One of my readers who has Merillat cabinets was able to diagnose a manufacturing problem that caused his cabinet doors to not close properly. He was able to recreate a defective hinge detent by punching it with a pin punch and get his cabinet doors to close.
Readers’ comments:
“I too had issues with the hinges. Oiling or greasing the wear points per their instruction sheet extends the life (there are much easier ways to lubricate than their sheet shows).”
“Mine had two issues, the main being a missing detent that held the spring on one side on some of the hinges (caused by a broken punch in the metal stamping die). The door did not close. A pin punch to manually create the missing detent solved the closing problem in the bad hinges. The spring can then be repositioned to be effective. I also received some free hinges, so I have spares.”
“Lubrication, the second issue, made all the remaining doors close as they should. I used a white lithium grease instead of an oil.”
“Part numbers are found on the hinges which identify which hinge to order, the hinge must be removed to get the numbers. Not all hinges have a part number and then must carefully be measured per manufacturer instruction. They had to send me 4 hinges to see which one was the best fit.”
“The felt or rubber door stops/bumpers also deteriorated over time. Merillat claimed the installer puts them on. The only ones that hold up are felt or 3M Bumpon. There are Lots of bumpon counterfeits and none hold up or they get mushy over time. 3M Bumpon have a hologram on the back of the sheet since counterfeits are rampant. SJ6553, SJ6561, SJ6506 and SJ6512 are the cabinet door series. I used the one that is .115-inch-high since cabinet handle screw caps are .100 standard height. The bumpon urethane is softer at the tip than at the base and are amazingly quiet.”
You can contact Merillat here.
TIP: If you usually change the batteries in your smoke alarms on New Year’s Day but didn’t get to it this year be sure to do it this week.
If you have suggestions for future tips or have questions about maintenance around your home submit them to ask.the.woodchucks@gmail.com.
