Step By Step Process To Fix Drawer Slides With Ball Bearings
Ball bearings are now a standard feature in drawers, making it simple to remove and reinstall them. You only need to give your drawer a small shove to get it inside; no further extra work is required! However, if you experience difficulties inserting and removing the drawer, your drawer's ball bearings may be failing. So, how may ball bearing drawer slides be fixed at home? Do you require experts for this? Can you do it yourself at home? There are numerous inquiries! Let us respond to them all and explain how to fix your drawer slides.
Step 1: Rearranging The Drawer
- First things first: remove the drawer before attempting to fix the drawer slides. You cannot work with the ball bearings and sliding issues if the drawer is already inside because of that. Get the drawer out first, then proceed.
- Additionally, confirm that you have completely empty the drawer, removing all of the equipment. Before you begin working, you must remove them if there is anything inside. The drawer only needs to be rearranged. You may observe that there are no problems with the ball bearings in some instances. If so, there is no point in attempting to repair the ball bearing.
- You must confirm if the issue is with the ball bearings or not before you can get your hands on them. Sometimes the contents of the drawers hinder them from opening and shutting, which leads to improper sliding problems.
Step 2: Taking The Drawer Out
- Taking a sliding drawer out of the recess is the next action on the list of things to do to deal with the ball bearings. Yes, all you need to do is pull the drawer out first, then lift it a little. By doing this, you can remove the drawer from the recess quickly and continue working.
- You must now look for the rails. In this case, inspecting the rails will reveal precisely what is wrong with your ball bearings. Start by looking at the rails and cabinet hinges on the outside of the drawer. Verify the rails on both sides. Your drawer may not be sliding smoothly because of items that have been put to the rail or recess.
- Your issue could be caused by something that is preventing the ball bearing from rolling in its normal manner. Take the item out with your hands in that situation. The thing is sometimes too small, as is the case most of the time. Such circumstances call for careful examination. If you go through little things, use tweezers to remove it.
Step 3: Straightening The Bends
- The next step must be taken when you have finished looking for obstructions on the tracks. We will straighten the bent in your drawer slides in this phase. Yes, the drawer slides occasionally have bends. Your drawer may not open or close properly due to kinks as well. All that needs to be done is to straighten up these curves. You will need needle-nose pliers for this procedure. Utilize them to eliminate the curves.
Step 4: Coating With Mineral Oil
- You must work with the ball bearings once again once you have eliminated the bends in your drawer slides. Here, you must first look for a microfiber cloth. Put some oil on it after you get it. We advise utilizing mineral oil for this procedure because it keeps the ball bearings secure and in top shape without doing any damage.
- After dampening the mineral oil-coated cloth, apply it to the ball bearings and rub it in. It needs to be rubbed over the ball bearings. Use this as well on the slides in addition. For the sake of maintaining precision, rub the parts several times rather than just once.
- Go through the rails after applying the proper amount of mineral oil to the slides and ball bearings. In this situation, you also need to mineral oil the rails. In order to ensure effortless movement, you must check that mineral oil is well coated on all of the metal parts.
Step 5: Checking The Improvement
- You're almost done when you've added mineral oil to every component of the drawer slides! Your task at this point is to pull the drawer inside the cabinet. Take it and place it inside the nook in the same location as before.
- To determine if the ball bearing problem is still present or not, you must repeatedly pull the drawer open and then shut it again. The drawer will effortlessly slide in and out in this circumstance, freeing you from any further complications!
- You've finished! Your drawer slide won't open or close smoothly without extra effort! To ensure everything goes smoothly, you can repeat the mineral oil process once a month if you'd like.