Locking Handle Kit for Restaurant Hood Grease Filters

These restaurant grease filter locking handles help you comply with fire regulations in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. With a drill and a few pop rivets you can convert standard filters to locking ones at a fraction of the cost of those with locking handles already installed (item # 09978) using the downloadable assembly instructions (which leave out the part about drilling and pop rivets).

A typical installation of these on a standard filter is shown in the pictures here. It's actually straightforward and takes only a couple minutes, but if you don't plan it can be a pain. It's very difficult to freehand drill the baffle through-hole as the metal moves and the drill bit will wander. Likewise, if you try to mark positions on the frame to install the brackets, the drill bit will wander, and the brackets won't end up where you want them. Therefore, we offer these two suggested installation methods:

• Preferred: locate where you want the through-hole in the baffle and drill that first using a drill press using a drill bit that is slightly larger than the locking pin to give yourself some play. Next, temporarily stick the pin through the bracket and baffle through-hole you just drilled so you can align where to drill the bracket holes in the filter frame. Tape or clamp the bracket in place to keep your alignment. Drill the first bracket hole leaving the bracket and pin in place, secure the bracket with one pop rivet, check your alignment, and then drill and pop rivet the second hole.  Once the first bracket is installed, stick the pin fully through the first bracket and baffle, flip the filter over, position the bracket on the other side, and clamp or tape it in place. Drill and pop rivet one hole, check the alignment, and then drill and pop rivet the other hole. Done.

• Next best: If you don't have a drill press, install the first bracket using one pop rivet, align everything, and then drill the baffle through-hole using the hole in the bracket as a guide. Use a drill bit the exact diameter of the bracket's pin hole (or smaller, in fact); do not enlarge the bracket hole. Then flip the filter over and enlarge the baffle through-hole from the other side. Flip the filter back to the first side and continue the installation as described above.

We sell aluminum hood filters (item # 09975), galvanized hood filters (item # 09976), and stainless steel filters (item # 09977).