How to fix soft-close drawers that won't stay closed?

[tsc1611]

Hi, We have a soft-close drawer in our kitchen bench that all of a sudden decided it was no longer going to close all the way. You can push it all the way in, but it just springs out again. Can anyone please offer advice as to what the issue might be?

Thanks in advance

[EricL]

Hello @holl

It's great that you've decided to replace your drawer runners. I recommend bringing one of your drawers with you. This will make the matching process a lot faster as the kitchen specialist will have another point of reference for the replacement. If you have any other questions or need further assistance, please let us know.

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing your drawers functional again.

Eric

[kt44]

Sorry for being so late to the party.  I've now had about 10 Harn Triomax soft close mechanisms fail in a normal home kitchen.  They started failing after about six years. According to the supplier parts are no longer available in Australia and no one offers a similarly sized runner.  That means you need to resize the draw in order to fix it. Hopeless.  

[EricL]

Hello @kt44 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's wonderful to have you join us.

Can you please tell us what drawer runners did you end up replacing it with? Did you have to majorly adjust the size of your drawers? Would it be possible for you to post a photo of your modified drawer with the new runners? 

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Eric

[kt44]

Hi Eric,  Thanks for the warm welcome.   The first 2 were generously replaced with free runners from the supplier.  I then bought a set of Triomax online from somewhere. I then had to resort to buying a Haefle(?) set from Bunnings which meant cutting down the back and base panels.   Recently I have been experimenting with 3d printing a new "shuttle" and trying to repair the old shuttles.  (The poorly designed, tiny white plastic part/s below.)  This is the part that fails on the original slides.

[EricL]

Hi @kt44 

Thanks for that extra information about the drawer runners. It's good to know that Hafele drawer runners can be used as replacement set. If you have any other projects on the go, please make sure to post an update. I'm sure our members are keen to see what you are working on.

Eric

[jezzadj]

This is almost exactly where I've had 6x Harn soft close drawer slides fail now. All in that same spot.

And mine are integrated into the drawer sides so it'll be a project to retrofit a new brand of slides in...

Really helpful to hear it's not just me. 

That plastic shuttle/catch mechanism must be designed to fail imho

 

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @jezzadj. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for joining the discussion.

It appears that @kt44 has had some luck swapping their slides out for our Hafele drawer slides, so you might like to try them. From their post, I understand that the slides might need modification, depending on your cabinetry. 

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell