How to fix derailed sliding wardrobe door?

[PeterCarroll]

Hi Again

Thanks to earlier respondents: my dishwasher has unexpectedly had a new lease of life and is working perfectly – without any human intervention. I’ll make hay while the sun shines!

My Arlec Tower fan is apparently beyond WiFi pairing, but is working perfectly with the remote control. Very useful, as it is again 30 degrees C today!

I will definitely buy a new one for next summer, when Bunnings put their range out – October?

A new issue, if that’s OK, as I think it was an IKEA flatpack. 

I have a bedroom wardrobe with sliding doors, one of which has derailed when I stumbled and tried to steady myself. 

I have taken the door right off – leaving the second door on its tracks behind it – but just cannot re-rail it. 

It is the type with two wheels at the bottom which run in a grooved track, while two adjustable plastic clips fit into a top groove.

Unlike other doors of this ilk, there is otherwise not enough play at the top to lift the door and clear the bottom track. 

On closer inspection, I realised that the top clips can (after releasing a safety catch) be pushed down to disengage from the upper track. 

I must be missing something, as I can only adjust one clip with the door half fitted, and you cannot then slide the back door the other way to reach the second top clip. 

Both doors have knobs, which can obviously be removed, but there are also plastic stoppers top and bottom inside the front door to prevent it passing the full length of the other door. 

My son and I assembled the flat pack a few years ago, but I didn’t remember this problem. 

Surely, one doesn’t have to start dismantling the whole cupboard?

Grateful any advice. 

Thanks

Peter

[EricL]

Hello @PeterCarroll 

Thank you very much for the detailed description of your sliding wardrobe door mechanism. Would it be possible for you to post a photo of the top clips and the rails on which your door runs on. This will give our members a better idea of what these parts look like. We can then make recommendations on how to proceed. Hopefully it will not be necessary to disassemble the wardrobe in order to fix the sliding doors.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[PeterCarroll]

 

 

 

 

 

 Thanks to EricL

As requested, some photos. 

From Top

Picture of bottom roller wheel. Note IKEA’s own brand!  Presume with special tool, Allen key?, height can be adjusted. Obviously difficult, if not impossible, to do from behind once wheel is inserted in bottom groove. 

General view of disposition of bottom wheels. 

Top clip in up (engaged) position, then in down (free) position. Two small crescent shaped plastic strips have to be squeezed together before lowering. Note clips are again IKEA’s own brand!

General view of disposition of top clips.  

The plastic stoppers (top and bottom) which prevent the doors from fully passing. I don’t recall installing these, so they may be moulded to door. Presumably they and the protruding brass knobs would need to be removed to allow both doors to slide fully from side to side?

 
Final picture not included as not enough relief in white doors to show problem. 

When both doors close, there is considerable overlap in the middle; and stoppers prevent full opening of any door. 

So, how to circumvent this dilemma and make necessary adjustments from inside??

Thanks again

Peter

[EricL]

Hello @PeterCarroll 

Thank you for posting those pictures of your wardrobe doors. I believe your description pretty much covers the functions of the parts of your wardrobe doors. The top clip allows you to lock the door into position, the rollers can be adjusted using an Allen key and the door has stoppers to prevent it from crossing over to the other side of the other door. Removing the stoppers might be possible, but I'm not exactly sure how the fittings can be removed. But should you be able to take that part off then your wish of having the doors cross over each other should work.

My only other suggestion is to call the manufacturer and see if you can get clear instructions in regards to the assembly/disassembly of your wardrobe door.

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1 and @JoeAzza for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Dave-1]

Good Morning @PeterCarroll 

With the overlap, it could be a safety feature so fingers dontget jammed between the doors or to ensure that they cant be drawn apart. Ikea stuff has beeen engineered to with an inch of its life so I would suggest a strong reason that its been built that way.

Adjusting the door.

Is their any space to "tilt" the door one way away from the wheel, that is to take pressure off the wheel and use that sprocket with your thumb to raise or lower the wheel itself? Your very first photo shows the cog with left and right arrows on it? I figure that if the weight is taken off the wheel it may be easier to dial the wheel. Even if you place a screwdriver under the door to wedge it up.

Dave

[JoeAzza]

Hi @PeterCarroll , I remember assembling an IKEA PAX wardrobe with sliding doors, for a friend, all I can say is follow the instructions supplied with flatpak , I looked at YouTube instructions prior to assembly, I have attached Part 1 of 3 of assembly. It looks like you can remove the sliding doors by removing an end plate. See video

This is only Part one of three , you will have search for the other two parts of the video. If yours is not a PAX Ikea model, just search for the model you purchased,or as @EricL suggested call IKEA for some assistance.

https://youtu.be/8p9B2gqRoIQ

[PeterCarroll]

Hi

Thanks to EricL, Joe, Azza, et al for all their kind suggestions. 

And apologies, as I may have made a mountain out of a molehill. 

As suggested, I searched the IKEA site and  identified the wardrobe as a Hauga brand. From there it was easy to download the assembly instructions, and I quickly found the solution. 

By removing the rear brass knob and then the two stoppers (secured by two plastic dowels, easily prised out with a small screwdriver) and checking the bottom wheels were fully extended (using that Allen key!), I then closed down the two top clips. 

After that, I inserted the door in the bottom groove, raised it to the vertical, and snapped each top clip into position, first from the left, then from the right. 

After a quick test to see both doors sliding properly, reinstalling the stoppers and knob was no problem: the plastic dowels can be pressed into place with your thumb!

So, thanks again to all involved. 

All the three issues I’ve raised have now been satisfactorily resolved. 

Cheers

Peter