Office Chair Hydraulics

The Dude With Herpes

This is pretty trivial, I know; but recently my desk chair has been slowly lowering over the course of a day, and I have to jack it back up again.

That's annoying enough, but it seems that now it won't go up as high as it used to, and is "stuck" going lower and lower.

Anyone know if there's a way to fiddle with the hydraulics in office chairs to make them work again properly? Or is it something I can just buy a new one for? They seem pretty standard.

Athenor

I believe this means the hydraulic is busted, and possibly leaking somewhere. I have a really high-end office chair that exhibited the same thing - plus it got really wobbly because the plastic shim that keeps the hydraulic vertical broke, making the problem worse.

In my case, the manufacturer sent me a replacement hydraulic, even though the chair was slightly out of warranty. You might want to see if your manufacturer sells that part. It will be the entire hydraulic assembly.

Just note that by design, the hydraulic piston is designed to wedge into the chair's base and seat using friction/gravity. It will likely be a bitch to get it out without a heavy duty amount of leverage. I still haven't gotten my chair fully repaired due to that.

illig

It depends on the manufacturer. A steelcase or herman miller will have replacement parts. A staples special won't.

jsoltis

My seat on my chair dropped what would cause this

jsoltis

My seat on my chair dropped while I was sitting in it. I did not touch the lever. I just turned a little in the chair. Does anyone know what would cause this sto happen?