Subscriber Discussion

How Do You Put A Door Contact On A Double Sliding Door?

UE
Undisclosed End User #1
Jun 11, 2018

Hey everyone, I've got a stumper.   I have a series of glass doors that have two sliding leaves. I really need to put door contacts on them so I can get door forced alarms.  They are all metal as you can see.  Since both parts of the door move, how do you put a sensor on them? (also, how do you do it  neatly since the doors are all smooth)

 

When the door retracts, there's about 3 inches that sticks out. So, if you were to put the magnet on the door there would be room. However, when you look at where that spot is when the door closes, the motion REX is right in the way, so there would be no room for the sensor.

 

 

I was thinking about doing a wireless DMP contact with the TX on one door and the magnet on the other door, but these doors open hundreds of times a day, so I don't suspect the batteries are going to last very long

 

 

double door

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SD
Shannon Davis
Jun 11, 2018
IPVMU Certified

Typically you mount the magnets to both of the doors then mount the DPS's to the lid above that, usually. Most of the time it can be done without the DPS's or wires being seen. There are usually some screws on the lid to remove then the lid will open upwards.

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Daniel S-T
Jun 12, 2018

Shannon's got it right. And as some other people have mentioned, some doors come with integrated DPS. But that varies.

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Brian Rhodes
Jun 11, 2018
IPVMU Certified

Do you know the type/model of the sliding door operator?

In many cases, the operator has an approved DPS that integrates with the operator, and can be configured to pass-thru status on a set of operator contacts.

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Michael Silva
Jun 11, 2018
Silva Consultants

Edit: Downloaded and took a closer look at your photo and I think my last advice may have been incorrect. If you could post some close-up pics of the top and door and frame, we may be able to give you better advice.

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #2
Jun 12, 2018

I would think in the frame.  Do those doors push out for emergency?  It looks like the storefront doors there we installed a 3/4” concealer contact in the frame and a magnet glued in the top track of the door. 

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CK
Carl Kristoffersen
Jun 12, 2018

UM#4 has a good idea, if there's no mechanicals in the door track.  (The track is in the frame, not in the door).  The magnet would go in the channel at the top of the door.  Another option is to put the switch and mag on the jamb side.  The magnet can be recessed in the door, and the switch can either be recessed facing the door or surface mounted on the edge.

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Michael Silva
Jun 12, 2018
Silva Consultants

Upon closer study of the photo, these appear to be Stanley Duraglide doors. If this is the case, you probably wont be able to install a switch at the top of the door as I originally thought - the track mechanisms are in the way (see drawing below.)

I think that Carl's idea to install the switch on the jamb side of the door is a good one. I would flush mount a stubby magnet on the face of the door and then use a small surface switch on the side of the fixed frame beside the door openings.

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Michael Silva
Jun 12, 2018
Silva Consultants

Here is one idea for a jamb side switch installation:

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SD
Shannon Davis
Jun 12, 2018
IPVMU Certified

One thing to keep in mind is a lot of these doors are breakaway. Even the jamb side a lot of times is breakaway.

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Buddy Carmichael
Jun 12, 2018
AVS Design Concepts

I agree with Brian Rhodes - you should first check and see if it has it's own built-in contact. If it does there will be a set of screw terminals behind the cover plate that you can just simply connect to your wire. The large plate that's over the door should be easy to remove, exposing all of the mechanics of the door operator. On one end or the other there might be a set of terminals just for this purpose.

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Scott Bradford
Jun 12, 2018
IPVMU Certified

I looked at the doors and it does appear that they have integrated contacts in them (I can see the rubber covering them). It's just a question of if they are in use and how easy they are to access. 

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Michael Silva
Jun 12, 2018
Silva Consultants

Using any built-in contacts in the door operator will probably monitor the position of the top door carrier, not the door itself. If the doors were opened using the "breakout" feature, the contact in the operator would likely still show that they were closed.

Probably not a big deal in this application though.

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RW
Ray White
Jun 12, 2018

I would install a contact in the center opening and add a drop down plate with 2 magnets on the doors so slide or swing will give a forced door 

MM
Matthew Moyer
Jun 13, 2018

Previously I have put the contact in the stationary/break away door on the side facing the sliding door near the top and as close to the opening as you can. The magnet goes on the sliding door. Use an armored door cable to get the wire to not the door. This allows you to monitor the door opening as well as the break open. I used a 1” recessed door contact.

(Hopefully it makes sense. It’s harder to explain than it actually is.)

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