blumotion install

[HowardH]

We are nearing completion of a mammoth remodeling project on a house we bought in the Spring.  We had all the old style visible cabinet hinges replace with Euro style.  The new hinges close the doors rather abruptly so I ordered blumotion soft close devices for each door.  My question is where should they be installed, at the bottom of the door above the bottom most hinge or at the top of the door?  Does it matter?  I figured to place them where they would the least obtrusive.  On a side note, these units appear to be a much higher quality that the ones you can buy at the big box stores.  Blum isn't cheap but either are their products. 

 

[jonny round boy]

Howard,

Are you talking about the cylinder type, that fit into a hole drilled into the edge of the carcase?

If so, then the best position depends on the size of the door. As there's no way to adjust the resistance the cylinder gives, if you install them all in the same position, then a 600 wide door will close considerably quicker than a 300 wide door, as the cylinder has to overcome more momentum due to the mass of the door.

 

[tjbnwi]

Check the Blum hinge manual. Pages 53 and 71 deal with this. I'd link it but it's in iBooks On my iPad and not easy to share.

Some are adjustable.

Tom

 

[jmbfestool]

If you are referring to these Separate soft closer/damper

You can fix them on with brackets or drill them into the edge of the unit.   The brackets are 32system so you can fix them on the opposite side of the hinges either top or bottom where the hinges would go if you have the doors swinging the other way.   I normally fix them top.    ( or they get fixed hinge side depending on which ones you get)

But I avoid them to be honest because I don't think they are as good as the  soft close which attach to the hinges or are built into the hinges by Blum.

I think they are more of a dampener than they are soft close.
If you are buying plum hinges I believe you should buy the soft close for them or buy the built in soft close hinges.  

I think these separate  soft close/damper are more for existing kitchens with hinges which don't have soft close and you don't want to buy new hinges so you just buy these as a cheap alternative

 

[Deansocial]

What you linked to jmb go on the hinge side, there are 2 versions of it. The hinge side do work better.

 

[joiner1970]

I second JMB. If you can at least get the clip on hinge attachments or even better the hinges now come with blumotion built in.

 

[jmbfestool]

What you linked to jamb go on the hinge side, there ate 2 versions of it.

Yes they are I didn't fully read which type they where!  It says below the two types!  I just googled the image without reading.

 

[Bob Gerritsen]

I'm with JMB and prefer the built in blumotion stops inside the hinges.

But as you've already ordered these, my advise would be to install them with use of the mounting plate. I'm saying this as in my experience they only last so long, replacing them is much easier when they're mounted within the plates. In the shop I worked before we've tossed a box full of these after a couple years as they had gone stale, for lack of a better word. Not sure why but a lot of them simply didn't function anymore, the oil or whatever it is had lost it's fluidity.

You can also buy the click on blumotion stops that go on top of the hinge btw, not sure what the technique is there, might be the same. In any case, the hinges with built in blumotion are a different technology, I've been using those a couple years now and love them. Not even sure if my supplier even still sells the 'old' ones without blumotion.

Anyway, get the mounting plates is all I wanted to say. Good luck!

 

[mastercabman]

Witch one did you get?

 

[tjbnwi]

Here is the link to the Blum manuals;

http://www.blum.com/us/en/02/90/

Tom

 

[festup]

I just retrofit all of the cabinets in our house with Blum 973A soft closers. These snap onto the back of the existing Blum hinges. I used one per door, with the largest kitchen door being 34" x 16". I had to use a 970A on one corner cabinet. These work great. I also did our drawers since we have the Blum Metabox system, and they have a soft closer for these too. I got them from ahturf.com. All's quiet on the drawer and door front!

 

[HowardH]

Here is what we got.  Blumotion  We have partial overlay doors so we will have to use the spacer.  They are pretty big so that's why I was asking where to place them.  I see from the photo they are placed right up against the corner of the face frame.  Do I need to drill pilot holes? 

 

[tjbnwi]

Yes, drill a pilot hole.

The amount of force on the soft close is determined hinges closing force, more than the weight/size of the door. As the door becomes larger, you add hinges to overcome the load. The force on the soft close will remain close to the same. It's is rare that you need more than one soft close, I've only had that happen on a 5 hinge door.

Tom

 

[HowardH]

It would appear the thing to do is put on one each door and test to see if it needs help.  Most of the doors are average sized, maybe up to 36" long.  We have a few upstairs that are more like 48" so those may need two.  We ordered extra just in case. 

 

[tjbnwi]

There should be an adjustment screw under the cover. It moves the plunger in and out about 10mm total travel.

Tom

 

[HowardH]

None of ours is more than 3 so we should be good there. 

 

[jmbfestool]

I have never used that type of separate soft close before!    Seems expensive way to do it rather than getting built in/on soft close.

 

[mastercabman]

Here is what we got.  Blumotion  We have partial overlay doors so we will have to use the spacer.  They are pretty big so that's why I was asking where to place them.  I see from the photo they are placed right up against the corner of the face frame.  Do I need to drill pilot holes? 

I have put a lots of them!

you just need 1 at the top on the hinges side
If you have 1/2" overlay you will need to use the spacer provided.
I never had to drill a pilot hole.

 

[mastercabman]

I have never used that type of separate soft close before!    Seems expensive way to do it rather than getting built in/on soft close.

They re not all that expensive anymore
It is a easy add on soft close system
They were popular before the soft close hinge came out.

 

[mastercabman]

There should be an adjustment screw under the cover. It moves the plunger in and out about 10mm total travel.

Tom

There is a screw(no cover)
but just leave it the way they come in
I just installed 12 of them today at a job that I added cabinets from a 5 year old job.