Installing the Falcon FAL25R Rim Exit Device

Black matte is a modern finish, offered in more and more lock and door hardware models. In this installation, I am installing the Falcon 25R matte black exit device, an Allegion product.  Photo 1 shows what it looks like inside the box.

The site for this installation is a high-end retail establishment. We are replacing a silver exit device on a black door. The matte black option is going to blend in with the door and the customer was more than willing to pay the higher price simply because of aesthetics.

We’ll get some tools and get started. We’ll need some impact drivers and a basic tool kit.

The first step is to remove the existing exit device, which involved removing all the screws and then removing a bunch of caulk. A 12-volt impact driver worked extremely well for removing hardware.

Then I removed the cylinder from the old exit trim because the customer wanted to re-use the cylinder. Since they didn’t go for the darker, duranotic cylinder, the door will have a silver cylinder with black trim. If they want to update it at a later time, they can.

I need to rehand this new exit device, too. The good news is that it is field-handable. After opening up the lock, there’s a snap ring inside that you remove and flip around, ideally with snap ring pliers. Then the handle can be moved to the other side. Now’s a good time to install the cylinder.

I’m impressed with the spring tension and quality of this design. Everything fits together nicely and it feels like a durable, solid unit that functions well.

Once everything is reassembled, it’s time to start installing hardware on the door.

There’s a template to help guide the holes. I find that it sets it just a little bit too close and the head will often hit the strike when you put the trim over the head. So, I like to line it up with the device itself. A little tip for holding the device in place and lining everything up is to use some gorilla tape or painter’s tape – just make sure it’s not too sticky so it won’t pull the paint off the door.

I’m using some basic, generic self-tapping screws to align the strike, and then I will pull those out and use the supplied matte black screws that both meet the UL listing requirements of the exit device and match. Those self-tapping screws just so happen to be the perfect thread to pre-drill for the black screws. If you ever have concrete-filled frames, it’s always nice to use a self-tapping screw. That way, you don’t ruin a drill bit when you drill through the metal and get into the concrete.

Here it is all mocked up (photo xx). That tape is holding everything in place. It can be your extra set of hands.

I’m making sure that everything is engaging with the deadlatch and that there’s room for the door to sag. The door is always going to sag down as the hinges break down and wear down. Leave enough room at the bottom to accommodate some sag.

Again, I’m using the self-tapping screws to mock everything up into place and then make sure that everything is functioning correctly. It’s going to be much easier to move that around with the self-tapping screw, rather than drilling through all of the through-bolts. I don’t want to drill the through-bolts until I am 100 percent confident that the exit device is mounted in the correct location and everything is lined up and functioning well.

Put that piece of head trim on and make sure everything is nice and tight and that the head trim is not hitting the strike. I usually give it just a tiny bit of gap. It’s easier to space the strike plate out then have everything located and then find out that the head trim is hitting the strike as it comes in.

The customer paid for pretty looking hardware and eventually over time, that would scratch and scrape it. You want to make sure that there’s no engagement and it’s not hitting any of that head trim.

Now I’ll use the supplied black matte screws and set the center screw in place so that it can’t move. Tip: having a bubble level on your phone is a great help in making sure that everything is nice and level. Your door might not be level; your frame might not be level; but the exit device will most definitely be level.

Once we have everything set and perfect, I’m going to use a ¼ by 20 drill tap to drill through the door and also tap it to the ¼ by 20 thread that we need. Be careful with those drill taps. They’re very useful and very handy, but if they break, they can be a bit of a pain.

Next, I put the end cap on, doing a test fitting on everything. Then I’ll drill the through holes through the door, pull the self-tapping screws out, center our other holes for the through-bolts.

Mount the exit trim on the outside, again, using tape will help so that as you are pushing the through-bolts through, it doesn’t push the device off the other side. You kind of need four hands to hold the exit device, run the through-bolt through, hold the exit trim together and attach everything. Having the end cap mounted on this exit device is also going to help hold things.

Once you have it in place, simply install the 1/4 by 20 through-screws that go into the exit trim and everything will be held nice and solid. Before you crank everything down, check that the trim is nice and level and flat. Test with the key.

A minor glitch: In this case, it looks like the strike is not coming out all the way, so there’s some kind of bind. I corrected it and now the operation is much smoother and better. I’ll put the end cap back on.

Finally, I always push and kick and test again. If the deadlatch is not engaged properly, the door will fly open. This door passed my test. Everything looks good.

We are also going to do some touch-up paint on this door to make it look as nice as possible. This exit device is slightly shorter than the previous one.

I tested with the customer and explained how to use the Allen wrench dogging device to lock or unlock the door. Installation complete!

Wayne Winton is the owner of Tri-County Locksmith Services, located in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. For more information, check out Wayne’slockshop.com.