Escape 23 Drawer Sliders

[ldvorak]

Has anyone had any issues with drawer sliders losing ball bearings and then getting stuck? My unit is a 2024 E23 that I picked up in Chilliwack this spring. Am just curious. I had 3 drawers do this so I replaced all the sliders.

 

[LRL]

Has anyone had any issues with drawer sliders losing ball bearings and then getting stuck? My unit is a 2024 E23 that I picked up in Chilliwack this spring. Am just curious. I had 3 drawers do this so I replaced all the sliders.

No, but I did have two drawers' sliders come off their attachment to the cabinet due to the use of exceedingly short screws. And the screw holding a cabinet door magnet decided to break when I opened the door.

 

[ldvorak]

Drawer Sliders

Yes the screws were also very short and small (number 6, 1/2 inch screw). I replaced them all with number 8, 1/2 inch screws and that seemed to work well. I just thought the quality of the sliders should have been better.

 

[Selkirk]

You must have one of the first E23's in Alberta....hope you are enjoying it!

Yes the screws were also very short and small (number 6, 1/2 inch screw). I replaced them all with number 8, 1/2 inch screws and that seemed to work well. I just thought the quality of the sliders should have been better.

I had the same issue with the #6 screws that attach the drawer slides to the cabinet frame. One worked itself loose and jammed up the slide mechanism. It was probably stripped out when initially installed. I also replaced them with #8 screws and have had no issues since.

The slides themselves have held up well though.......

 

[Traverson]

Is the drawer slide pull pressure adjustable? Mine is so hard to pull, it feels like I'm going to break the drawer.

 

[BobCS]

Is the drawer slide pull pressure adjustable? Mine is so hard to pull, it feels like I'm going to break the drawer.

I wish. My E23's drawers and doors all seem quite reluctant to open. I know we don't want them to open during travel, but still. I'm fairly sure the drawers are a friction catch and the side-opening doors are magnets, not adjustable. The bottom-opening doors use a strut that IS adjustable. After replacing a bent hinge, I adjusted all of those struts to a more user-friendly angle.

 

[Selkirk]

I wish. My E23's drawers and doors all seem quite reluctant to open.

I've gotten into the habit of not fully closing the drawers (to the point where the latch engages) unless travelling. However, that means the drawer face protrudes about 1/8" further from any adjacent cabinet doors.....which does bother my OCD.

I'm fairly sure the drawers are a friction catch and the side-opening doors are magnets, not adjustable.

ETI must have recently changed to magnetic latches for their side-hinged cabinet doors!? My 2023 model has roller-style latches, which are prone to failure. I've already replaced three.

 

[coaster]

I've gotten into the habit of not fully closing the drawers (to the point where the latch engages) unless travelling. However, that means the drawer face protrudes about 1/8" further from any adjacent cabinet doors.....which does bother my OCD.



ETI must have recently changed to magnetic latches for their side-hinged cabinet doors!? My 2023 model has roller-style latches, which are prone to failure. I've already replaced three.

What did you replace them with?

 

[Selkirk]

What did you replace them with?

After the first two failed, I had ETI send me a sbout a half-dozen spare roller latches. They keep failing at the rate of 2-3 per year.

I need to reach to ETI and see if they will send me a full set of the newer style magnetic latches. These look like a much better design and should be simple to retrofit.

 

[brroberts]

There are several threads about latches and options. We switched to “airstream” latches.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07T4GP3YZ?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image&th=1

 

[Genebuilder]

It’s important you let ETI know, in a positive way, that the E23 kitchen cabinet drawer hardware is poorly designed and assembled to the cabinet frames. I am in the process of sending ETI a series of pictures illustrating the kitchen cabinet drawer issues.

In the meantime, I replaced all the kitchen drawer sliders with high quality soft-close sliders. Added material to underdesigned lower cabinet framework. Now a pleasure to open and close the drawers and they have sufficient static friction to stay closed while under way.

The above all started taking place when our drawers were unopenable the first night in WA after picking up our E23 in Chilliwack.

New owners should consider opening and closing all drawers several times when doing pickup orientation at Chilliwack.

All said, I love our trailer and enjoy tinkering with it!

 

[LRL]

It’s important you let ETI know, in a positive way, that the E23 kitchen cabinet drawer hardware is poorly designed and assembled to the cabinet frames. I am in the process of sending ETI a series of pictures illustrating the kitchen cabinet drawer issues.

In the meantime, I replaced all the kitchen drawer sliders with high quality soft-close sliders. Added material to underdesigned lower cabinet framework. Now a pleasure to open and close the drawers and they have sufficient static friction to stay closed while under way.

The above all started taking place when our drawers were unopenable the first night in WA after picking up our E23 in Chilliwack.

New owners should consider opening and closing all drawers several times when doing pickup orientation at Chilliwack.

All said, I love our trailer and enjoy tinkering with it!

Do you have a link to or name of the sliders you used? Thanks!

 

[vermilye]

I don't know which slides Genebuilder used, but I replaced the very poor quality bottom mount slides Escape was using in their 2017 trailers with soft close side mount slides from Lowes. Around $20.00 per pair. While I had already made an interesting drawer lock using a "T" handle & spring, I found that the soft close slides keep the drawers closed in all but the roughest driving. Some photos of the slides & drawer locks towards the end of my Escape 21 Modifications page.

 

[LRL]

I don't know which slides Genebuilder used, but I replaced the very poor quality bottom mount slides Escape was using in their 2017 trailers with soft close side mount slides from Lowes. Around $20.00 per pair. While I had already made an interesting drawer lock using a "T" handle & spring, I found that the soft close slides keep the drawers closed in all but the roughest driving. Some photos of the slides & drawer locks towards the end of my Escape 21 Modifications page.

Thanks John.

 

[Genebuilder]

Hi Lee and Nancy
Sorry for the delayed response to your question about drawer slides. I purchased Everbilt 18” full extension side mount ball bearing drawer slides. Found them at Home Depot, around $20 for a set of two.

A word of caution. In my case, I found the kitchen cabinet framing on my 2024 E23 F1 insufficient to properly hold my new drawer slides.
I had to drill an extra mounting hole in the front of the new slide in order to catch sufficient framing material to hold the slide in place.

I then had to pilot drill into the weak framing in order to keep my mounting screws from further splitting the wood, as was done in the original installation.

I will try to attach pictures to illustrate what I have done.

Please note: Pictures of slides with square drive (Robertson?) screws are the original ETI installation. Pictures with Philips head screws show my installation.

I’m going to tackle the cabinet between the twins next. A whole new opportunity for improvement exists there…

Bottom line: I see growing pains in a new model that might have been rushed to market before good Beta testing. I’m sure ETI is aware and is striving to do better. I love the product.

 

[LRL]

Hi Lee and Nancy
Sorry for the delayed response to your question about drawer slides. I purchased Everbilt 18” full extension side mount ball bearing drawer slides. Found them at Home Depot, around $20 for a set of two.

A word of caution. In my case, I found the kitchen cabinet framing on my 2024 E23 F1 insufficient to properly hold my new drawer slides.
I had to drill an extra mounting hole in the front of the new slide in order to catch sufficient framing material to hold the slide in place.

I then had to pilot drill into the weak framing in order to keep my mounting screws from further splitting the wood, as was done in the original installation.

I will try to attach pictures to illustrate what I have done.

Please note: Pictures of slides with square drive (Robertson?) screws are the original ETI installation. Pictures with Philips head screws show my installation.

I’m going to tackle the cabinet between the twins next. A whole new opportunity for improvement exists there…

Bottom line: I see growing pains in a new model that might have been rushed to market before good Beta testing. I’m sure ETI is aware and is striving to do better. I love the product.

Wonderful. Thank you. And I agree: we love our 23, but it did have its initial quirks!