How does patio door lever mechanism work?

gerdalt

I attach two photos of a very standard patio door lever mechanism.
The lever is *very* stiff to use so I want to free it up.
It appears impossible to access the moving parts.
I am not talking about the lock - just the lever handle.
I have removed all the available screws and handles but it appears a large part of the mechanism is inside the door frame and not accessible.
I have squirted large quantities of WD40 and oil into every available oriface, but the thing is still very stiff to use.
Any suggestions appreciated please on how to free the mechanism or access it.
Ger.

cerastes

Might be accessible if you remove the handle? I replaced a broken lever before and had to remove the handle as it was under there. My current setupdoesnt have a lever though
As to how to remove it? Might be a pain, probably slides out towards the bottom of the door when it's off the rail? I suspect the screw from the side shown holds it but I'd be wary of removing that unless you can get the door off which will be a pain and I imagine refitting will be one too.

gerdalt

Thank you for those comments Cerastes.
I sort of figured it must have been inserted during manufacture.
Like you suggest - a take-the-door-off job. Not a pretty thought.
But it might come to that.
I am hoping maybe someone on here might have done just that and could warn about any problems. Like how to get the mechanism back up in place!!
Ger

cerastes

if it just comes free by removing that screw looking in at the end of the door, then gravity on the way out, but Id ease/slide it out slowly.
To put it back, I havent done one but Id suggest if the way to do it isn't apparent, then possibly a bamboo cane (flexible but strong enough), wrap enough brown box tape on it and then secure a small part of the tape to the mechanism and push it up, (presumably sideways when the door is flat), then a second person can probably capture it with the retaining screw? taking care to not cross thread the screw in the process?

Thats if you are adamant to do it yourself.
There are door/window repair guys going around that probably could save you the hassle, sometimes its worth it if there's a particular knack or tool required.

gerdalt

Thanks again.
I was hoping that maybe one of those patio door repair guys might see this thread and offer up the secrets!!
I'll give it a few more days then decide if it's door-off DIY job or a pay-up job.
Ger.

dodzy

gerdalt wrote: »

Thanks again.
I was hoping that maybe one of those patio door repair guys might see this thread and offer up the secrets!!
I'll give it a few more days then decide if it's door-off DIY job or a pay-up job.
Ger.

Ok. 1st question. slide the door open. Now tell me does the lever move freely up & down?

gerdalt

OK, with the door open, the lever does not move at all. This is correct.
If I then depress the nylon 'sensor' (marked X in image) to simulate the door being closed, the lever moves but is *very* stiff.
With the handles and lever removed and the sensor depressed, it is still very stiff to move the mechanism up and down by gripping the screw heads (marked Y in attached image) that engage the door jam.
Ger

cerastes

The screw I was referring to appears to be for holding the cylinder barrel, looking at the zoomed out picture.

dodzy

gerdalt wrote: »

OK, with the door open, the lever does not move at all. This is correct.
If I then depress the nylon 'sensor' (marked X in image) to simulate the door being closed, the lever moves but is *very* stiff.
With the handles and lever removed and the sensor depressed, it is still very stiff to move the mechanism up and down by gripping the screw heads (marked Y in attached image) that engage the door jam.
Ger

Yep. sorry. The nylon pin has to be pressed as you say. OK, so its a stiff mechanism. First thing I would do is get a can of WD40 with the mini straw attachment and liberally spray into x & y slots, while moving lever up/down periodically. This may give you a result.

If not, you need to take out the door ( lifts up and off the lower track to remove ).

The screws on the internal door handle are removed, the centre screw is removed to allow the cylinder removal, there are 2 retaining screws top and bottom of door and once these are removed, the complete mechanism is slid out of door and then you will be able to examine in more detail. It's easy enough. Just approach it logically. No guarantee you'll get a like-for-like replacement (Mila in Kilbarrack will give you the best chance for replacement or alternative ).

chris445

Have you taken the handles off yet?

I just repaired a door like this with the same issue last week. When I removed the handles the lever was not sitting correctly on the spindle which was causing it to rub.
Remove the handle and apply WD40 to the spindle that the levers attach to.

When re-fitting the handles ensure you don't tighten too much as to cause friction between the back plate of the handle and the spindle.
May be no harm to apply a bit of grease to the back plate of the handle where it is likely rubbing against the spindle/lever.

gerdalt

dodzy wrote: »

The screws on the internal door handle are removed, the centre screw is removed to allow the cylinder removal, there are 2 retaining screws top and bottom of door and once these are removed, the complete mechanism is slid out of door and then you will be able to examine in more detail. It's easy enough. Just approach it logically. No guarantee you'll get a like-for-like replacement (Mila in Kilbarrack will give you the best chance for replacement or alternative ).

Re WD40 see OP!!
Now, if I slide out the mechanism and grease it up, it seems like it will be very difficult to get it back in place so as to re-insert the holding screws. See other comments above about using a long cane stick. Will that be necessary? Any idea of the size of the mechanism?
Ger.

dodzy

gerdalt wrote: »

Re WD40 see OP!!
Now, if I slide out the mechanism and grease it up, it seems like it will be very difficult to get it back in place so as to re-insert the holding screws. See other comments above about using a long cane stick. Will that be necessary? Any idea of the size of the mechanism?
Ger.

Missed the WD40

Yeah, you can push it out and back in with a stick as you suggest once you've repaired / replaced it. If you establish after removal that it's damaged beyond repair, just bring the entire unit to Mila and hopefully they can sort you out. Remember to do this early in the day as you dont want to be left late at night trying to re-assemble in order to be able to lock your back door !

massy086

It is very unlikely that mila will have the lock as they general only do pvc locks. To me it looks like a yale lock and if so they are no-servicable locks. Ie you can't open them to repair. I recently needed 2 of these yale locks for customers and i got them in the uk. But very very hard to find

gerdalt

massy086 wrote: »

It is very unlikely that mila will have the lock as they general only do pvc locks. To me it looks like a yale lock and if so they are no-servicable locks. Ie you can't open them to repair. I recently needed 2 of these yale locks for customers and i got them in the uk. But very very hard to find

Locks??? Are we talking about the same thing? The lock is a standard EU barrel type. It's not the problem. The problem is the sliding mechanism buried inside the door frame. The lock just stops you moving the lever. The lock is easy to remove and replace.
Ger

gerdalt

dodzy wrote: »

Yeah, you can push it out and back in with a stick as you suggest once you've repaired / replaced it. If you establish after removal that it's damaged beyond repair, just bring the entire unit to Mila and hopefully they can sort you out. Remember to do this early in the day as you dont want to be left late at night trying to re-assemble in order to be able to lock your back door !

Thanks again. I really do think it just needs grease in the right place as it is working fine right now - just very stiff.
I am off to summon up some courage!!
Ger

massy086

gerdalt wrote: »

Locks??? Are we talking about the same thing? The lock is a standard EU barrel type. It's not the problem. The problem is the sliding mechanism buried inside the door frame. The lock just stops you moving the lever. The lock is easy to remove and replace.
Ger

sorry then to locking mechanism