Vault door

Vault-Tec, when constructing their Vaults made sure that their inhabitants are well protected from outside threats. One of the key pieces of engineering that protected the dwellers was the Vault door.

Standard door
A typical door used in the Vaults, composed of two pieces that connect and seal (with the use of special interlocking cones) when the door closes. An emergency override handle is placed above the connection seam. Under normal circumstances, when a hatch is locked, only an experienced locksmith could lockpick the hatch. Each door is operated by hydraulic motors that effect 3300 lbs of pressure when operating the door.

Doors are designed with three safety features. The first is a caution zone marked by yellow lines on the floor. The second is an automated system that reverses the door if it detects an obstruction, and attempts at closing the door a few moments later. If the obstruction remains under the door, it will continue repeating this motion until powered off or the door finally closes. The final feature is a power box next to the door, which can be used to shut off electricity to the bulkhead and seal it. Under normal circumstances, the lamps on the power box are green. If the power to the door is cut using the switch, they glow red.

Interior doors
The Vault Door is a type of electro-mechanical door used in the Vault-Tec Vaults for creating physical barriers between corridors, rooms, and stairways. The hatch is a heavy steel door, of either one or two pieces, supported in a heavy steel frame built into a wall and powered by concealed powerful hydraulic motors.

Security door
This model is identical in function and safety features to the door above, except there is a centrally painted white vertical band with a stop sign and the words "No Access - Authorized Personnel Only". There are downward pointing chevrons above and below the text.

Maintenance hatch
This is a one-piece hatch. Hydraulic motors swing it 90 degrees on a hinge when opening. On one side of the hatch, there are two circular indicators. When the hatch is closed, both indicators display diagonal red lines on a white background. As the hatch is opening, the indicators display OPEN in red text on a white background, while the other shows STAND BACK in red text on a black background.

Vault blast door
A Vault requires proper sealants against radiation and other hazardous elements that may be created in the event of a nuclear war, to properly protect its inhabitants. Vault-Tec used a number of different door models in their shelters, the most common being the 'Seal-N-Safe' Vault Door Model No. 343 (denoted as such in the Vault 15 townmap).

'Seal-N-Safe' Vault Door Model No. 343
Most common model, this door was first used in the demonstration Vault beneath Los Angeles. It had a smooth outer surface and opened outwards, rolled to the side by an extending mechanical arm. It was a very compact design, usually followed by a long air lock, ending in a high-security door, with two layers of steel and a slab of lead in the middle. Allegedly, Vault-Tec used this model for most Vaults, but this has yet to be confirmed.

In Fallout Shelter, player-created vaults use the Seal-N-Safe 343, which can be upgraded to the nine cog model seen below.

East and West Coast
A different model was used in the East Coast and the Mojave Wasteland Vaults; this particular one had a larger opening diameter and was much thicker than the Seal-N-Safe 343. Usually mounted near the door is a warning light and siren which are both turned on during the first few seconds of the door's opening or closing cycle. One installation has the ability to mount security cameras beside the door. The East Coast model is opened from the inside using a large mechanical arm mounted to the vault entrance's ceiling. When the door control panel is used to open the door, the arm swings down and pulls the door inward and onto a gear rack built into the entrance floor, allowing the door to roll aside. Inside and outside the vault, there is a control panel that activates the vault door from either side, however, the controls can be locked with a password. It is assumed that the password is a voice command, as there appears to be a microphone and speaker on the console.

Commonwealth
A different model was used in the Massachusetts region, and also in Vault 118 in Maine. This model is very similar to the doors seen in the Capital Wasteland and Mojave Wasteland regions. When properly maintained and serviced, the door has a dark grey base and has a bright yellow centre and outer rim. The Vault number is neatly drawn in black. On the rear-side of the door are black-and-yellow warning symbols, and a light bearing the text "clear" mounted beside the door. Within the base is a yellow purge valve with a hydraulics tank. It is one of the only doors so far known to have text on the door. Vault 111 in particular has an elevator, an additional protective measure as a nuclear blast wave would pass over it, and Vault 118 had an elevator specifically for vehicles that the residents wished to keep. It is a large convex structure and has a Vault-shaped elevator with blue and grey paint throughout the structure. It also bears yellow pipes, gas tanks, warning lights, black plates dotted throughout, and a red intake valve. From the inside and outside, the vault door is controlled by a control panel, but unlike its East and West Coast counterparts, the Commonwealth control panel requires to be connected to the adapter plug of a Pip-Boy 3000 Mark IV to unlock the controls. Also, much like the Seal-N-Safe Vault door shown in Fallout 1 and 2, the Gear is rolled to one side after the door is opened, unlike the Capital Wasteland and Mojave vault doors in which the gear rolls on its own.

Fallout Shelter
Every Vault in Fallout Shelter, has the same standard model of door. When the vault door is upgraded to Level 2, the nine cog model is used.