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Disassembly of the gas spring in an office chair

Demontage der Gasdruckfeder beim Bürostuhl

Laura Hofstetter |

If the pull on the lever under the seat of your office chair suddenly has no effect, it is very likely that the gas spring, which adjusts the height and cushions the seat, is defective. Two types of failure are conceivable: Either fine dust particles have combined with lubricant to form a sticky mass and are gumming up the valve, causing the pneumatic spring to seize. The other possibility is that the valve no longer closes. As a result, the chair repeatedly returns to its lowest setting and is also no longer damped.

With a bit of luck and manual skill, the gas spring can be repaired – simply with a universal spray or cleaner that contains lubricating and conditioning substances. While the ball valve is being sprayed repeatedly, the control lever should also be operated repeatedly so that the sprayed liquid can reach the ball lock of the valve as much as possible. It is quite possible that the office chair will work again after this simple repair, which is easy to carry out even for desk chair owners without much manual skill. If this application does not work even after repeated attempts after short exposure times, the chair spring must be replaced. With high-quality office chairs, this is not a problem at all.

In our video, we show how to easily remove the gas spring of a quality office chair. Below is a more detailed description of the video.

DISASSEMBLY OF THE GAS SPRING: VARIANT 1

You will need:
...a rubber mallet and about one minute.

Procedure for changing the gas spring:

  • Lay the chair on its front side on the floor. This easily secures all rotatable elements.
  • The office chair is now "on its belly" and extends its base upwards.
  • Check if the base is screwed to the gas spring, which can happen in rare cases. In our example, the office chair is assembled by插, meaning that the conically tapered spring cylinder is inserted into the base and thus fixed.
  • Carefully tap the lower end of the spring cylinder, which is usually made of hard plastic or metal, with the rubber mallet. With your free hand, wiggle one of the base legs far out to get the greatest possible leverage.
  • The base loosens and can be easily removed after a few taps.
  • Hold the gas spring firmly with one hand and gently but steadily tap the underside of your office chair's seat with the rubber mallet, always near the inserted spring strut.
  • The gas spring loosens and can now be pulled off.
  • Your chair now lies disassembled into its three components before you: the usually five- or six-axis base, the gas spring, and the upper part of the office chair, which in turn consists of the seat, backrest, and possibly armrests.

DISASSEMBLY OF THE GAS SPRING: VARIANT 2

You will need:
...a little more force than in the first example – and a rubber mallet.

Procedure:

  • Turn the seat of your office chair so that the backrest faces away from you.
  • Grasp the chair on the left and right side of the seat and lift it straight up by about ten to fifteen centimeters. The goal is to shake out the base with the spring. Please make sure that it can fall straight down to avoid damaging the castors.
  • Shake the chair vigorously. Because the weight of the base hangs on the gas spring, the base and the pneumatic spring will fall out and land on the floor in front of your feet. Therefore, pay particular attention to your feet!
  • Pick up the base with one hand, lift it sideways, and hit the gas spring out with the ready rubber mallet.
  • Your chair is now disassembled into its three components: the base, the gas spring, and the upper part of the office chair, consisting of the seat, backrest, and possibly armrests.
  • Under no circumstances use brute force during removal and do not attempt to open the gas spring. The component is under immense pressure, and especially the piston can cause serious injuries if the cylinder is opened.

If in doubt, please contact the manufacturer of your office chair.

INSTALLING A NEW GAS SPRING

 

Before you replace the defective component with a new one, take the opportunity to thoroughly clean your office chair. You won't get to the individual components of your office furniture this well again so quickly. You can clean the hard plastic parts with the same spray you used to try to get the old gas spring working again. First, clean the individual parts with paper towels and window cleaner or a soft cloth and a mild all-purpose cleaner. Let the parts dry thoroughly and then take a spray oil and a soft cloth and carefully rub all hard plastic parts.

The oil not only protects the surface but also gives it a new shine. For chrome, you can either use chrome cleaner from the hardware store – or you can use an old home remedy: citric acid. Halve a lemon and carefully rub any oxidized or tarnished chrome components. Alternatively, you can mix a lye from a handful of cold ash and a splash of water, mixed in a rinsed yogurt cup. Carefully rub the affected parts, rinse with plenty of water, and let the clean chrome part dry thoroughly. Afterwards, to prevent further corrosion, you can rub the whole thing with a thin layer of petroleum jelly.

Now take the new gas spring and carefully insert it – if necessary, according to the manufacturer's instructions – into the recess in the base. There is no need to hit the spring with a hammer – especially since you could damage the new valve. Simply push it firmly into the opening, place the seat on it, and sit on the chair. Make sure that the lever that operates the gas spring valve can move freely.