Onarway Hydraulic Door Closer Installation and Review

Onarway Hydraulic Door Closer Installation and Review

Buy it at Amazon: Onarway Hydraulic Door Closer [Affiliate Link]

Takeaway: Quick and easy installation, simple speed adjustment; closes door firmly and consistently, but no option to keep open.

You'll receive the hydraulic piston, arm assembly, six M6 bolts, six wood screws, one hex bolt with flat washer and lock washer, one cover cap, two mounting templates, an instruction sheet, and a color photo installation guide. The installation guide with the color photos is pretty useful and nicely lays out how to install the hydraulic closer, adjust the speed settings, and orient the piston when installing it. It's pretty much the same as the engineering drawing instructions, both of which describe standard and parallel installation methods. The reason you have two drill templates is because one is for installing to the push side and one for the pull side of the door.

The hydraulic piston is housed in a durable metal case and weighs nearly 3 lbs. The length of it is 7", with a depth of 2.5" and a height of 3". On one end of the piston you'll see two adjustment screws marked 1 and 2. These adjust the closing and latching speed of the door respectively. The instructions explain this well: the closing speed refers to how fast the door closes from 180 to 20° while the latching speed controls the speed of the last 20° of movement to fully close the door. It also warns you not to remove the adjustment screws or force close the door after the unit is installed.

The length of the swing arm can be lengthened by unscrewing it and then tightened in place using the nut. When installing the piston, orientation matters and you always want the side with the adjustment screws to face your door hinges. The two methods of installation refer to the side of the door you're installing on, either you pull the door towards you to open (standard) or push the door away from you to open (parallel).

I installed the closer on my back door, on the pull side, with the hinges on the left side of the door. I used the template to mark the general area where I would be installing the closure, but held the piston up to the door with a level and marked the holes that way. Also, because my door has an extra frame around it, which is not typical, I had to modify the installation a bit. Namely, I removed the locking nut on the swing arm so I could make it shorter than is typically allowed. This also changed the location of the holes I needed to drill in the frame for the swing arm.

You'll need a couple of drill bits for installation. The instructions recommend a 3.5mm diameter bit for wood and a 5.1mm bit for metal with an M6 thread tap. Since my door is metal with a foam core, I used a 5/32" drill bit and skipped the tap and opting for the wood screws instead. For the wood door frame I used a 9/64" inch bit.

A couple tips for drilling into a metal door. Tap a center mark before drilling so that your bit has something to seat into and doesn't slide across the surface of the metal. Then, rather than putting the drill into high speed, pulse it on slower speeds while pushing with even pressure. This avoids overheating the bit and wearing it down prematurely.

The full installation took me about 20 minutes. After the door closer is installed, you can adjust the closing and latching speed according to the instructions. I set my door to close with a total time of about 3 seconds. The main difference with the closer installed is that the door is slighter harder to open initially, because you need to get past the hydrostatic forces of the piston. While not overly difficult for me, this may pose a problem for the elderly or children.

Since the door closes behind me when I leave the house, I no longer have to pull it shut and the automatic dead bolt won't have a problem or jam. I have the Yale Assure Lock SL smart lock [Amazon Affiliate Product Link] with Door Sense installed and the door closer ensure the door always automatically closes and locks behind me. When coming back in, again I do have to use some effort to push the door open, but it closes fully behind me which is great if my hands are full. However, if you want the hold the door open, you'll need to invest in a door stop.

Overall, the door closer was pretty easy to install and calibrate, works exactly as I expect it to, and ensures that no one will mistakenly forget to close the door, providing security, draft protection, and peace of mind.

Buy it at Amazon: Onarway Hydraulic Door Closer [Affiliate Link]