Door Jam Switch for Pocket Door
 

I am building a closet in our front hall, and have chosen to install a pocket door.

I intend to have the lights in the closet come on when the pocket door begins to slide open. To accomplish this I thought of installing a door jam hinge inside the top of the pocket door frame, near the door guide/slide. When the door begins to open, the compression switch would be released, the circuit would close, and the lights would come on.

The only problem is that the switch I bought (in fact the only one I could find locally) has a spring that is simply too strong and pushes the door open by itself.

I've found a number of other switches online, but I have no idea the strength of the spring on any of them, and don't want to risk buying another dud.


Anyone have some experience with this kind of thing, and have some recommendations?


-Sheldon

Is there any way to add some friction in the door right at the close point to overcome the spring?

Yup
 

We have installed ball catches to the tops of doors to keep them closed. Worked for us on the high end homes, I'm sure it can work for you.
Ball Catch Door Hardware
This is an example.;)

Ball latch
 

Hey that latch idea is great! Simple and elegant.

I'll give that a try! The link helped too!

-Sheldon