Anyone use these soft close drawer adapters?

[-MIKE-]

So Knape & Vogt tells me they don't make a soft close slide for drawers wider than 24" because their tests show that the mechanism ends up failing from the torque, blah, blah, blah. They recommend their 8500 series for the 32" wide drawers I'm fixing. They make an under-mount soft-close for wide drawers but I don't know if there's enough clearance on the underneath for them. In case there isn't and I have to use the side-mounts, I'm looking at adding a soft-close adapter.

I promised the client soft-close so I'm looking at these soft-close adapters. They look promising and very easy to install. I'm just wondering if anyone in here has any experience with them.

[nailshooter41]

Well, this could be interesting. I have had no experience with them and have never even heard of a retrofit device that auto/soft closes a drawer.

Hope someone chimes in, or (ahemmm... MIKE...) tries them out and comes back here with results!

Robert

[Leon]

Have not used them however I saw those or something very similar to those at a WW show about 3-4 years ago. A company specializing in cabinet door/ drawer hardware jigs, hardware, and clamps was selling a retro fit soft close for drawers. FWIW there is also retro fit soft close door hardware available.

I would venture to say that the soft close feature on most any drawer slide is the weakest part of the slide. These add on units should at the very least be the easiest to replace should one fail but more trouble to install than simply a slide. IIRC the current slides are not full extension now. Would a shorter full extension slide with built in soft close be giving up too much if the drawer did not open completely?

[hubops]

Sorry - no personal experience with these .. < made in Germany >

John T.

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[Swingman]

No experience whatsoever with the add-ins so I'll not comment on that with pure conjecture.

However, I've used KV's MUV under mount full extension soft close extensively, so I can give you some intel on that.

Rare that an existing drawer will work with them, but you may get lucky.

One critical dimensions is the _drawer side thickness_, which dictates the the side to side clearance. With a 1/2" thick drawer side you'll generally need a 5/8" clearance on either side.

Also, there needs to be minimum 1/2" between the drawer bottom and the drawer side bottom. This forms the recess where the slide mounts. the recess must allow you to drill two holes in the drawer back for the built-in "tab clips" to hold the drawer down in the back, thusly:

Also, the drawer height needs to be RO minus 13/16" or greater, for most of their under mount MUV's.

Basically, if I use under mounts, I just built the damn drawers to fit the slide requirements.

AAMOF, I've made so many of them that I devised an Excel spreadsheet that calculates the drawer dimensions for MUV's based on RO's.

Easy email, if you're interested.

Again, depending upon the RO, the achille's heel for you may be the all critical drawer side thickness/RO issue.

[dpb]

As others said, I've no experience but just a suggestion -- if this is a paid enterprise as I gather it is, I'd get a pair in and try 'em and make a decision on that basis...

Or just ignore K-V and go with there's; the slides don't know how wide the drawer is? In this case, you _might_ be making a follow-up some years down the road if the drawers are at the extreme end of their loadings but I'd guess the likelihood they'd work and last just fine...

[-MIKE-]

I've installed many add-on door dampers with great success. I put them on our 70's original on-sire built doors and haven't heard a "BAM!!" even since. :-)

You brought two things to mind.

1. It's actually a great selling point to the client to have separate slides and dampers because of the reason you mention. Also, if you watch the video, these thing install in seconds. I imagine, the first one will take 10 minutes and the rest, less than one.

Two of my "selling points" were to give the soft-close and full extension so they could get to the backs of the drawers. The 8500s that K&V suggested to me are full extension, rated: 150lbs.

[-MIKE-]

I've been reading the spec sheet on the MuVHD's (heavy duty) so much that I almost memorized those dimensions. :-) I was planning on going back and taking detailed measurements to see if the under-mounts would work.

But I found a lot of six pairs of NOS 8500s for 60 bucks shipped. With the add-on dampers, it comes in just under what I quoted for the "Chevy" package they chose.

I would love to have that spread sheet.

[-MIKE-]

I'd rather take the advice of a manufacture who actually admits their product doesn't work. How often does that happen!? :-) In this particular case, the rep told me it's not a matter that I "might be making a follow-up some years down the road." He assured we that the damping mechanism was getting off track after weeks, not months or years.

I thought the same thing as you, "the slides don't know how wide the drawer is," and I believe I said that very thing to the rep. :-) He said, after the drawer dimensions are wider than "square," the lateral torque applied when opened or closed on one side or the other is what gets them off track.

One of my selling points to the client was not having to worry about how they open and close the drawers or where them grab them. I'm not selling drawer slides, I'm selling my word. :-)

[Leon]

Understood but in many cases the drawer can be 2~3 inches shy of coming out of the cabinet and still be very accessible.

For instance my desk drawer pictured below has a drawer that I used the next size down in length compared to the drawer. Now if what you are looking for is way short that would be different.

[dpb]

On 02/12/2016 10:57 AM, -MIKE- wrote: ...

...

Ah, that's not the failure mechanism I was envisioning...

[-MIKE-]

That may in fact be the results with these slides. The slides are 22 and the drawers are 23-1/2 (OD). With 3/4" ply construction, that's 22 on the inside.

[Leon]

I can attest that wide drawers can have a lot of wobble back and forth when the drawers are extended. This is with any side mount full extension slide.

I replaced and added deep deeper drawers to our kitchen island about 5 years ago. They are soft close and apparently my alignment for one was not perfect as over time one drawer does not soft close properly. It still works smoothly and shuts but every now and again the soft close seems to be defeated on one side or the other. The fix for that drawer is to simply open and close it several time and it corrects itself. I am sure that is not always going to be the case with each one that may begin to have issues with the soft close.

BUT tolerances seem to be important with the slide engaging the built in soft close mechanism. If the slides have a lot of wobble they could over time become a bit too sloppy for the soft close be engaged when the drawer is closed and reload when the drawer is opened.

[Leon]

Yeah, failure is more of a "wobble alignment engagement" issue more so than the soft close part of the slide failing to operate at all.

[Swingman]

Sorry, busy playing electrician this morning.

Sent to your email addy, be aware the file is from Excel 2003, so I purposely did NOT change the .xls format of the original, dated about five years ago.

I use Office 365 now and can convert it easily if you prefer the .xlsx file.

Let me know.

[Leon]

Got you beat! 1-2-3, 1999. LOL

Yesterday I was struggling with an Excel 2010 spread sheet that I wanted to send to our HOA attorney. Bryan said it is easy. And I agree once you learn which command keys to use, other that that it is pretty much the same as 123.

I laughed and said that I should send him the 123 spread sheet and let them scratch their heads on that.

[nailshooter41]

I no longer retro fit soft close slides on heavy duty drawers. A fully loa ded kitchen drawer will flex and move on the slides, almost regardless of c onstruction build. Not to say that the drawer box is coming apart, but it d oes flex along the slides due to uneven weight distribution when opened and closed, and small imperfections in alignment just amplify the problem.

Somewhere in the a kitchen cab rehab there will be a couple of big drawers, usually at the bottom of a bank or under a built in oven that are almost ( if not) overloaded. Crock pots, cast iron pans, Pyrex casserole pans, misc . appliances (blenders, etc.) wind up in these. I quit using soft close on these drawers as the mechanism had trouble closing the loaded drawer to be gin with, but after awhile they failed. The soft close mechanism isn't mad e to be a load hauler.

For the heavy duty weight carrying drawers, I use the KV 8505. It is rated for 150# of weight, which obviously won't ever happen. But the mechanism itself is so heavy duty and well designed that it carries the 50# or so the se drawers wind up with easily with no alignment problems later. I reinfor ce the drawer, add the slides and I am done.

Robert

[-MIKE-]

Those are the line I'm using. IIRC the difference between the 8500 and 8505 is full-extension, vs. over-extension. Both very, very strong.

[OFWW]

WOW, Seems like there is a jewel somewhere in most every post from you guys.

I too have cast iron pans and pots and I wouldn't cook without them. I was wondering about their loads on shallow flat drawers along with my favorite "cement mixer" and other things you mentioned.

I appreciate your thoughts on what to watch out for, as well as build considerations.

Thanks.

[Leon]

I rebuilt our kitchen in our other home in 1989. With a stack of 3, about 32" wide by 24" deep drawers built specifically for pots and pans my wife questioned me about the 1/4" plywood bottom I was using.

I put the drawer on the floor upside down and stood up on the drawer bottom. Good for about 185 lbs.

I have used a similar load tester in the recent past. IIRC the group here named it the LFAT.