Gate Hinge Adjustment: Why Your Gate Holds Open and How to Fix It

Recently, a customer reached out about his Waterson marine grade spring gate hinges installed on a beachside gate. Although he specifically requested non hold open hinges, he found the gate stuck at 90°, requiring a slight push to close — raising concerns about the hinge adjustment and installation.

“The hinges work great, but the small issue is that the gate holds open when at 90 degrees and needs to be manually pushed closed to start the closing process. We’ve tried multiple different settings for the tension, swing and latch speeds but can not find one that will automatically start the closing without needing to start with a slight push.”

So What Exactly Happened Here?

After collecting all the installation information, we recognized that the spring gate hinges are set at too high tension at top settings (S feature – 4 & 6), which are too strong for this lightweight gate.

Additionally, our hinges’ hold open feature typically engages at 90°, but in the video, his gate stops at around 70°. That is due to overly tight speed control on the bottom ends (A feature).

How to Adjust the Gate Hinges

Since this 90 degree gate hinge issue commonly happened to our customer, Waterson here is the step-by-step guideline on how you can improvise the gate hinges setup. By following that, the door will be…

Step 1: Reduce Tension on Top

Use a 5mm hex wrench to reduce tension settings on the top of gate hinges to 2, 3, or 4 — depending on the weight of your gate.

Step 2: Loosen Swing Speed (Bottom Hinge)

Turn the bottom end swing speed nut counterclockwise to increase swing speed. Lock it using a 3mm wrench.

Step 3: Test and Fine-Tune

Open and close the gate several times. Adjust the tension and swing speed again if needed to achieve smooth, self/soft closing.

For more information, go further with our Adjustment Instruction here.

“What If I Still Cannot Adjust the Gate Hinges?”

Waterson’s Support Team is always here to help — 24/7. However, to resolve your issue efficiently, we need clear visual information on EACH HINGE settings and installation.
Please follow the steps below before sending your support request:

• Step 1: Take a photo of the bottom adjustment screw and hinge type marking (SA, SA1, etc.) on EACH HINGE.
• Step 2: Take a photo of the current tension setting on EACH HINGE.
• Step 3: Record 10-15s of your gate performance to help us understand your issue and provide accurate support.
• Step 4: Send all the information to Waterson Contact Us Form

Watch a short instruction on how to send Waterson an adjusting request.

Waterson Spring Loaded Self Closing Gate Hinges

Waterson Self Closing Gate Hinges combine an overhead hinge into one attractive component with optional hold-open and door-stop features. These hinges are ideal for commercial openings, gates, and glass doors. The hinges are easily installed and adjusted to comply with ADA & ICC A117.1 requirements for opening force and to assure quiet, secure closing. Made with stainless steel, Waterson hinges meet NFPA 80 and are UL 3-hour fire-rated, as well as being suitable for both interior and all-weather exterior openings. See all our features.

Request For Quote

Please note that Waterson closer hinges start from a size of 4″x4″. If you’re in need of smaller self-closing hinges, we’d recommend checking out some other resources! Also, we only provide single acting closer hinges. Thank you.

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