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Door Modifications

Here are a couple of useful modifications to the door area, in addition to adding cross bracing to the door. I added aluminum brackets from the hinge to the adjacent post to take the door load off of the ABS plastic. Second, I got a piece of 1/8" thick ABS from Amazon and cut it to make a 6" wide "awning" over the door. This should keep rain from falling directly on the door seal.

6 comments

6 Comments

telawson

Aug 09, 2022

Hello Stacey & everyone,

I was having trouble with my door lock. For the life of me I couldn't get it to un-lock. I found a great post about the problem on Cloudy Nights. If you read the post two above mine they guy gives part number for the lock. Then read my post & follow the link to the door lock.

I'm the last post in the thread unless someone replies to my post. Look for the post from GUNER that's me:

https://www.nexdome.com/forum/modifications/door-modifications

S Stottz

Jun 02, 2022

I too will be adding a soffit/overhang above the door and reinforcing the hinges to the aluminum post as well. Additionally, I'll being adding a flexible plastic strip door sweep brush the entire perimeter where the dome resets on the upper wall groove. Something similar to this: (https://www.amazon.com/Frost-C35PH-Plastic-4-Inch-36-Inches/dp/B00176BIO8) I hope this will help keep larger bugs, other things out of the interior.

Steven Green

Aug 23, 2020

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Stacey the awning over the door is genius. I’ve used automotive weather stripping but have found it looses its adhesive grip and starts to fall off after a season of rain.

About the hinge bracket you used, was it store bought or fabricated? Regardless of method procured do you have the specs?

Stacey Mills

Aug 23, 2020

Replying to

The ABS "awning" works great. I radiused the inner edge to the outer radius of the dome and then added 6" to the radius for the outer edge of the awning. As you can see, it's notched a bit on the ends to fit the curve.

I fabricated the aluminum brackets that support the door hinges out of 1/16" (I think) thick aluminum sheet. I have a sheetmetal bending "brake" but it's thin enough to bend by hand in a vice. I don't have any specs and each dome is probably a little different. I did some measurements and a little trial and error. You can always tweak the bends, then drill the holes when you're done bending.

Steven Green

Aug 23, 2020

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Replying to

Thanks

Stacey Mills

Jul 09, 2020

BEWARE THE DOOR LATCH. If you have a door latch like the one shown, be aware that you can become locked out of your observatory, regardless of the key status. The small loop at the bottom of the latch will lock the door when it moves just a bit to the left and lock it open when it moves to the right. This happened to me the other night and fortunately the shutter was open, so with two step ladders, I was able to climb inside. I don't know how I would have proceeded with the shutter down and unable to be opened from the outside with the shutter motor drive in place. I initially tried using ths copper wire shown to keep it from locking closed but it started locking open SO I took it apart and removed the internal locking piece shown at the left in the second picture. This solves the problem and the external lock still works fine.