Planning a Times-2 Speed File Installation in Utah

A Times-2 Speed File does not arrive as a finished cabinet on a pallet. Aurora ships it as parts. A starter unit comes as a base box (the base with the rotor bottom already attached, the rotor top, the canopy top and a lock rod), a door box (two doors, the center panel, the posts and vinyl strips), end panels, a hardware package, and separate boxes for shelves, dividers and accessories. Each add-on unit has its own base and door boxes.

The cabinet is built where it will stand, so nothing has to fit through a doorway or into an elevator at full height. It also means every install step depends on the one before it.

A Times-2 packs a lot of paper into a small footprint, and that is exactly why floor load matters. Aurora’s planning guide says a conventional drawer file holds at most about 35 filing inches per square foot of floor, while a Times-2 holds up to 72. The same files sit on about half the floor area, so the weight on each square foot goes up.

Aurora treats the building’s load rating as the fifth step of space planning, after capacity, workflow, square footage and equipment selection. It asks owners to confirm the floor can carry a fully loaded system, meaning the cabinets plus their contents. It also offers equipment and media weight estimates and other configurations if a floor needs help.

Level is what makes a rotary cabinet feel right. Each Times-2 base sits on four leveling screws, and Aurora’s manual says all four must share the load equally. On a floor that is badly out of level, installers find the high point and level outward from there. Each base is leveled front to back, then side to side. The next base is brought to the same plane and checked again before the bases are clamped together.

Carpet needs extra care. A loaded cabinet presses the levelers into the pile, so the manual has installers run the leveling screws down further on heavy carpet and leave clearance for the loaded weight. Skip that step and a row that looked level on install day can settle out of level once the files go in.

There are two more checks once the rotors are on. From the end of the row, the installer sights along the tops of the units, then from the front checks that every vertical line is parallel. Each unit is turned slowly to make sure it does not touch its neighbor at the top. At the end, every unit gets a full spin while the installer listens for rubbing on the vinyl door strips, adjusting the levelers until it runs clean.

If a cabinet drags or feels heavy to turn after a move, level and alignment are the first things to check, as on our University of Utah lab relocation.

Settle how staff will open the cabinet before install day, because some options change how the base and posts go together. A standard Times-2 releases with a foot pedal, and Positive Position Control gives a firm stop every quarter turn. Aurora notes that a unit can be installed in the free-spin position, or fitted with a hand release in place of the pedal, where accessible operation matters. Check the approach with your accessibility reviewer. A dual foot pedal is the option for a unit used as a room divider and opened from both sides; our guide to pass-through and room divider rotary cabinets covers those layouts.

Locks are part of the assembly too. The key lock in the front post drives a vertical rod that passes through the base into a lock bar, so it is set up and tested during installation. Aurora also offers Medeco high-security cylinders, twin locks with a supervisor key, and a battery-powered electronic keypad that replaces the key core in the field. The keypad cannot be used on security drawers (see our pharmacy rotary cabinet guide for locking drawers in use).

A Times-2 row can change over time, and planning for that now saves money later. Add-on units bolt to the unit beside them and share its post, so leave wall space at the open end of the row if you expect to grow. Aurora sells a conversion kit that turns an add-on into a starter if a unit ever needs to stand alone. Interior accessories are described as fully compatible and orderable later, so a cabinet bought for files can take drawers, dividers or bins down the road.

For spaces that get rearranged often, Aurora’s caster kit fits 2-tier through 5-tier units, with two locking and two free-spinning casters. Floor-standing rows that need to move are taken down and rebuilt rather than rolled. If your records are growing past what a few cabinets can hold, compare the plan with high-density mobile shelving in Utah, which uses floor rails and has its own floor preparation needs.