How to Fix Drawer Slides with Ball Bearings? [Complate Guide]
Drawers these days include ball bearings so that taking them out and inserting them is easy! A little push and your drawer it inside, you don’t need any additional effort any longer! But if you start facing problems with putting the drawer in and taking it out, you might be having issues with the ball bearings of your drawer!
So, how to fix drawer slides with ball bearings at home? Do you need professionals for this? Can you fix it at home alone? There are a lot of questions! Let us answer all of them and tell you how you can repair your drawer slides!
Check it out to learn more!
Step by Step Fixing Drawer Slides with Baal Bearings
You don’t want to add deadbolt locks on your drawers, do you? You want your drawers to be free when it comes to movements! And today, we will learn how to help the drawer slides moves flexibly without any obstacles!
Step 1: Rearranging the Drawer
When it comes to repairing the drawer slides, the first thing you have to do is take the drawer out. As you have to work with the ball bearings and the sliding problems, you cannot do it if the drawer it already inside. So, before everything, get the drawer out. Also, make sure that you have emptied the whole drawer not keeping any equipment inside it.
If there is any content inside, you must take them off before you start working. All you have to do is rearrange the drawer. In some cases, you will see that there are no issues with the ball bearings. If it is like this, it is not use trying to fix the ball bearing. Before you get your hands on the ball bearings, you have to certify if the problem is with the ball bearings or not. In some cases, the objects inside the drawer prevent the drawers from opening and closing resulting in improper sliding issues.
In that case, taking off the objects and rearranging them will work without fixing the ball bearings. If the drawer still does not slide properly after the rearrangement, you have to get your hands on the ball bearings here and fix the situation.
Step 2: Taking the Drawer Out
The next step in the list of dealing with the ball bearings of a sliding drawer is to taking it out of the recess. Yes, all you have to do is pull the drawer first and then pull it up a bit. In this manner, you can easily take the drawer out of the recess so that you can go on with your work.
Now, you have to check for the rails. Here, checking the rails will ensure what’s exactly wrong with your ball bearings. Go through the outside of the drawer and start examining the rails and the cabinet hinges. Check both of the rails. There might be objects that are added to the drawer’s rail or recess that is keeping your drawer from sliding properly.
If there is any object that is obstructing the ball bearing’s regular rolling manner, this might be the reason of your problem. In that case, take the object out with your hands. In some circumstances, the object is usually too small. Examining properly is necessary for such situation. Use tweezers for removing the object if you go through small objects.
Step 3: Straightening the Bends
Now that you are already done checking for obstacles on the rails, you have to go through the next step. In this step, we will straighten out the bend in your drawer slides. Yes, at times, the drawer slides include bends. Kinks can also be the reason of your drawer not opening and closing properly. All you have to do is straighten these bends out. For this process, you will need needle-nose pliers. Use them to get rid of the curves.
Step 4: Coating with Mineral Oil
Once you are done getting rid of the bends in your drawer slides, you have to work with the ball bearings once again! Here, first, you have to search for a microfiber cloth. Once you get it, dampen it with oil. We recommend you using mineral oil for this process as it keeps the ball bearings safe and in perfect condition without causing any harm.
When you have dampen the cloth with the mineral oil, take it to the ball bearings and rub it on them. You have to rub it over the ball bearings. Along with this, use this on the slides too. Do not rub the pieces only one time; instead, go through the process of rubbing for a few times to safeguard the precision.
After getting the right amount of mineral oil on the ball bearings and the slides, go through the rails. You have to coat the rails with mineral oil in this position too. In short, you have to go through all the metal parts and ensure that the mineral oil is coated everywhere to ensure the easy movement.
Step 5: Checking the Improvement
When you have added mineral oil too all the parts of the drawer slides, you are almost ready to get it done! Now, your work is the take the drawer and gets it inside the cabinet. Take it and put it inside the recess just the way it was before.
Here, you have to pull the drawer open a few times and again shut it off so that you can understand if the problem with the ball bearing still continues or not. In this situation, the drawer will smoothly glide in and out and release you from any other complication!
You are done, my friend! Your drawer slide not can move freely without any extra effort to open or close it! If you want, you can repeat the use of mineral oil process once a month to make sure everything goes right!
Wrap Up
So, you have already checked out how to fix drawer slides with ball bearings and how you can make the drawer slides work in five easy steps. All you need to do is stop calling the professionals and be the professionals! Get your hands on the drawer slides and you will know how easy it is to do it!
If you are facing any problems with your cabinets or the drawer slides, check out our sites to learn more and fix it yourself! You will get every required solution here and we won’t disappoint you at all!
