Pullout Shelf Cabinet Failure

[bugnut]

Recently visiting and asked about a pullout shelf that kept falling down on another. I took a quick look but lacked the time to unload and further investigate. A glance at the interior suggested it may be heavily loaded. However I noticed some things and could use feedback and review of the images. Would also like, if possible, direction to the type/website for the particular slides. I noticed notches and wonder if they provide spacing? Also see pins and not screws so I suspect these are pretty light duty? Cabinets appear to be slightly better than builder grade, but not really sure. Feedback and any help appreciated! Thanks

 

[cmandp]

I'm not an expert in drawer hardware. But it seems to me that the cabinet side of that slide tilting is contributing to it falling down.

I'd try putting a screw into the hole (it seems designed for that) and see if it stops falling.

 

[Mike65]

In the first 2 pics there appears to be a hole in the track that is missing a screw & the track looks crooked which might be causing your problem.

 

[The Cobbler]

I'm having a tough time visualizing the tracks, looks to be very low end . but, try securing the tracks to the cabinets with screws.
also if the gables of the cabinet are pushing outwards , that will contribute to poor performance/falling off the tracks

 

[bugnut]

@cmandp @Mike65 @The Cobbler

Thanks for the help I'll take a closer look, I agree that the holes without, look like they should have screws! Again many Thanks

 

[OccupantRJ]

Looks like quick assembly bullcrap method of attachment. It would get screws all around if I had to deal with it. This is one of those cases in life where you make it like you want it or accept it like it is.

 

[geneg]

Recently visiting and asked about a pullout shelf that kept falling down on another. I took a quick look but lacked the time to unload and further investigate. A glance at the interior suggested it may be heavily loaded. However I noticed some things and could use feedback and review of the images. Would also like, if possible, direction to the type/website for the particular slides. I noticed notches and wonder if they provide spacing? Also see pins and not screws so I suspect these are pretty light duty? Cabinets appear to be slightly better than builder grade, but not really sure. Feedback and any help appreciated! Thanks

Lower end cabinets & drawer guides. The cabinet part is screwed to a strip of wood, not the cabinet side. It can be located in different notches to change the vertical spacing of the drawers. With use, the side strips can get wobbly. Shims between them & the cabinet sides can help to keep them tighter & parallel, but the best fix is to get the drawers where you want & use screws to attach the guides to the face frame at the front. Also, the rear of the guide needs to be aligned & attached first to keep everything in place.

It's not a terrible system, but it does need maintenance to keep it working properly. Once things start to wobble, it won't heal, only get worse until things fall.

 

[bugnut]

@OccupantRJ and @geneg Thanks I guess I will unload and remove the shelf then set about with shims and screws. Much thanks!

 

[geneg]

@OccupantRJ and @geneg Thanks I guess I will unload and remove the shelf then set about with shims and screws. Much thanks!

Good luck. Check the rollers on the guides to see if they are still running true. If loose, go to a big box & buy new ones along with the pocket mounts for the rear. Total cost less than $20. Drawer spacing will be semi-permanent, but how ofter do thsy ever get changed?

 

[rharman]

Yeah, those are definitely the lower end of drawer slides. But.... They can be quite adequate in many installations. They were used by the company (big player) that did our closet systems 30 years ago. Granted, they were made by Blum but still the same design. Some of our drawers are quite large and they're all made of 3/4" melamine so, definitely, not lightweight. But, they still roll smoothly.

On the plus side, they're relatively forgiving on fit tolerance.

 

[bugnut]

@geneg @rharman Thanks for the help. It will be a while to I get back to these. I'll take plenty of tools and supplies. I can attest that they are heavily loaded!

 

[Mike65]

If they have a lot of weight on them you might want to consider replacing them with some heavy duty ones.

 

[geneg]

If they have a lot of weight on them you might want to consider replacing them with some heavy duty ones.

And do away with the vert adjustment system.

 

[bugnut]

@Mike65 @geneg I can assure you that they are way above the recommended or maximum load. They were double stacked with canned goods. I won't go into that conversation with the homeowner.

 

[nadogail]

When I was doing Facility Maintenance for a bank they were having troubles with the slides on the coin drawers on the Teller Line, the slides they were buying would only last about a year.

I installed premium quality full extension ball bearing slides, my Supervisor objected to the cost of the new slides until they determined they were actually cheaper over the life cycle of the slides.

Cheap hardware is generally more expensive over time than the more expensive slides.

 

[rharman]

Those are likely the very low end of that style. The ones in our closets, by Blum, have held up fantastic. Some lowball manufacturer copies a design but can't hold the tolerances and uses cheap materials - a recipe for failure.

 

[bugnut]

@nadogail @rharman Amen, these are on a builder grade cabinet, heavily loaded.