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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Commonwealth
A different model was used in the Massachusetts region. 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 center 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 an 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. leading to the surface entrance to the Vault. It is a large convex structure, and has a vault-shaped elevator and blue and grey paint throughout the structure. It also bears yellow pipes, gas tanks, warning lights, black plates dotted throughout, and a red in-take valve.