VOCOMO Lid Stay 100 Degree Open with Soft Close - Lid Support for Toy Box, Easy to Install (2 Pack,Left Right)

The installation instructions that come with this product are lousy, first because they’re sparse and written in Chinese, and second because they’re misleading. The illustrations are cluttered with unnecessary measurements, seemingly contradictory measurements, all in metric, and all serving to obscure the fact that all the illustrations assume one thing: that the axis of rotation (center of hinge) is located at or near the back wall of the box. If your hinges are mounted elsewhere, then the measurements illustrated are meaningless.My hinges were displaced 2-1/4” by the wide rim of a blanket box, and after spending an hour puzzling over the installation diagram provided, and others posted online, I concluded I was wasting my time and none the measurements or diagrams shown were applicable to me, this because the center of rotation of my hinges were set behind the back wall of the chest.Other reviewers have complained about lack of clear installation instructions over a long period of time, but the manufacturer/seller has apparently done nothing to correct the problem except post a colored version online with equally confusing illustrations. I bought two of these lid breaking devices six months apart, and each came with the same illustrations (not online version) written in Chinese. I’m not a China basher, but a foreign manufacturer selling in an English-speaking market should include installation instructions in English.Ultimately, I had to build a model to test positioning of the brakes. (see photo) Where you place the attachments makes a big difference for how much breaking force you get. Mount the brakes wrong and the lid will slap down hard or not close at all. Mount them correctly and they will work okay for certain limited uses (size and weight of lid); the limits of which are not clearly disclosed in the product offering. If you want really slow closing, you’ll need to use two brakes, one on each side of the trunk lid, unless the lid is very light or very narrow. Check size and weight limitations before you order.I made a mounting jig out of 1/4” hardboard to transfer the screw hole positions to the actual furniture. The same jig can be used to locate mounting holes for both sides of the box. Without a jig, installing this product twice would have been frustrating and painful, fraught with possibility of error, and of leaving unnecessary screw holes in the furniture due to remounting.A paper mounting template would have avoided many of these problems, as would a clear set of installation instructions, written by a native English speaking technical writer. The installation instructions provided and available online are just poorly conceived and poorly written.When properly installed, this product securely holds up the trunk lid, and it takes some force (okay) to dislodge the hold. Main breaking force when closing is at or near the top half of the closing arc, with less braking force at the lower end or near fully closed. By way of warning, you get little or no braking force unless the lid has been fully opened. If you lift the box/trunk lid only partially and then let go, the lid will snap down hard, as if the brakes were not there at all. This might pose a serious problem with kid users, like on a toy box.There is an adjustment screw that allows the user to regulate the force required to dislodge the hold from fully open and to start the lid closing. The adjusting screw allows the user to make a slight bend in the arm, so it doesn’t fully lock in the maximum hold position. This is a welcome feature and seems safe even in a children users situation if the brake is mounted correctly and if the lid slowly closes.If I had it to do again, I would not use this product because these are intended for smaller, lighter lids than mine. I would consider piston arms or the expensive braking hinges sold by Rockler. These brakes use up less space than piston arms, so they’re probably preferable for smaller spaces. Piston arms are probably better for large or heavy lids.Overall, I was disappointed with this product for the reasons stated above, and I don’t recommend it.

Firstly, the soft close, lid support hinge works very well.... once you get it installed properly. Mechanically it is the perfect solution for our storage lid in the garage. I softly and safely closes a 3 or 4 pound 3/4 inch thick MDF lid.That said, the instructions and installation were difficult. I am pretty handy and I'd say this is a 3 out of 5 on the difficulty scale. The instructions are all in Chinese and the dimensions are in millimeters. There were all the right screws and hardware. It took me twice mounting the main pivot plate. The directions' diagrams assume a certain kind of hinge and then provide vague starting points for the mm mounting location. Mount it in the wrong location by even half an inch, too far away from the hinge and the lid will not close all the way.Bottom line, if you are mechanically handy and don't mind a bit of trial and error, this soft lid closing solution works excellently. But beware all who are less handy or plan on spending a bit of time trying to work the installation... that is, unless you reach Chinese or have a visual translator.

Ok the good first, it does dampen the lid closing on the toy box I made granddaughter. That being said it feels loose after several dozen uses but still working. Instructions look technical but are useless unless you are fluent in metric system and mechanical enough to figure out how to interpret the angle and spacing for anything other than a recessed hinge on your lid. Good fast delivery but there are probably other solutions out there that would be easier to use.

tl;dr Use the English instructions I've attached, cross your fingers, and it works great.I bought this because I've got a vintage storage chest that my grandchildren love to play with, and I'm scared to death they'll get hurt. Contrary to what some reviews say, it does exactly what the seller says - it holds the chest lid up, and when it closes, it closes very slowly. There seems to have been an older version that may not have - this version has a gray plastic slower-downer-thingee and it works fine.The problem is installation. It ain't easy. Especially if you don't read Chinese. For some reason, the seller sends Chinese-only instructions with what appear to be metric measurements (no units, but the numbers look right). Buried deep in the listing is a comment about emailing the seller if you don't get the English instructions, but without an email address. REALLY?!? #SMH Other reviewers have said they received the English instructions by email a few weeks after ordering. I couldn't wait, and after about 15 minutes of clicking around Amazon links, I found the link to send an email to VOCOMO customer service (via Amazon - not direct email). The seller responded within a few hours with a PDF of English instructions. It was all visual - very few words, hardly what I'd call "instructions". But after guessing (for no good reason) that I should use the smaller set of "Full Overlay Reference" measurements, figuring out that the "L" and "R" engravings meant the side of the chest I was mounting the closer on, and eyeballing a 5-degree rotation, I was able to attach the mounting plate, and the rest was trivial.Since the instructions are hard to get, I've converted the PDF to JPGs and attached them to this review.

The installation instructions are in Chinese

So I didn't get any instructions with this. I got a Chinese paper basically an "WOW slow closing, trusted etc" so I had to find a YouTube video on basically how to properly install this. Once I got that it was easy to install. Only other thing is that the black piece where you insert the hinge IT BROKE. I only readjusted minimum 3 times before it popped out. So double make sure it's a 1 or 2 time go. Otherwise it's good, holds the toy chest lid open, slow enough closing ( doesn't slam as it did).