Design Hardware ETW2-BB5 4.5" x 4.5" Electrified Standard Weight Ball Bearing Hinge

An electrified hinge like the Design Hardware ETW2-BB5 is the concealed way to do it. The wires run through the hinge barrel, so the transfer is hidden inside the hinge line rather than sitting in a surface cord loop on the hinge edge. It feeds electric mortise locks, electric cylindrical locks, exit devices with electric latch retraction, electric strikes on the inactive leaf of a pair, and locks with monitoring or request-to-exit switches. Concealed monitoring only, or transfer plus monitoring, both work through the same hinge depending on the wire count you order.

Four configurations are built: ETW2 is 2 wire in 22 gauge, ETW4 is 4 wire in 28 gauge, ETW2x4 is 6 wire made up of two 22 gauge and four 28 gauge, and ETW8 is 8 wire in 28 gauge. The heavier 22 gauge pair is the power side, so a straight electric lock or latch retraction feed usually lands on the 2 wire. Add monitoring, request to exit, or a second switch and you are into the 28 gauge conductors, which is what the 4 and 8 wire versions are for. ETW2x4 covers the case where you need power and several signal circuits down the same hinge. Other configurations are built on request.

One electrified hinge per door carries the circuit. The other two hinges on a standard three hinge opening stay conventional. Match them on size and finish so the door looks consistent, and put the electric hinge in the center position where the wire has the shortest, most protected run and the least door movement to flex against.

The Detex EWH8 is a five knuckle electric hinge in 4.5 inch by 4.5 inch with 8 wire, offered in satin chrome finish. The Design Hardware BB5 electrified hinge is also built on a five knuckle body and is offered in an 8 wire, 28 gauge configuration in 613 satin bronze oil-rubbed, 626 satin chrome, and 630 satin stainless steel. If the door needs eight conductors for a lock plus monitoring and request to exit switches, both carry that conductor count at the same 4.5 inch by 4.5 inch hinge size.

The RCI 952 is an electrified hinge with 6-conductor wiring and ball bearing construction, rated medium duty. The Design Hardware BB5 electrified hinge is also a medium duty ball bearing hinge and offers a 6 wire configuration made up of two 22 gauge and four 28 gauge conductors. Both land in the same duty class and bearing type at six conductors, so the deciding details are the gauge split you need for the lock and monitoring circuits and the finish you are matching.

It is built to ANSI A156.2 and ANSI A156.7. A156.2 is the bored and preassembled lock and latch standard and A156.7 covers template hinge dimensions, which is what matters for a spec job: the hinge is template, so it lands on the same hole pattern any other template 4.5 x 4.5 butt uses. On a submittal, those are the two designations to carry through.

Three: 613 satin bronze oil-rubbed, 626 satin chrome, and 630 satin stainless steel. All three are offered on every wire configuration, so you can hold one finish across a building and still vary the wire count opening by opening. 630 is the usual choice where the rest of the door hardware is stainless, 626 where the building runs satin chrome, and 613 on dark bronze packages.

A few, depending on what is driving the choice. The RCI 952 is the closest match in character, a medium duty ball bearing electrified hinge with 6 conductor wiring. The Detex EWH8 is a five knuckle electric hinge in the same 4.5 x 4.5 size with 8 wire, in satin chrome. For a heavy door, the BEST CECB168-18 is heavy duty with 8 wire. The Securitron EH is a double duty electric hinge, and SDC's PTH Series power transfer hinges carry an 800,000 cycle rating for high traffic openings.

Yes. Concealed electric monitoring is one of the three things it is built for, alongside plain current transfer and transfer combined with monitoring. For monitoring only you are carrying switch signal, not lock current, so the 28 gauge conductors do the work: ETW4 gives you four of them, ETW8 gives you eight. If you later add an electric lock to the same opening, the ETW2x4 six wire version carries both without a second hinge.

The BEST CECB168-18 is a steel full mortise concealed bearing electrified hinge with 8 wire, rated heavy duty. The Design Hardware BB5 electrified hinge uses ball bearings in a five knuckle full mortise body and is rated medium duty for medium weight doors of average frequency use. Concealed bearing hides the bearing inside the knuckle for a smooth barrel profile; the exposed ball bearing knuckle on the BB5 reads as the raised rings between leaves. Both are full mortise, so the door and frame prep is the same style of cutout.

The SDC PTH Series electrified power transfer hinges carry an 800,000 cycle rating. The Design Hardware BB5 electrified hinge is a medium duty ball bearing hinge whose ball bearings reduce friction to extend the life of the hinge, and it conforms to ANSI A156.2 and ANSI A156.7. If your specification calls out a cycle count on the transfer hinge itself, the SDC PTH is the one stating that number.

The Design Hardware BB5 electrified hinge is designed for doors requiring concealed low voltage current transfer, concealed electric monitoring, or both, and it feeds electric mortise and cylindrical locks, exit devices with electric latch retraction, electric strikes on the inactive leaf of a pair, and locks with monitoring or request to exit switches. It carries the door on its five knuckle ball bearing body while it does that. The SDC PTH Series is likewise a power transfer hinge. A separate door loop or transfer device does the wiring only and leaves the hanging to the hinges you already have, so the choice turns on whether you are replacing a hinge or adding a path alongside one.

The bearings do two jobs here. They cut friction so the hinge lasts longer and the door swings without binding, and on an electrified hinge that matters more than usual, because the conductors inside the barrel are flexing every cycle. A door that hangs true and swings smoothly is a door that is not working the wire. The BB5 is a five knuckle ball bearing hinge and is more durable than a plain bearing-free butt.

Commercial. The BB5 electrified ball bearing hinge is a commercial grade hinge at medium duty, which puts it on offices, interior access controlled doors, tenant suite entries, and similar medium weight openings of average traffic. It is not the choice for a high cycle main entrance, where a heavy duty electric hinge belongs.