Dexter Door Closer Drop Plates

A drop plate is a mounting bracket that lowers the closer body from the door or frame face when there isn't enough flat surface to mount to. The Dexter drop plates cover the DCH1000, DCM1000, DCL2000 and DCR8000 Series closers. You need one when a narrow top rail, a glass stop, or a deep frame face leaves you without enough clean mounting area for the closer shoe. If your door has a full-height flat top rail and standard frame face, the closer mounts direct and no plate is needed.

Yes, the plate type follows the mounting. Dexter offers a Parallel Arm plate type and a Pull Side/Top Jamb plate type. Decide the mount first: parallel arm puts the closer on the push side under the frame soffit, pull side/top jamb puts it on the hinge side of the door or on the frame face above it. Ordering the wrong plate type means the hole pattern won't line up with the closer.

A drop plate and a shoe support address different obstacles. The Dexter parallel arm drop plate lowers the mounting surface so a DCH1000, DCM1000, DCL2000 or DCR8000 Series closer body can sit on a door or frame face that is too shallow to carry it, and it is offered in aluminum and dark bronze. A deep reveal on a parallel arm application is a soffit-bracket problem instead, which is what the LCN 1260-30 Cush Shoe Support covers, rated for 3-1/16 inch reveal compatibility in the LCN 1260 Series. Measure the reveal first, then decide whether the plate or the shoe support is the part the opening actually needs.

Drop plates are ordered separately from the closer. They are accessory brackets for the DCH1000, DCM1000, DCL2000 and DCR8000 Series, so when you spec a closer for an opening with a narrow top rail, add the plate line for the matching family, plate type and finish to the same order.

Aluminum and Dark Bronze, and both are offered across the DCH1000, DCM1000 and DCL2000 plates in either plate type. For a property manager standardizing a building, that means you can match the plate to the aluminum or dark bronze closer already hanging on the other openings rather than leaving a mismatched bracket over the door.

No. A drop plate is the mounting bracket between the closer body and the door or frame. The arm is the linkage that transfers the closing force, and it is a separate part, like the Deltana DCHA1050 hold open arm for the DC10 closer or the DCCA4041 cushion arm for the DC40. If you want the door to stay open or to stop against a cushion, you need an arm, not a plate. A drop plate changes nothing about how the closer functions.

Not as a substitute on a Dexter closer. Drop plates are cut and drilled to the hole pattern of the closer body they carry, so the Dexter plates go with DCH1000, DCM1000, DCL2000 and DCR8000 Series closers in pull side/top jamb and parallel arm versions. The Cal-Royal 900 Series Door Closer Accessories Kit is built for Cal-Royal's 900 Series commercial door controls. Order by the closer already hanging on the door: Dexter closer, Dexter plate; Cal-Royal 900 closer, the 900 Series kit.

A drop plate is a mounting bracket only, so it changes where a DCH1000, DCM1000, DCL2000 or DCR8000 Series closer sits and nothing about how the arm behaves. For arm function, the Deltana DCHA1050 is a hold open arm for the DC10 door closer and the Deltana DCCA4041 is a cushion arm for the DC40 door closer, each matched to its own closer series. On a track application, the LCN 4040SE-3038 is a standard track for fire/life safety door closers in the 4040SE Series and the LCN 4040SEH-3038 is the hold open track in the 4000 Series. Plate and arm are separate decisions and an opening can need both.

No, they are different parts of the opening. The Dexter drop plates mount at the head, carrying a DCH1000, DCM1000, DCL2000 or DCR8000 Series surface closer in either a pull side/top jamb or a parallel arm configuration. The Dorma 15323 is a 1-1/2 inch offset bottom arm with cover, a standard duty part that ties the door bottom to a pivot or floor closer and is not fire rated. Buying one when you needed the other leaves the closer with nowhere to mount.

The rating follows the closer and arm assembly, not the mounting plate. The Dexter drop plates are commercial door control accessories that adapt a DCH1000, DCM1000, DCL2000 or DCR8000 Series closer to the mounting surface. Where fire and life safety hold open is part of the specification, the LCN 4040SE-3038 is a standard track for fire/life safety door closers and the LCN 4040SEH-3038 is the matching hold open track. On the concealed side, the Dorma 15323 offset bottom arm is listed as not fire rated. Confirm the closer and arm combination against the door assembly listing before you order the plate.

These are commercial door control parts, catalogued by Dexter for its commercial closer lines (DCH1000, DCM1000, DCL2000, DCR8000). They are mounting brackets for the closer, not a residential trim piece.