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

Count the conductors your device needs and order the matching configuration. The BB5 electrified hinge comes four ways: ETW2 with 2 wires at 22 gauge, ETW4 with 4 wires at 28 gauge, ETW2x4 with 6 wires (two 22 gauge plus four 28 gauge), and ETW8 with 8 wires at 28 gauge. A straight power run to an electric strike or a fail-secure lock is two conductors, so ETW2 covers it. Once you add monitoring or request-to-exit switches you are running power plus signal, and that is where the 6-wire ETW2x4 earns its place: the heavier 22 gauge pair carries the lock current and the four 28 gauge conductors carry the low current signals. ETW8 is for a lock stacked with several switches.

One. The electrified hinge is the current path; the rest of the openings hinges stay conventional. Standard practice is to put the electric hinge in the top position, closest to the head where the frame wire run is shortest, and hang the door on ordinary ball bearing butts at the middle and bottom. Order the BB5 ETW to match the wire count your lock or strike needs, then order plain 4-1/2 by 4-1/2 five knuckle hinges in the same finish for the remaining positions so the door reads consistent.

They are close but not identical. The RCI 952 is a medium duty electrified hinge with ball bearing construction and 6-conductor wiring, so it is a single fixed conductor count. The Design Hardware BB5 is also a medium duty ball bearing hinge, but it is ordered by configuration: 2 Wire 22 gauge, 4 Wire 28 gauge, 6 Wire made up of two 22 gauge and four 28 gauge, or 8 Wire 28 gauge. If your device needs two 22 gauge power conductors plus four signal conductors in one hinge, the BB5 6-wire configuration carries that mix.

The Detex EWH8 is a five knuckle electric hinge in 4.5 inch by 4.5 inch with 8 wire, offered in a satin chrome finish, which lines up closely with the Design Hardware BB5 in its 8 Wire 28 gauge build. The Design Hardware BB5 is a five knuckle 4.5 inch by 4.5 inch hinge as well, and its 8 Wire 28 gauge version comes in 626 satin chrome and 630 satin stainless steel. If the opening is already specified around a 4.5 inch square five knuckle electric hinge with eight conductors, the two cover the same prep.

Two: ANSI A156.2 and ANSI A156.7. A156.2 is the bored and preassembled lock standard and A156.7 covers template hinge dimensions, which is the one that matters for whether the hinge lands on the same screw pattern as the template butts already in your openings.

A hinge transfer is the right call when you want nothing visible between the frame and the door. Everything runs inside the hinge barrel, which is the point of the BB5 ETW series: concealed low voltage transfer, concealed monitoring, or both together. The tradeoff is conductor count, since you are limited to what the hinge is built with (2, 4, 6, or 8 wires). If your device needs more conductors than the hinge offers or heavier gauge than 22, a surface or concealed power transfer between the frame and door edge is the way to go instead.

Two finishes, both standard commercial: 626 satin chrome and 630 satin stainless steel. Every wire configuration (2, 4, 6, and 8 wire) is available in each, so you can standardize the finish across a building and still vary conductor count opening by opening. 626 is the common match for satin chrome lever sets and closers; 630 matches stainless exit devices and pulls.

Several, and they split by conductor count. For an 8-wire run, the Detex EWH8 five knuckle electric hinge is also 4-1/2 by 4-1/2 in satin chrome, and the BEST CECB168-18 is a steel full mortise 8-wire in a concealed bearing, heavy duty build. For 6 conductors with ball bearing construction at medium duty, the RCI 952 is the close counterpart to the ETW2x4. The Securitron EH is a double duty electric hinge, and the SDC PTH Series is the choice when cycle life drives the spec at 800,000 cycles.

That is one of the uses it is built for. On a pair, the strike mounted in the inactive leaf has no frame to feed it directly, so the BB5 ETW hinge carries the low voltage across the inactive leafs hinge line. Two conductors handles a straight strike, so ETW2 is enough unless you are also monitoring the leaf.

Yes. The Design Hardware BB5 is sold in a 2 Wire 22 gauge configuration in 626 satin chrome or 630 satin stainless steel, which is the straightforward choice for a single low voltage load such as an electric strike on the inactive leaf of a pair. The 8-wire route, such as the BEST CECB168-18 steel full mortise electrified hinge or the Detex EWH8 8 wire hinge, carries conductors you would not terminate. Step up to 4-wire or 6-wire only when you are also running monitoring or request to exit contacts back to the frame.

No. The BEST CECB168-18 is a concealed bearing hinge, where the bearings are hidden within the knuckle profile. The Design Hardware ETW2-BB5-HW is a five knuckle ball bearing hinge, with the bearings visible between knuckles. Both reduce friction, but if the specification on the drawing calls out concealed bearing for appearance or to match existing hinges on the other openings, the two are not visually interchangeable.

No. An exit device with electric latch retraction needs power carried across the hinge side of the opening, and that is what the Design Hardware ETW2-BB5-HW is designed for: concealed low voltage current transfer, concealed monitoring, or both. A plain ball bearing hinge with no conductors will not feed the device. If the exit device draws more than the BB5 configurations suit, the BEST CECB168-18 heavy duty electrified hinge and the SDC PTH power transfer hinge are the alternatives to look at for the same job.

On any door with a closer on it, yes. The ball bearings cut friction at the knuckle, which extends hinge life and keeps the door swinging true instead of sagging and dragging the latch out of alignment with the strike. Design Hardware builds the BB5 with five knuckles and rates it more durable than standard hinges. On an electrified opening that matters twice over, because a sagging door works the concealed wire run at the barrel.

Commercial, and specified against ANSI A156.2 and A156.7. It is a medium duty ball bearing hinge, which puts it in offices, tenant suites, back-of-house doors, and interior openings on an access control system rather than on a high traffic main entrance.