Office chairs and spare parts. Repair of office chairs.

A modern office chair is a functional and comfortable piece of furniture, equipped with a rather complex mechanism that sooner or later fails. In such a situation, there are three options for the development of events: purchase a new one, take it to a specialized workshop, or repair the office chair yourself.

As practice has shown, it is quite possible to carry out such work on your own. The only thing that is required from the master is strict adherence to the sequence of actions and implementation of the instructions that will be given in this publication.

Types of office chairs

Today, there are three types of chairs on the office furniture market:

For a manager This piece of furniture usually has maximum capabilities: a five-beam steel cross; synchronization mechanism (a device that forces the seat and backrest to repeat the movements of the owner); mechanisms for adjusting backrest resistance, seat depth, negative tilt, etc.
For staff , furniture of this type has more modest characteristics and functionality. Most varieties are lightweight (ensuring high mobility) and are equipped with mechanisms for adjusting seat height, armrests, and back angle.
For visitors, Office chairs of this modification are simply beautiful, stable and comfortable furniture, devoid of any functionality. Often they do not even have a rotation mechanism and are produced on four legs, instead of one supporting leg with a cross on wheels.

In what cases is replacement necessary?

Since this is the most important element, you should not neglect the timely (in case of breakdown) replacement of the gas lift in an office chair. Such furniture is designed to last a long time, but problems do occur. The most common faults are:

the seat does not stay in the desired position and falls spontaneously;
the lifting mechanism does not react in any way to pressing the lever;
the chair is fixed in the desired position, but falls down when you sit on it;
the skew of the furniture in one direction is noticeable to the naked eye;
The seat is loose and wobbles in different directions.

Most often, the gas lift breaks due to improper use of the chair. For this reason, the following actions are prohibited:

Creating an advantage. It occurs if you sit on one side. The correct position is in the middle.
Landing for two. The weight that this furniture can withstand does not exceed 120 kg.
Jumping from a running start or from a jump. Children especially love to do this. A sudden load damages the mechanism.

Variety of IKEA armchairs, basic designs and iconic models

In addition, timely maintenance of office chairs should not be neglected. It is recommended to lubricate the functional parts of the mechanism regularly. The timing is indicated in the instructions for the chair.

Using a piece of furniture for entertainment - spinning like on a carousel, riding around the room - is not forbidden. However, you should not abuse this. The main purpose of furniture is not play at all. This should be explained to children, teaching them to be careful.

Design features

Despite the variability of designs and functional content, almost all chairs consist of one set of elements:

Five-beam cross (base). This part is made of metal or plastic. The first option is better quality and more expensive
Rollers . Just like the crosspiece, the wheels can be made of metal or plastic. However, the mount and internal hinge of any roller are metal
Pneumatic cartridge (gas lift). The part serves as the leg of the chair and is responsible for its “elasticity”
The swing mechanism contributes to the axial deflection of the chair and its fixation in one position. On expensive models, a mechanism with an offset axis is installed, ensuring the smoothest swing possible.
Piastra . This element is a metal platform with a lever. Serves to change the height of the seat relative to the cross
Permanent contact is an element that connects the backrest to the seat and is responsible for changes in its position

Most office chair models have armrests. In cheap models, these elements are made of plastic; in more expensive ones - made of anodized or stainless steel.

What is gas lift?

Chair gas lift device

Before you start repairing a gas lift, you should understand what it is. Based on its internal and external similarity, it is compared to a shock absorber, only in an unassembled form.

Gas lift operating diagram:

Figure 1. They do not sit on the chair. Gas lift in an unloaded state Figure 2. Sit on the chair and pressed the lever (button) Figure 3. Gas lift in the lower position Figure 4. Pressed the lever (button) to raise the chair up (without load)

If the seat does not lower or rise, then the internal parts are worn out and only replacement will correct the situation.

You definitely need to know how to remove the gas lift from the chair so as not to damage other fasteners and parts, the replacement of which will also lead to a loss of money.

There are not many parts in the chair, so the restoration process will not be stressful.

Common breakdowns

As noted above, an office chair is a rather complex device and any of its structural elements can fail.

Damage to the cross

The problem with this element may be destruction at the junction of the beams. The material from which the cross is made is important here.

As a rule, the base is a hollow structure into which a polypropylene pipe of suitable size and cross-section can be inserted. It, in turn, must be rigidly fixed to the base and the damaged beam.

Plastic parts cannot be spliced using glue or a soldering iron due to the large loads on the paws. There is no point in restoring the integrity of this element. The best option would be to completely replace the damaged structure with a glass-filled polyamide base.

In order to dismantle the crosspiece of an office chair, you need:

Remove the rollers . As a rule, they do not have a rigid fixation and are quite simply removed from the mounting sockets. To illustrate the process, it is recommended to watch the video:
Dismantle the piastra . Fastening to the seat is done “on a cone”. Disconnection from the gas elevator is carried out by tapping on the attachment point. The correct process for disassembling an office chair is shown in the video:
Remove the locking clip located in the recess on the top of the hydraulic lift.
Knock out the gas lift for repair or replacement of the five-beam.
Note! In case of critical damage or destruction, it is impossible to knock the gas elevator out of the base. In this case, you should remove the working cylinder with the seal and bearing from the “glass”.
The process technology and dismantling device are shown in the video:

Destruction of the swing mechanism

If the chair does not hold the “horizon”, then the problem is most likely in the destruction of the swing mechanism.

Fastening to the seat is done with four screws using a shaped screwdriver. The element is dismantled as follows:

The bolts that secure the rocking mechanism from the seat are unscrewed
The gas lift is knocked out of the device mount.

This element is made of metal.

You can independently solve the problem of a collapsed device by completely replacing it (recommended) or using a welding machine.

It should be noted that most chairs originating from the Middle Kingdom are not suitable for domestic spare parts. This concerns, first of all, the swing mechanisms (size discrepancy).

Chinese mechanisms: 200 x 200 mm.
Domestic: 200 x 150 mm.

In order not to re-drill holes when replacing an element, we suggest using adapter plates. How it looks assembled can be seen in the figure below.

Air chuck failure

The pneumatic cartridge of the chair is a two-chamber structure filled with air. When you press the adjustment lever, the valve stops the flow of air between the chambers.

If, when pressing on the valve, the gas lift rod does not extend, it means that the integrity of the piston, seal, etc. is compromised.

It is important to know! The gas lift cannot be disassembled . If damaged, a complete replacement of the element is required

The dismantling process is described above. To clarify the process, watch the video about replacing the gas cartridge on office chairs:

A fairly common cause of gas lift failure is the bending of the adjustment lever, which does not allow pressing on the cartridge valve. In this case, the repair can be easily carried out independently: you need to bend the lever to its original state.

Causes of failure

The computer chair itself breaks down quite rarely. This device lasts longer if you follow some rules:

You cannot sit on a chair from a jump.
Lubricate the parts with a small amount of oil.
Do not sit in groups of two, creating an advantage.

The gas lift of an office chair holds a person throughout its entire service life. If the chair has stopped rising and falling and you can’t fix the position, it will be cheaper to ask how to replace the gas lift than to buy a new one. How this system works is quite simple to explain; shock absorbers most often fail due to heavy load.

The device and principle of replacing the wheels of an office chair:

The mechanism for attaching the rollers is quite simple. To remove them, no auxiliary tools are needed. The wheels are inserted into special holes drilled in the crosspiece.

We offer a simple algorithm for replacing rollers:

Pull the rollers out of the cross. To do this, just pull them.
Remove the plastic covers from the crosspiece.
Remove the broken plugs and replace them with new ones.
Insert the new parts into the crosspiece, after putting on the covers.

Now let’s talk about how to clean the chair wheels from hair and other dirt. At the same time, the videos themselves are quite functional.

Procedure for cleaning wheels:

Turn the chair over and inspect the wheels for hair, textile fibers, or animal fur. First of all, try to clean them by hand. If you succeed, the rollers will spin freely again, like new. Failed to clear manually? Use regular scissors.
Now let's talk about how to remove casters from an office chair to clean them from dirt and dust. Turn the chair over and unscrew the mounting bolts.
Clean the wheels of debris and dirt, and then wash them thoroughly.

Wait until they are completely dry before screwing the parts back on.

And of course, the most important thing is that it’s always easier to buy a new spare part from us: