Disassembling a fold-down bed

[Bert Coules]

Has anyone any experience with taking apart a fold-down wall bed? This was bought some years ago and unfortunately I don't now have the detailed instructions which came with it. All I really remember is that the two sets of enclosed tension springs which govern the balance of the fold-down part have to be slackened off at some crucial stage of the process, but exactly when, and exactly what state of fold-down-ness the bed must be at when it's done, I can't recall at all.

I've contacted the supplier who has said they'll look for the instructions. My particular model doesn't seem to be in their catalogue any more, though they have one that appears generally similar, the "Smart" model:

Many thanks.

[Adrian Caspersz]

In the US, they are called Murphy Beds if that's any help.

Not for you but here's an interesting alternative to that concept.

Adaptive space-saving bed snaps into ceiling when not needed

[GB]

I simply unscrewed one, without knowing anything about slackening off springs, although I held the bed in the position that had minimum tension on the springs. I survived - as you can tell - and somebody else reinstalled it without difficulty. This was a Wentel bed IIRC.

[Bert Coules]

Thanks for that. I haven't tried to gauge it yet but I imagine that the minimum-tension position is with the bed approximately halfway up (or down). And that if the springs are slacked off then, the weight of the bed frame immediately becomes a fairly prominent factor.

[Roger Mills]

It's going to work in a similar way to an up-and-over garage door. The spring tension is least with the door open - being just sufficient to hold it in the up position - and increases as the door is closed, in order to provide assistance with opening it again.

In order to remove garage door springs, you need to prop the door open and then unscrew the tensioners.

Extending that analogy to your bed, my starting point would be to remove the springs with the bed fully up against the wall. However, you probably can't get at the springs in that position - in which case you need to fold it down by the least amount that *does* provide access, and prop it in that position so that it doesn't collapse without its springs.

[ss]

Does this help:

[Bert Coules]

That makes good sense. Thanks. I must have done this (albeit tensioning rather than the opposite) when I first put the bed together, but annoyingly I have no memory of it at all.

[Bert Coules]

Thanks for that. The bed in the video is less sophisticated than the one I'm working with, in that mine has the springs completely enclosed in sealed metal housings and they have adjustable tension, but it's interesting that the American model has a latched position for attaching the bed frame to the cabinet and that it's at the sort of angle that others have recommended.

I do like the method they use to square up the cabinet: give it a kick.

[ss]

I would search on utube and see if you can find similar, the ones I have looked at all appear to have a locking mechanism for installation.

[Bert Coules]

[Bert Coules]

The fundamental difference is that with mine the spring mechanism is part of the bed frame rather than the cabinet. The adjusting device is the large bolt-head:

[ss]

Probably not any good but this looks like a similar type of spring.

[Bert Coules]

Very similar in fact, the only real difference seeming to be the extended "handle" on the adjusting screw. And that site gives 15 degrees from vertical as the proper position for changing the tension, so it's valuable confirmation. Many thanks.