My 83-115 latch no longer has tension

Question

Followed your video for replacing the 83-115 latch as mine had broken. The old one came out with little trouble and the new one went in just as your video had shown but I now have no tension in the latch mechanism. The botton and latch just flop around. How do I fix this new issue as the old broken latch had tension.

Dave Sr. · Accepted Answer

This is an unfortunate and common issue with this older Pella screen door. What happens is that when you remove the latch, the tension pin inside the door has a high risk of bending. That will causes the latch to flop just as you describe, since it no longer has tension.

What you can do is take a screwdriver and gently bend the pin back in place to regain the tension needed. It just takes patience and a steady hand, but if you do that then you should get your latch operational again.