First of all, let’s examine the contents of your standard Push-Button Release Kit, shall we? Here are the standard contents, along Stainless steel flange guards with short descriptions of which is which:
1. Lock Box (2″ x 6″ metal box)
2. Push Rod (11″ long round rod, usually gold)
3. Strike Pin (2″ long x 5/8″ diameter round pin, usually silver, may be inside Cardboard Slip)
4. Cardboard Slip (4″ long round cardboard)
5. Flange (1 1/2″ diameter aluminum cover)
6. Button (3/4″ diameter aluminum button)
7. Mounting screws (usually 4 small screws in a small plastic bag)
8. Plastic Guard (2 1/2″ diameter plastic cover)
The tools and unsupplied parts you’ll need are:
1. Knife
2. Pencil
3. Long 1/2″ Drill Bit (this needs to be long enough to go through your building wall)
4. Drill
5. 1/4″-3/8″ screws for the Lock Box holes, washers if needed.
6. Drill bit for those screws
7. Hammer
8. Ruler
9. Heavy duty Bolt Cutters or a Grinder, which can cut through a 1/4″ metal rod.
So let’s get to it!
1. Attach the Strike Pin to your window guard
The Strike Pin (3) should be permanently mounted on or near the outer metal framing of the window guard -referred to from now on as WG- on the side of the WG’s “door” opposite of the hinge, near the middle (the same place where a doorknob is located on a door). It should extend outward from the WG toward the wall, so that it will later slip into the Lock Box tip-first when closed.
IMPORTANT: The Strike Pin should point straight as possible, ie not pointing slightly up, down, to the left, or to the right. The straighter it is, the smoother its operation later.
The back of the Strike Pin has threads for a 1/4″ bolt, so a common way of affixing the strike pin to your WG is by first attaching a 1/4″ bolt it, then screwing the Strike Pin into that. Still, you don’t want people being able to simply unscrew the bolt from the outside, so it is important that you permanently fix it to the WG. This is most often done by spot welding the attached Strike Pin in place, but if a welder isn’t handy, any way the bolt can be made unturnable will work, such as using one-way bolts.