Heat effecting aluminium sliding doors - solution?

[Kinnock]

Our house has 8ft tall, glazed sliding doors, and several are now jammed because of lack of clearance to the top runner.

 

I think it may be due to heat expansion?

 

I'm planning to use a mini rotary saw or grinder to increase the clearance by enlarging the cut out by 1 or 2 mm.

 

Thoughts?  Bad idea?  Better solution?   Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[gamb00ler]

Is there no adjustment for the height of the wheels at the bottom of the door?

 

I'm no expert, but checking out that option shouldn't take much effort.

[OneMoreFarang]

Was this always like that in the hot season?

Maybe it's good enough to clean everything to make sure there is no dirt to block the clearance.

 

If the heat is the problem, then you should be able to close those doors at night when it's not so hot. Can you? 

[Gsxrnz]

Is there a bigger gap at the bottom of that edge cap?  It may have ridden upwards over time.  If so, give it a nudge downwards.

 

Otherwise, grinding off a few millimeters is the obvious solution.

[Korat Kiwi]

Adjust the bottom rollers.  Should be a plug or two that you need to remove and then you'll have access to a screw that lifts or lowers the rollers. 

 

Easy fix. 

[Kinnock]

17 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

Is there no adjustment for the height of the wheels at the bottom of the door?

 

I'm no expert, but checking out that option shouldn't take much effort.

Ah ..... good suggestion!

 

I had a look and these look like the adjustment ....

1

 

[Dante99]

10 minutes ago, Korat Kiwi said:

Adjust the bottom rollers.  Should be a plug or two that you need to remove and then you'll have access to a screw that lifts or lowers the rollers. 

 

Easy fix. 

This works but clean the tracks too.  Might have to clean wheels too.

[Kinnock]

Glad I posted here before I got the grinder out! 😀

[brianthainess]

Some have adjusters at the top also, the wheels do wear over time. 

[OneMoreFarang]

4 hours ago, Kinnock said:

Glad I posted here before I got the grinder out! 😀

 

I have to admit I always like it when I find a reason to use that tool. 😉

 

 

[0ffshore360]

Be aware that all four corners of a sliding  door will have adjusters to level and align the door  against the jamb. If it need be to  create clearance  at the top then first adjust down at the bottom but in small increments.

 

[Elkski]

But i bet it did expand as expected and just started hitting.  Usually those bottom wheels dont raise up by themselves.  

[Yellowtail]

13 hours ago, Elkski said:

But i bet it did expand as expected and just started hitting.  Usually those bottom wheels dont raise up by themselves.  

But the wheels do get all the crap from the track building up on them, and the house can settle and skew the doorframe a bit. 

 

A 2.5m long piece of aluminum extrusion will expand only about 1.15mm when the temperature increases from 20 degrees C to 40 degrees C.

 

 

[Kinnock]

On 5/6/2024 at 9:08 AM, Yellowtail said:

But the wheels do get all the crap from the track building up on them, and the house can settle and skew the doorframe a bit. 

 

A 2.5m long piece of aluminum extrusion will expand only about 1.15mm when the temperature increases from 20 degrees C to 40 degrees C.

 

 

Interesting information .... and that 1.15mm must have been just enough.

 

When I removed the end strip to get at the wheel adjuster, the door moved perfectly with equal gaps all round.  

 

I decided to take a file to the cover strip top groove rather than adjust the door, as the striker and latch all looked to line up perfectly.

 

[BoganInParasite]

Heat never buggered or even worried our sliding doors....three impatient or excited 45-52 kgs Labradors on the other hand....

[ignore it]

Don't use grinder. There are a lot of creepy types on the site.

Can't think of any solution that will help, 

Just whack a few mils off and slap on some grease. 

[Dante99]

On 5/7/2024 at 12:15 PM, Kinnock said:

When I removed the end strip to get at the wheel adjuster

That's you on the ladder?