Crank handle

A crank handle, manivela in Spanish, is an arm or lever turned by hand to work a mechanism. On doors, the Spanish word is used as a synonym for the lever handle: the lever that works the latch of the lock to open the door.

The word has another very common use at home: the crank handle on shutters that have no strap. It is the elbow shaped part that hooks onto a mechanism beside the window and is turned to raise or lower the shutter. You see it a lot on large aluminium shutters and on doors out to a terrace.

If you are talking about a door handle and it is loose, droops or does not return to its position, the problem is usually in the spindle or the spring of the lock. Replacing just that part, in the right size, is usually enough. We explain it in handles and knobs.