Soft closers for internal doors?

cjard · 6 Apr 2019

the pan drawers in the kitchen are soft close self close thanks to a mechanism that looks like this:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/hafele-soft-close-mechanism-for-roller-runners/3181J

A plastic bogey travels along an L shaped slot as the drawer is pulled open then flicks out of the way as the end of the L is reached. When closing the bogey flicks back, captures the activating finger tab and travels back to the closed position using a spring-damper arrangement that means the drawer self closes softly when it reaches circa 4 inches open

I'm wondering if a similar thing exists for internal doors? Something that will catch and close in the last few inches of ajar, but isn't one of those big, ugly overhead force closers/jamb based chain closers that pull closed all the time - I'd like to be able to leave doors open and only have them activate a self close when nearly closed. I'd prefer something cheap (like that drawer runner) and easy to hide

EddieM · 6 Apr 2019

Perko make a range, aint cheap though.

foxhole · 6 Apr 2019

You can get kitchen door piston style closes that only act on the last 20mm of closing , for large kitchen doors 2.2m Use two or three but there are some with varying weight capacities .

Harry Bloomfield · 6 Apr 2019

cjard said:
the pan drawers in the kitchen are soft close self close thanks to a mechanism that looks like this:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/hafele-soft-close-mechanism-for-roller-runners/3181J

A plastic bogey travels along an L shaped slot as the drawer is pulled open then flicks out of the way as the end of the L is reached. When closing the bogey flicks back, captures the activating finger tab and travels back to the closed position using a spring-damper arrangement that means the drawer self closes softly when it reaches circa 4 inches open

I'm wondering if a similar thing exists for internal doors? Something that will catch and close in the last few inches of ajar, but isn't one of those big, ugly overhead force closers/jamb based chain closers that pull closed all the time - I'd like to be able to leave doors open and only have them activate a self close when nearly closed. I'd prefer something cheap (like that drawer runner) and easy to hide

I have been thinking to look into something like that, to stop SWMBO from slamming kitchen drawers shut. The original drawers were just plastic sided/ hardboard base and they soon fell apart with the weight and abuse. I replaced the drawers with steel sided, ply bottomed ones which included new side runners. These have stood the test of time well. The runners have a final slope, so the drawer is pulled closed for the last 1/2"

How would these Hafele runners fit in with the above?

EddieM · 6 Apr 2019

do you mean kitchen doors or room dividing doors?? Kitchen cabinet doors, Blum do a range of soft closers.

opps · 6 Apr 2019

EddieM said:
Perko make a range, aint cheap though.

Wow, I have just looked at the prices of the Perko Powermatics. They seem to range form £130 to over £300.

Just wondering- do latch keepers help reduce slamming? They seem to be pretty cheap.

https://www.acsissling.com/?i=382304&f=382306

https://www.carlislebrass.com/products/locks-and-latches/tubular-latches/easi-keep-latch

cjard · 7 Apr 2019

foxhole said:
You can get kitchen door piston style closes

Kitchen cabinet doors are already soft close

EddieM said:
do you mean kitchen doors or room dividing doors??

I mean for the doors that divide rooms. My pull out larder probably weighs the same as my internal room door, and the larder has a soft close self close similar to the drawer closer

Perhaps though trying to do it in one mechanism is trickier than eg having self close hinges with a flat part so a door can stay ajar, and a piston soft close in the jamb

cjard · 7 Apr 2019

cjard · 7 Apr 2019

Harry Bloomfield said:
I have been thinking to look into something like that, to stop SWMBO from slamming kitchen drawers shut. The original drawers were just plastic sided/ hardboard base and they soon fell apart with the weight and abuse. I replaced the drawers with steel sided, ply bottomed ones which included new side runners. These have stood the test of time well. The runners have a final slope, so the drawer is pulled closed for the last 1/2"

How would these Hafele runners fit in with the above?

Make sure you get the right mechanism; some of these things are only for metal drawers, others only for wooden ones. Might be simplest to replace your runners with soft closing ones

https://www.eurofitdirect.co.uk/products/ball-bearing-45kg-soft-close-drawer-slide-46x400mm-ext-100

But to use the Screwfix ones is just a question of alignment; they come with fitting instructions and I describe how they work in the original post. Buy one and have a play with it, it should become apparent pretty quickly how they work. The critical part is a plastic finger that pulls the mechanism open, attached to the drawer, while the mechanism itself is attached to the cabinet

magicmushroom666 · 7 Apr 2019

These work well and dont affect the door until its almost completely closed. Quite big and obvious when fitted though.
https://www.slamproof.co.uk/FR-3G-Adjustable-Door-Damper-100kg

foxhole · 7 Apr 2019

cjard said:
Kitchen cabinet doors are already soft close
Some are , by no means all and they use a variety of methods, some have soft close hinges , older style use a separate piston to damp the self closing action of the hinge .

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Soft closers for internal doors?

EddieM

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