Story in pictures “How I repaired my computer chair.”
My office chair on wheels began to fall down from time to time. The last time it did this so suddenly that, having cheered up, I decided to deal with it. It turned out to be about 20 minutes of work, with half the time spent finding the tool.
The faulty unit turned out to be a gas lift (pneumatic cartridge). In principle, gas lifts can be found on sale, those that are longer are for ordinary cheap chairs, those that are shorter are for more respectable ones, including rocking chairs. My plans did not include going to the store, so I used the means at hand.
What is needed for repair:
- wide flat-head screwdriver (preferably two)
- mallet, or heavy piece of wood
- roulette
- a tube
- rag
I want to say that it is more correct to knock out the pneumatic cartridge through the hole in the crosspiece with wheels. But firstly, not everyone has the right tool. Secondly, I couldn’t disassemble the chair using this method. Therefore, I analyzed it in a simpler way.
Subsequence:
1) We set the height of the chair that is comfortable for us, and without getting off it, measure the height with a tape measure, for example, along the armrest. Then we lower the chair to its minimum height. We measure the height again. Subtract the second number from the first and remember the result. We'll need it later.
2) Using screwdrivers, remove the wheels from the cross.
3) Use a mallet to knock the crosspiece off the chair. You need to hit as close to the middle as possible, alternately from different sides of the air chuck, this will reduce the likelihood that the plastic will crack.
4) Remove the steel latch washer. It is quite fragile, so you need to be careful.
5) Remove the glass, and then everything else from the axle - the rubber band, washers and bearing.
6) We make a tube of the required length. Its internal diameter must be no less than the diameter of the axis from which the washers and cup were removed. The outer diameter can be anything as long as it fits in the glass. We calculated and memorized the length of the tube at the first stage. You can make the length 1 centimeter longer, because... The rubber removed from the axle usually cracks over time and can be thrown away. To make a new part, I used a piece of metal-plastic water pipe with an internal diameter of about a centimeter. I cut it in a circle with a knife, and then broke off the desired part.
7) We put the resulting tube on the axle, and then the rubber band (if it is still alive) and washers with a bearing.
8) We put on the glass and secure it with a washer. Then, with a couple of blows of the mallet, we push the cross into place, and complete the assembly by installing the wheels.
9) Drying our hands...
Perhaps the second point will raise doubts about its expediency, but in the process of knocking down the crosspiece from the gas lift, one of the wheel mounts immediately broke in half, so I preferred to remove the remaining wheels. The tube carries a relatively small load, so not only metal, but also more or less durable plastic will do. Also, instead of a tube, you can try to surround the axle in a circle with wooden slats and tighten them with wire.
I glued the broken wheel holder with super glue and dried it for 6 hours on the battery. 2 weeks of intensive use of the seat have passed - the flight is normal!
The article is intended for those who have encountered a situation related to the need for urgent repair of office chairs. How to carry out some operations with your own hands, to solve the problem on your own in a short time - this is the goal of the article.
Not all problems can be solved independently. There are also breakdowns that cannot be solved without special equipment and the experience of real professionals.
However, there is a fairly large list of damage to such chairs, the most common ones, which you can easily fix with your own hands.
Repair of office chairs and computer chairs
As you all know, the design of the chair includes a gas lift, the task of which is to adjust its height. This element most often fails. Upholstery is a common problem due to abrasions, mechanical damage, greasy stains that are difficult to clean, and, needless to say, cigarette burns are also a scourge for our offices, because it is no secret that in many employees prefer to smoke in the workplace, even if there is a strict prohibition from management.
Having its own service life, the chair, like any thing of active use, will sooner or later require drastic measures to solve problems associated with daily stress. If the frame itself is made in such a way that its service life is quite long, then it is the existing mechanisms, moving elements and the upholstery itself that after some time fail and require repair or replacement.
Often we are faced with an important question - what is better, to repair office chairs that have begun to show problems in use, have lost their appearance, or to purchase new ones? Everyone needs to decide this question on their own. If the damage to your chair can be easily and cheaply repaired, then does it make sense to spend a significant amount on a new purchase? In addition, situations may be different - lack of free finance at a given time, or an urgent need to put such a chair into use. I propose to consider the cheapest and most affordable damage to repair yourself.
High-risk elements in office chairs
In order to know which direction to take on the repair, what tools will be required for this, and to what extent it will be possible to do it without a specialist, I advise all owners of office furniture to first understand the very design of this type of furniture. This is important to get an idea of what can most often fail in it.
The highest risk elements include:
- rollers, very often destroyed;
- bursting crosses;
- topgun, demonstrating the lack of full functionality;
- gas lift, which no longer locks in the selected position.
For repairs you will need the following tools:
- Phillips and slotted screwdrivers;
- mallet with a rubber nozzle;
- hexagons of different sizes.
In addition, I advise you to get advice about commercially available components for this type of chair. This will help save time so as not to have to reassemble a failed unit, which costs a penny and will be quite easy to replace.
The crosspiece of the chairs can be made of plastic or made of metal.
Its main diameters are 580, 600 and 680 mm. If it is plastic, then exceeding the load on it by more than 100 kg is simply unacceptable. Violation of this condition is the main cause of damage to the cross. Metal can withstand weight up to 120 kg.
Gas lifts are also different.
Personally, I have come across two main types, with increased and small travel (this option is most often used in executive chairs).
Video with instructions for replacing the gas lift below
Rollers are a problem in flooring.
Since they are made of plastic, rubber and even made of semi-soft material, before purchasing a chair you need to decide on the covering of the office floor. With its hard surface, which has protrusions, cracks, and unevenness, plastic rollers will not last long. If there is a floor covering in the form of parquet or laminate, then you need to worry about the condition of the coating and use chairs with semi-soft casters. Their axis is mainly 10 and 11 mm.
Video on changing wheels below
Each chair has the ability to adjust the tilt of its back, which is permanently responsible, almost never requiring repair or replacement, which also applies to the FDA element, which presses the back to the person sitting on the chair. Personally, I have not encountered any breakdowns of these mechanisms.
The chairs can be equipped with a mechanism that allows the chair to swing, called a topgan.
It can be short or long. It probably breaks even more often than the rollers.
Video on replacing the top gun
Do-it-yourself repair of accessible damage
What makes these chairs convenient is that they are very easy to disassemble. Before starting repairs, I advise you to prepare a container where you can put small fastening parts or components of failed mechanisms. I removed the rollers from the cross very easily, and the 4 bolts securing the topgun to the seat required some effort from me to carefully unscrew them. Due to prolonged use, they often become warped, which can affect the ease of twisting, which can damage their splines. In order to remove it from the gas lift, I had to use a mallet, which I struck along the perimeter, which allowed me to disassemble this structure. By the way, the damaged crosspiece required me to use a hammer to remove it. I also came across a situation where, apart from the leg, nothing could help remove the cracked crosspiece. The gas lift is removed from the body or from the cross itself.
The best way to carry out high-quality and quick repairs of office chairs with your own hands is to use my instructions.
- Before starting the repair, I turn the chair upside down, having first found a surface on which it is convenient to place the seat.
- I take a Phillips screwdriver and carefully unscrew the 4 screws that secure the seat to the height adjustment mechanism, called a piastrum, and remove the seat itself. It is important not to lose the screws.
- The piastra requires me to tap it to get it off the gas lift. It doesn't work any other way. This must be done carefully, as there are plastic elements that can be easily damaged. And if there were problems with the piaster, which is determined before disassembling the chair, it must be purchased in advance and the faulty one must be replaced at this point. And I carried out the assembly process exactly, observing the reverse order.
- If it is necessary to replace the crosspiece, I remove the broken element and remove the wheels from the mounting sockets. In the center of the cross you can see a ring with 5 notches. It secures the plastic casing on top. Need a screwdriver. I use it to pick up the ring, move the edges of the casing, move it and remove it from the ledge. This work will be required to remove the five existing covers.
- The steel case has special plugs that must be removed. Only new ones are inserted into the crosspiece. Next comes the reverse assembly process, following the entire sequence. Upon completion - test. I sit on a chair and perform the usual evolutions on it.
Naturally, not all elements can be repaired so easily. I have described exactly those damages that can be eliminated with your own hands. Other possible breakdowns of the chair will require the participation of specialists. This may require special tools and materials that are practically impossible to purchase commercially.
If you need an experienced specialist, then our website is the best guide and assistant. This is a new absolutely free site for conveniently searching for repairmen and companies. Choose the master that suits you yourself by going to the appropriate section, or simply send your application, indicating the type of work required and the area where you live, and they will contact you shortly.
Some situations force you to disassemble office furniture and then the question arises: how to disassemble an office chair? All manufacturers include instructions for assembly in the box, but without sufficient experience, disassembly can cause some discomfort.
Now there are enough videos and photos on the Internet about how to properly disassemble an office chair with your own hands. This procedure helps to get rid of unnecessary spending of money on a new chair, when repairing one of the parts, and will also save space when moving. Also, the need for disassembly arises during renovation, when excess furniture not only gets very dirty, but also takes up a lot of free space.
If the computer chair has not been disassembled for a long time, the parts may become tightly connected to each other. To do this, you can lubricate them a little with oil or use electronic devices for unwinding.
Disassembling office furniture alone is not very convenient, and therefore requires the help of an insurer. Small office chair parts can get stuck and may require additional tools to remove them. When using these tools, you must follow safety precautions; carelessness can lead to injury.
Work order
To begin, prepare all the necessary tools, such as a rubberized hammer, chisel, screwdriver and pliers. Disassembling an office chair will not take you more than fifteen minutes if you strictly follow the instructions. Office furniture, especially chairs, take up a lot of space, which is why it is easier to disassemble them than to pack them assembled. Moreover, transporting solid furniture can damage its original appearance.
After the disassembly process has already been completed, it is imperative to assemble all the parts, because even if one bolt is lost, the product will not last long after assembly.
If you don’t need an office chair, experts advise collecting it and packing it. This way, if necessary, it will look much better and last longer.
Chair repair
from 1000 rubles!
The master will arrive within
1 hour or convenient time!
and get a 10% discount
for future work!
The Home Craftsmen company in Moscow provides a repair service for office and computer chairs from Russian and foreign manufacturers made from various materials and with different mechanisms. The company’s specialists are provided with consumables and professional tools; repair work is carried out efficiently and on time.
The chair is a comfortable chair with armrests, used in everyday life, public institutions, and enterprises. With active use, the upholstery of the seats loses its presentable appearance, and the structural elements fail.
Office chair repair
The company's employees repair office chairs of any purpose and model:
- for management staff;
- for staff;
- for visitors;
- monolithic;
- prefabricated;
- on legs;
- with runners;
- with mesh upholstery;
- with classic upholstery.
Our technicians will check the condition of the office chairs, adjust unbalanced mechanisms, and identify and eliminate breakdowns. A timely repaired office chair means comfort for staff and managers, which has a positive effect on the quality of work.
Repair of office chairs in Moscow
The Home Craftsmen company provides repair services for office chairs with various designs of gas lift, swing mechanism and other functional elements:
- spring-screw (back adjustment);
- piastra (seat adjustment);
- permanent contact (back adjustment);
- TILT (swing mechanism);
- Anyfix (swing mechanism);
- top gun (swing mechanism);
- gas cartridge, or gas lift short, medium and long.
The company's employees will adjust, repair or completely replace failed office chair mechanisms.
Repair of office chairs and armchairs
In the process of repairing office chairs and armchairs, our specialists eliminate the following defects:
- wear of rollers (wheels);
- breakage of the crosspiece;
- breakdown of the top gun swing mechanism;
- breakdown of the gas lift that regulates the height of the chair;
- sagging of the seat in soft chairs;
- upholstery wear.
Computer chair repair
Unlike cabinet furniture, the chair is subject to increased wear, since in addition to daily use it contains mechanical and, most importantly, hydraulic parts.
So why does one owner’s chair break down after half a year, while another’s chair lasts for years without a single breakdown? This circumstance does not always depend on the quality of a particular model. First of all, of course, it is necessary to pay attention to the weight of the user, as well as care during operation. In any case, most modern chairs are designed for a weight of up to 120 kilograms, and manufacturers, in turn, provide a guarantee for any damage from 12 to 18 months.
But if your chair is broken and the warranty period has already passed, then, with sufficient skill, you can easily repair the computer chair yourself. However, we recommend turning to professionals in organizations specializing in this.
If your computer chair lowers itself when you sit down and rises when you rise from it, while the period of lowering or raising can vary from several seconds to a day - this is a clear sign of gas escaping from the gas cartridge. Gas lifts cannot be repaired, since their disassembly is dangerous to life. 
In this situation, you can fix the chair with improvised means in the required position or replace the gas cartridge with a new one. The cost of the gas cartridge is not high, and it can be bought at any specialized store.
So, you have decided to replace the gas cartridge yourself.
You will need:
- Armchair
- Curly screwdriver
- Rubber hammer
- Metal drift
- New gas cartridge (appropriate length and diameter)
- Vice (for more convenience)
Replacing gas lift
- If you carry out repairs in the cold season, the liquid in the gas lift may freeze; in this condition it is strictly prohibited to use it. Wait until the new gas cartridge warms up to room temperature (this will require leaving it for up to 24 hours).
- The first step is to unscrew the seat from the swing mechanism or piastres using a figured screwdriver. Turn the chair over, mark the face of the rocking mechanism, remove the 4 screws holding the chair seat to the rocking mechanism, and set the chair body aside.
- Move the protective casing, take the gas cartridge in your left hand with the swing mechanism down and, with medium-force blows, start tapping the swing mechanism at the base of the gas cartridge, being careful that you do not bend the swing mechanism. If you are unable to disable the swing mechanism, try holding the base of the gas cartridge in a vice and turning the swing mechanism.
- After you have removed the swing mechanism, you need to knock the gas cartridge out of the crosspiece; to do this, turn the crosspiece upside down with the rollers and, using a metal drift, knock the gas cartridge out of the conical base of the crosspiece with gentle blows. Make sure that you do not damage the front side of the chrome cross and the stiffening ribs of the plastic cross.
- The crosspiece is disconnected! The difficult task is over, now you need to assemble the chair, first screw the rocking mechanism to the backrest seat, pay attention to the correspondence of the front side of the seat with the front side of the rocking mechanism.
- Now place the crosspiece with its wheels on the floor, remove the transport cap from the gas cartridge (you should see the button; attention! pressing the gas cartridge button in your hands is dangerous), insert a new gas cartridge, make sure that the diameter of the gas cartridge matches the crosspiece, put on the protective cover and put the chair body on the swing mechanism, if everything is in order, press the body of the chair with your hands and check all the elements again. You can sit on a chair and check the operation of the gas lift.
Attention! If you have a problem with the gas cartridge immediately after assembling a new chair, you may have encountered a defective gas lift or rocking mechanism. But before contacting a sales organization to replace parts, check whether the gas lift button is fixed by the lever from the swing mechanism.
Attention! If the gas lift does not respond to pressing the lever, check: - the swing mechanism or piastres are attached correctly, - whether the lever for pressing the gas lift button is bent. In other cases, the gas cartridge will need to be replaced.