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Trash - Foot Pedal AND Soft-Close?

15 years ago

Does anyone know a way to get a pullout to open with a foot pedal or something, but still be able to use soft-close to close it? It seems this would be quite useful because when I'm done throwing out the trash, I could just close it by bumping it with my hip since my hands might very well be dirty.

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Comments (8)

lowspark
15 years ago
If you're talking about the Haefele foot pedel, No. The foot pedal & soft close are working at cross purposes.

The foot pedal works with a bungee cord whose function is to keep the pullout open. What keeps it closed is a strong magnet. Kicking the pedal releases the magnet, allowing the bungee cord to relax, and the pullout to open.

Soft close works to keep the drawer closed. As soon as the drawer reaches a certain point, the soft close mechanism is pulling it the rest of the way to make it close.

One trying to open, one trying to close, one will lose, and my guess is that it will be the soft close.

You can still close it with using your hands, I do sometimes with my hip or knee. You just have to follow it through all the way till the magnet catches and it's fully closed.
jbrazmania
15 years ago
I really want a foot pedal opener on our trash/recycling after seeing a ridiculously expensive version at a showroom. Does anyone know if the Haefele works with INSET doors????

Thanks,
Jonna
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Having just gotten off the phone with Hafele, I can assure you that they do not specify that the pedal can work with any system. I first installed this about 7 years ago when we did our kitchen remodel. The pedal worked GREAT until last summer. A little plastic piece snapped off one morning and the magnet would not longer engage. After several phone calls I was told that I had to purchase an entirely new foot pedal unit (and they now looked a bit different than what I originally had). Fast forward six months, and today I had the same thing happen (same plastic piece snapped out). Hafele has kindly offered to replace the foot pedal under warranty but has warned me that this is only to be used with specific pullouts (mine is not one of them) and that I cannot expect it to work with a generic (non-Hafele) trash cabinet. The next time this happens, I will not be given a replacement. He said he was surprised it had lasted so long the first time. At this rate, the trash pedals are going to run about $150-$200 a year. I'm going to be looking for another solution, I think. After all this time, I'm surprised there are not more options on the market. Has anyone else out there had their pedal break like mine?
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I have the Hafele pedal and every once in a while it won't stay closed. This used to happen more frequently when I first installed it but now only happens once in a great while. What I've found is that the reason it won't stay closed is because the magnet isn't making good contact with the steel plate. I have to just scoot the magnet which is attached to the underside of the cabinet up a fraction of an inch. I think as I kick the pedal sometimes, the magnet can sort of get kicked back. For some reason I'm not able to tighten the screws which attach it to the cabinet - probably need to get someone with some muscle to do it. But like I said, it happens so infrequently that it's just easier to scoot it forward with my hands. I'm not sure if that is your problem, and I've never dealt with Hafele customer service so I can't help there. I've had my pedal for about 4.5 years and cannot live without it. I've gotten so used to it, I found myself trying to push an imaginary pedal in other spots in my kitchen! As for the soft close, I have that on all my drawers as well, and it WOULD be cool to have it on the trash, but for me, it's MUCH cooler to have hands-free opening on the trash. There are so many times my hands are wet/dirty/grimy, etc. from handling food and the foot pedal is indispensable.
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The Hafele has a bungee cord and the location that bungee cord is attached to on the railing is where the drawer opens to. Assuming you have the kind of cans that hang from a railing. My bungee is attached to the front of the floor of the cabinet on one end, and to just a bit beyond the front of the back trash can on the the other. So when I hit the pedal, it comes open to expose the entire front (trash) can and just a little bit of the back (recycle) bin. That's the way I set it up because that's how I wanted it. But I could have attached the second end of the bungee to the very back of the railing in order to have both cans exposed when I stepped on the pedal. The pedal and bungee operate independently so if you already have a pedal installed, just go get yourself a bungee and attach it and you should be good to go. You just need some kind of hook to install in the floor of the cab, and the railing needs a hole at the spot you want the bungee attached. I used a regular old drill to drill a hole in my metal railing for that purpose.
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Jnjmom...I ordered it from TrashCansAndMore. They have both versions...the one for trash bins hanging from rails and the one for trash bins sitting in a base. Trash bins sitting on base: http://www.trashcansandmore.com/Hafele-502.15.113-YQ1004.html ($35 + 6.99 shipping) Trash bins hanging from rails: http://www.trashcansandmore.com/Hafele-502.15.220-YQ1005.html ($59 + free shipping) Another site that sells them: http://www.kitchensource.com/trash/ha-5-43.htm & http://www.kitchensource.com/trash/ha-5-44.htm [Note the $12 shipping + $10 minimum order fee/surcharge]
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boxiebabe
15 years ago
YoYoMa: I just posted the same question a few days ago, and was told that you can have one or the other, but not both. I think I'd prefer the soft-close over the foot pedal, but that is just me. I am still investigating a good soft-close for the trash pull out, but will be interested to see if any are recommended on your thread.
lowspark
15 years ago
Jonna,
As far as I can tell, the answer is no. The foot pedal consists of a strong magnet that attaches to the underside of the cab which attracts a metal plate that is attached to inside the door of the trash cabinet. The pedal itself hangs below the door inside the toekick area. If you have an inset door, the frame of the cabinet is going to be in the exact spot where the pedal itself needs to be.
jbrazmania
15 years ago
Thanks Lowspark. I'm SOOOO bummed!!! :-(

It's such a simple thing, but it's one of the top "wishes" for my new kitchen. I really don't want to have to open my beautiful new cabinets with grubby hands (or my kids' grubby hands). The foot pedal is one of the main reasons I agreed to have the trash and recycling INSIDE a cabinet. Oh well . . . maybe someone else out there on this awesom website knows of another solution??????
rosie
15 years ago
Know what you mean. My choice (I'm a very messy cook) was for the foot pedal.
lowspark
15 years ago
I'd bet money that someone who's pretty handy could figure out how to set this up for you. It's just a matter of engineering it right. What needs to happen is that the pedal needs to be far enough down that it's in the toe kick area where you can push it with your foot, while the magnet and metal plate are up where the cabinet door is.

In other words, there needs to be some kind of extension for the pedal from the magnet. It's a fairly simple mechanism, not a lot to it. So customizing or somehow building your own to work on the inset cabs should be doable.
jbrazmania
15 years ago
I'll have to take a closer look and see if I can figure it out. I've had trouble locating old threads on the foot pedal topic when I do a search. I know I've read about it in the past, but they don't seem to pop up. I must be doing something wrong.....

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