Boler Hinges

[Neil W']

Hi everyone.
I'm probably missing this in another thread but when we bought our Boler there were no springs on the door hinges and the bushings were badly worn. I have purchased and installed new bushings, springs and bolts from Scamp. I am just wondering about the adjustment of the springs. I am assuming that because there are springs involved they should not be tightened till they are completely compressed rendering them basically useless. Is there a proper procedure for setting them up? I assume they should be left dry to avoid collection of dust etc. caused by lubricant.

[Brian B-P]

I basically just tightened them enough to take out the slack plus a couple of turns. I bought the whole kit with bolts from Scamp partially to see what length of bolt they used - I assume it's no longer than necessary, so there shouldn't be a lot of threads past the end of the self-locking nut. The only purpose of the spring and bolt is to keep the door from falling off, such as over bumps, excessive tension will just accelerate wear, and closing the spring up solid will keep the hinge from being able to accommodate hinge misalignment as intended (or as you said, Neil, useless).

I lubricate mine, because it seems to me that brass on aluminum needs grease. My bottom hinge lube dried out, and the door started to stick and creak, and the drag was obvious as the forces cause the body in the hinge mounting area to flex.

[Neil W']

Thanks Brian that's about what I had figured. I'm going to think over lubicant but you're probably right that it will reduce wear. Actually it would only take a few minutes every year to clean it and re-lube. A bit of simple preventative mtce. to keep things working smoothly.

[Yuri Verbowski]

My hinges started creaking the other day. Didn't have any grease handy so i gave a squirt of graphite. Instantly stopped the squeak and the hinges move like butter. No unsightly leaks either. I'd recommend it over grease any day.

[Donna D.]

My hinges started creaking the other day. Didn't have any grease handy so i gave a squirt of graphite. Instantly stopped the squeak and the hinges move like butter. No unsightly leaks either. I'd recommend it over grease any day.

AND graphite won't attract dust and dirt... which is a good thing as your hinges will last longer without all that grit embedding in the hinges.

[Brian B-P]

Good point: they need lubrication which works under the pressure resulting from the weight of the door (and the spring tension) - not necessarily grease. Maybe graphite lubricant is better.