been the alternative to re-enforcement in the doorjamb.
Because there is no reinforcing in this hollow metal doorjamb, a decision was made to see if the wooden header could be used to secure the upper portion of the back plate. Looking down into the wall from above, we determined the header was in a position to receive mounting screws through the upper portion of the back plate. This proved to be a good idea in the end, as the doorjamb appears to have been twisted during installation.
When the door operator was initially mounted flush against the face of the doorjamb, it tilted down, causing the arm to tilt slightly in a downward direction. In this position, the arm rubbed when it was tested in the "door closer" mode. Installing two mounting screws through the upper edge of the back plate solved the problem as tightening the screws adjusted the back plate to roughly vertical.
Measurements were made to locate the holes for mounting the 7700 Door Operator onto the doorjamb and the track arm onto the inside face of the door. Six holes were drilled in the doorjamb using a #7 (.201" diameter) bit and the holes were tapped for ¼-20 machine screws. To insure proper positioning of each hole, they were started using a punch and then a pilot hole prior to the final diameter. Before drilling the #7 holes, the back plate was positioned on the door jamb to check the pilot hole locations.
Red Loctite®, a brand of threadlocker, was applied to each screw’s threads to insure they do not vibrate loose. Two additional mounting screws in the upper portion of the back plate were threaded into the header to insure the door operator was securely mounted and aligned.
The Arrow 7700 track was then installed onto the face of the door. Hold the track against the pencil mark and line the top with the top of the door. Drill the mounting holes through the holes in the track. Insert the slide into the track. Mount the track using the two supplied drill style screws. Note: Pilot holes were drilled first to insure the face of the door would not split.
The track arm uses the two mounting screws as stops. The track cover snaps in place to cover the screws. Attach the secondary arm onto the slide using a supplied hex wrench. The screw mounts counterclockwise.
The door is opened to roughly 90 degrees and the secondary (track) arm is slid into the main arm. Position the slider six inches from the hinge end of the track. Insert the screw into the threaded opening and secure.
At this time, the handing of the door is electronically set. There is a two switch dipswitch. Dipswitch 1 is for door mounting. ON is for left handed door. OFF is for right handed door. Dipswitch 2 sets the mode of operation as either Push & Go or door closer mode.
The Arrow 7700 operator uses magnets and a sensor to determine the location of the open and closed positions. The two magnets are positioned on the spindle directly in line with the sensor, a black tube that is on the left side of the spindle. The operator will stop opening the door when the open magnet aligns with the sensor. The operator will stop closing the door when the closed magnet is aligned with the sensor.
With the door closed, place the closed magnet onto the spindle shaft in alignment with the sensor. Place the open magnet in alignment with the sensor when the door is at the maximum opening for the application. The magnets can be repositioned as necessary.
Note: The latch position and backcheck position is automatically determined by the position of the open and closed magnets.
The electric strike and door switch were next to be installed. The Arrow 7700 would be adjusted once the components were wired and mounted.
In the drop ceiling, a junction box had been installed when the building was built with EMT (Electrical Metallic Tubing) solid conduit. There was a junction box located about ten feet away from the 7700 power operator. To run the wiring, a hole was drilled through the header. A second hole was drilled through the doorjamb at the electrical access hole at the bottom right of the back plate.
To power the door operator a 16/3 solid copper cable was run in 3/8" flexible metal conduit. The "flex" was run from the junction box through the header and the back plate. A 3/8" straight squeeze box connector with a ½" connector attached the conduit to the junction box. A second box connector was attached to the back plate of the power operator. The green wire, the ground was connected to the grounding screw at the right side of the motor. Important: If the ground wire is not installed, the operator will not function properly. The White and black wires were connected to the COM (neutral) and the HOT terminal strip behind the breaker switch. Note: As an alternative, an optional power cord approximately 18" long can be connected into the right side of the operator when power is provided from an outlet.
To complete the installation, the Touch Less Switch and HES 8000 Series Electric Strike were wired and installed to providing the latch release mechanism for the door operator and a trigger for hands-free egress.
Both the electric strike and switch require wire runs. The Arrow 7700 Door Operator provides 24VDC power, up to 1.1 Amps of filtered and regulated voltage output.
The Touch Less activation switch has a 12 to 24 VAC/VDC voltage requirement. This switch consumes less than 0.0625 Amps. The microwave motion sensor does not require contacting the switch to trigger the door operator. The sensor has a variable adjustment depth from four to 24 inches in order to detect bidirectional motion. The Touch Less Switch can be installed into a single or double gang box.
The HES 8000 Series is an ANSI/BHMA A156.31, Grade 1 electric strike. The compact unit using an ASA faceplate is designed to operate with cylindrical locksets. The 8000 Series accommodates a 1/2"-5/8" throw latchbolt with sufficient door gap. The electric strike in the Fail Secure mode requires 0.12 Amps @24VDC. For this installation, some modifications had to be made to the support bracket and the internal structuring of the doorjamb to accommodate the electric strike.
For both the switch and the electric strike, an eight conductor, 22 gauge cable was run from the door operator's power supply through the header portion of the doorjamb and down the strike jamb. Two wires are required for power for each. Powering the electric strike in the Fail Secure mode, release the latch mechanism, permitting the door to swing open. The switch requires two additional wires in order to activate the operator.
A 50-foot Fish Tape and custom made wire pulling tools were used for the wire run. The Fish Tape was used to run the wiring from the top of the doorjamb down the strike jamb and out the strike opening. The tip of the fish tape was slid between the drywall and the doorjamb. Work was completed carefully as not to damage the drywall.
The wall switch was installed at approximately forty inches above the finished floor. The switch was mounted onto a single gang low voltage old work bracket. A hole was drilled from the drywall cutout into the cavity created by the strike jamb in order to run the wires to the wall switch.
The electric strike has an adjustable ramp with a center slot to accommodate the deadlatch. The ramp is vertically adjustable. The ramp was adjusted for the location of the deadlatch. The door was opened and closed several times to insure the deadlatch slid between the ramps.
A four-position terminal strip is mounted to the back plate on the right side of the motor. The upper two terminals are for dry activation inputs and the lower two are lock outputs. The dry activation inputs are for the hardwired switches, card readers, etc. The lock outputs are for the electric strike, magnetic lock or electrified latch retraction lock or device. The activating switch will unlock the locking mechanism and then the power operator will open the door.
Note: Be sure to set the jumper for the operation of the locking mechanism. For this installation, the electric strike will operate in the Fail Secure mode. This requires momentary power to operate. Power is provided from the Normally Open (NO) by closing the relay.
The electric strike wiring pulled 24VDC power from the terminal strip adjacent to the motor. The positive wire leading from the terminal strip was switched at the relay and connected to the electric strike. The negative wire was run from the terminal strip to the electric strike.
Once the door operator, the electric strike and the switch were wired and installed, the next series of steps were power the operator, test the system and to make adjustments.
The Arrow 7700 was powered, the breaker switch and the green LED on the inverter control board illuminated. The electric strike released the latchbolt and the door swung open. After about twenty seconds, the door began to swing closed. The adjustment is from a minimum of five seconds to thirty seconds. In addition, there is a “hold-open” switch that can extend the door open time. When the door closed and latched, the position of the open magnet was moved slightly to approximately 85 degrees. The Touch Less switch and the Push & Go function were tested.
The next series of steps were to make the fine adjustment. There are six potentiometers on the inverter control board. Clockwise rotation increases and counterclockwise rotation decreases all functions.
The functions are:
Potentiometer 1: Motor Torque at Hold Open Backcheck Position. Location: Right side bottom Pot
Potentiometer 2: Sweep Closing Force (90 to 20 degrees), Right side middle Pot
Potentiometer 3: Motor Delay on Opening, Right side top Pot.
Potentiometer 4: Hold Open Time* (0 to 30 seconds),Left side bottom Pot. (*ANSI/BHMA A156.19 requires the door to remain in the open position for a 5 second minimum.)
Potentiometer 5: Obstruction Detection on Open, Left side middle Pot
Potentiometer 6: Latch Force (20 to 0 degrees),Left side top Pot
There seemed to be a running argument about the amount of time the door was in the open position. The office personnel had to make sure the door would close and latch before they could walk away. A few of the personnel wanted to limit the amount of time for the motor delay, hold open, motor torque, sweep closing force and the latch force times. Others wanted more time as they were not as speedy through the door. Eventually, the adjustment times were resolved with no one being completely satisfied.
The installed 7700 was equipped with a wireless transmitter operating on 433 MHz. A wall mount transmitter will be installed at a later time to provide remote access for unauthorized individuals.
Before selling or installing electronic door hardware, be sure to contact your Local Authority Having Jurisdiction (LAHJ).
The Arrow 7700 Door Operator is available in different configurations. Options include power cord and radio frequency receiver. Finish options are Aluminum and Dark Bronze.
For more information, contact your local locksmith distributor or Arrow Lock & Door Hardware, P.O. Box 3075, Salem, VA 24153. Telephone: 800-839-3157. Web Site: www.arrowlock.com.