LAMA Hinges Problems

**Dannys** · 2nd December 2010, 05:18 PM

Hi All,
Just thought I'd share an incident I had recently with LAMA hinges. I'm fitting new solid jarrah raised panel doors to my kitchen cabinets and I got some LAMA hinges with the soft close devices. I thought "Well the distributor is just down the road and hinges are hinges" ...WRONG. When I fitted the doors and went to close they didnt close all the way and stayed ajar...so I made sure there was no binding, adjusted the soft close to minimum and tried again..same thing happened. So I tried all sorts of ways to make my doors close the way you see in the showrooms...but couldnt get the things to work. It was like the spring in the hinges was not strong enough. Even with the soft close taken off, it struggled to convincingly snap the door close. So I took them back to the showroom and the guy fitted the soft close device to the showroom door and guess what...It worked fine there. I just couldnt figure it out. So I unclipped the showroom door from the caracss...while the distributor complained bitterly, and the door was as light as a feather although it looked like jarrah..it wasnt. So I demanded a refund which he did do minus restocking?? fee. Anyway I got some BLUM hinges with soft close and fitted them...and it worked like a dream. So I deduced that LAMA hinges may work ok on light doors that are absolutly worthless in closing heavier doors and BLUM soft close devices were like a 1/4 of the price and work so well. So my advice is to go with a quality brand like BLUM and avoid LAMA hinges at all costs.

**Vernonv** · 3rd December 2010, 11:59 AM

Originally Posted by Dannys

So my advice is to go with a quality brand like BLUM and avoid LAMA hinges at all costs.

I've got over a dozen kitchen cabinets with LAMA hinges and soft closers and haven't had a problem. I even have some 2000 x 500 pantry doors (very heavy) that close without issue.

**Dannys** · 3rd December 2010, 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by Vernonv

I've got over a dozen kitchen cabinets with LAMA hinges and soft closers and haven't had a problem. I even have some 2000 x 500 pantry doors (very heavy) that close without issue.

Hi Vernonv,
Thanks for your input.
Are your kitchen cabinet doors solid jarrah? How many hinges did you use for the pantry doors? Im sure if I put 3 hinges on each of my doors they would probably be alright..but who puts 3 hinges on a 750mm high door?

Maybe I just got a bad batch. The springs did seem pretty weak. Anyway I got the BLUM hinges and they work very well and were much less expensive too.

**Vernonv** · 3rd December 2010, 02:58 PM

Originally Posted by Dannys

Are your kitchen cabinet doors solid jarrah?

No, 18mm MDF.

Originally Posted by Dannys

How many hinges did you use for the pantry doors?

Can't remember exactly, but I think 5. It was the number recommended in the LAMA documentation for the weight of the door.

Originally Posted by Dannys

Im sure if I put 3 hinges on each of my doors they would probably be alright..but who puts 3 hinges on a 750mm high door?

The quantity required is also based on weight, not just door size. Possibly you need 3 hinges based on the weight. Remember the spring tension is only part of it - if you overload the hinges you may just end up getting premature mechanical failure of the hinge. I'd double check the Blum manual and see what they say regarding number of hinges vs door weight/size.

I can't comment on the price you paid, but I know I got my LAMA hinges cheaper than I could get Blum.

**Dannys** · 3rd December 2010, 03:31 PM

The BLUM recommendation is 3 hinges for 6-12kg doors...I havent weighed mine but I would guess they would be under 6 kgs.

**GraemeMac** · 2nd October 2011, 01:36 PM

Just had the same problem as Dannys. I spent best part of a day trying to get them to work. I gave up and bought Blums. With a 5mm adjustment they worked fine.

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