We just put up new Kraftmaid cabinets (solid wood type), and the doors when opened more than about 1/3 way will always swing themselves (accelerate) towards their full open position. This is annoying because you cannot open the door to a specific position by hand and let go without it swinging towards full open and *hitting* it's stop. The hit seems hard enough that over time it would affect the hinge mounting. Not to mention it's just plain annoying. It's also annoying after it is fully open because you have to give a harder than normal push to overcome the swing out tendency for the door to reach it's "soft close" zone and pull itself closed.

We have friends with the same brand of cabinets but theirs can be opened to any position by hand and when you let go the door stays put in that position. Theirs, however are not the solid wood type an have slightly different looking (bigger) hinge hardware.

I cannot find any instructions for adjustment for this specific issue. Is it normal for the cabinet doors to want to swing themselves out to/hit their stops without a push?

(Moderator- please move this if needed to "Carpentry, Cabinetry and Interior Woodworking" if I posted this to the wrong forum- thanks!)

 

I would guess you did not get them level. Don't count on wall being straight. To fall open the top would have to be out more than bottom..

 

Thanks! I put a level vertically to the front of the door and if anything the top is further back than the bottom (see attached pic). Also here is a link to a video that shows the symptoms I am describing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9N9...ature=youtu.be

Thanks again for looking.

 

The level needs to be placed on the frame where the hinges are mounted rather than on the door.

 

It looks like you need to shim out the bottom of the cabinet, the cabinet is probably more out of plumb than it looks.
Remove the bottom screws and insert shims where the screws will be. Shove them in until the cabinet is plumb, predrill through the shims and reinsert the screws.
A muti-tool/oscillating tool is handy for cutting off the excess shims. You can also make several scores with a utility knife and snap the shims off.

*Correction: the top of the cabinet needs shimmed.... I staple drywall shims to the wall, then hang the cabinet to make it easier.

 

I agree with the shimming... they should be plumb no matter what.

Do you have a little blue button on the cup side of the hinge? If so, adjust that switch so that your "soft close" piston is as short as possible. That is the setting for light doors. I dont know if its related or not, but it might help.

 

So it's turning out that *every* door on every cabinet is acting this way and all the cabinets seem as plumb as I can get them at this point (including shims to make them exact).. I am now starting to think this maybe an actual part of the design in this case..?...

XSleeper: there is a tiny switch in the cup that clicks into a few different detents vertically- they all seem to provide about the same amount of soft close 'catch'..

For the record- if the cabinet was out of plumb vertically either way- why would opening the door about 50 degrees result in it swinging past 90 degrees and staying past 90? I would think with the top too far forward it would tend to swing to a stop at 90 degrees open, and with the bottom forward it would tend to swing closed... ?

And here is the level against the cabinet face: