How To Remove Office Chair Cylinder (Easy DIY Steps)

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Is your office chair’s cylinder not working and you need to change it? Do you want to fix an issue on your cylinder, for example, lubricating the pistons?

Not an issue.

Detaching your office cylinder is not too technical to require professional assistance. With a few tools and a little energy, you can fix your cylinder and get it to adjust its height correctly.

That said, delve into the process on how to remove office chair cylinder and what to consider as you get a new one.

You remove a gas cylinder from a chair by twisting it out of the mechanism and knocking the base off. On the other hand, you remove a stuck base from a chair by lubricating it before knocking. You change a gas cylinder on an office chair by attaching the new cylinder and sitting on the chair.

Table of Contents

How Do You Remove a Gas Cylinder from a Chair?

Before diving into the cylinder removal, collect the tools you need to get the work done. These include:

Papers or old clothing for protection of the working surface against grease, dirt, and damage.

Rubber gloves to keep your hands safe

Rubber mallet or hammer. However, the former is a better option if you don’t want to leave scratches and grooves on your chair.

Screwdriver or a large wrench for fastening and unfastening the screws

A lubricant such as WD-40 to make the gas cylinder removal less challenging (optional)

Procedure

Begin by putting on your gloves to prevent grease and dirt from sticking onto your hands. Also, doing this reduces the risk of hurting yourself.

Spread the papers or clothing on your working desk or the floor. This way, you’ll prevent the working surface from staining or impact damage. Besides, no stains mean you won’t have to struggle cleaning up once you complete your tasks.

Overturn your office chair while positioning it on the protected surface.

Position your pipe wrench around your gas cylinder, ensuring it is super close to the mechanism.

Turn your pipe wrench around until your cylinder loosens from your chair.

If your cylinder connects to your chair with screws, use a screwdriver to detach it from the seat.

Turn your office chair base upside down to remove it from your gas cylinder.

Stand a little off of the area your gas cylinder may fall. Ensure you place papers or rugs on this surface to avoid damage.

Gently hit the hind of your chair’s cylinder with your rubber mallet so that it comes off the cylinder.

Nonetheless, you can use your hammer as an alternative for the last step, provided you don’t mind dents.

A trick when using hammers is to take a block of wood and place it on top of the cylinder. After this, knock the block of wood instead of your cylinder, and you won’t have impact damage.

If the gas cylinder fails to come off, apply your lubricant at the point it connects with the base. Let the WD40 stay for some time, say half an hour. Next, try hitting the base off of the gas cylinder, and it should disengage.

Consider adding a little more force if the base is still tough to detach.

How Do You Remove a Stuck Base from a Chair?

In some cases, your chair’s cylinder may come off the chair’s mechanism, but the column casing remains attached to your chair’s base.

Apply two or so squirts of WD40 or another suitable lubricant around the base-column joint.
Allow the lubricant to stay for a few minutes.
Place old clothing or paper on your working desk and the floor immediately close to the desk.
Overturn your base and position it over the protected working desk. Ensure the column is touching the edge of your working desk for full support.
Stand a little off to ensure the column does not hit your feet.
Hit the column off of your office chair’s base using a rubber mallet or hammer.

How Do You Change a Gas Cylinder on an Office Chair?

Unlike removing an old or damaged cylinder from your chair, replacing it with a functional one is quite simple.

But before you get down to replacing your cylinder, purchasing a replacement that suits your office chair and serves you accordingly is a priority.

What Should I Consider When Buying a Gas Cylinder?

Firstly, you should take the replacement’s height into account. You want to ensure that your gas cylinder allows your legs to have support when seated.

Picking a cylinder with a suitable height ensures your feet can comfortably stay flat on the floor without you slouching in the chair. Additionally, it ensures that your thighs stay parallel to the floor. Your knees should align at right angles.

Each body type has specific aspects. For example, some individuals have longer torsos and legs. For this reason, the length of your lower leg cannot determine your overall height.

While some people go to work in heels, others opt for low shoes. Therefore, your footwear also affects the cylinder type that best suits your needs.

Lastly, you should consider your upholstery’s density and thickness, the base design, and wheel size.

Most office chairs come in a five-inch size. However, the typical range is four to ten inches. Let’s delve into the cylinder selection criteria a bit more.

Determine Your Height

Usually, users need a cylinder that coincides with their height. For example, if your height is below 5’4″, pick a four-inch cylinder. Get a five-inch cylinder if your height ranges from 5’4″ to 6’2″.

Finally, consider a six-inch cylinder if your height is beyond 6’2″.

Determine Your Chair’s Height

Get in your chair, ensuring your feet are flat on the floor with your knees at 90 degrees. Afterward, keenly measure the distance from your knee cap’s base to the ground level. This distance is the height of your office chair’s seat.

Measure Your Seat’s Height While in Various Shoe Types

Determining your seat’s height in different footwear is vital for many ladies and guys into heeled shoes.

Establishing your seat’s height in different shoes helps identify the maximum and minimum measurement requirements the new cylinder should meet to meet your comfort.

Other Considerations

In some cases, office chairs from different suppliers may have the same standard cylinder size despite having differing seat heights.

How Do You Measure a Gas Cylinder for a Replacement Chair?

To measure your gas cylinder, you need a tape measure. Ensure you remove the cylinder casing and detach it from your chair’s base before measuring.

Make sure the tip of your tape measure is touching the mechanism.

Unwind the tape measure while ensuring it stays close to the gas lift.

Note the measurement at the base of the cylinder. This measurement indicates the dimensions of your gas cylinder’s body.

Notably, you should not include the piston rod jutting from the cylinder’s center in your reading. The piston rod length is useless to measure because it is only relative to your cylinder’s length.

Add an extra inch to your measurement above. The extra inch caters to the piston button embedded into the chair’s mechanism. However, you shouldn’t add an inch if you detached your cylinder from its mechanism and the base.

How to Install a New Cylinder

The advantage of putting your chair back together is that you won’t spend as much time as when removing your cylinder.

Press your new cylinder into your office chair’s base. Ensure that the cylinder assumes a central position and does not lean on either side.

Attach the base and the cylinder to your seat and fasten the screws, if any.

Position your office chair upright, then sit on it. Sitting on the chair allows everything to fall into place perfectly.

Try out your height adjustment lever to confirm that your cylinder works fine.

Further reading:

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Remove an Office Chair Pin?

You remove an office chair pin using a flathead screwdriver, a small knife, or any small flat tool.

Insert your tool into the space on the side of the clip. Apply some pressure as you pry it, and it should come off the end of your chair’s cylinder.

Are All Gas Cylinders for Office Chairs the Same?

It’s vital to note, though, all gas cylinders for office chairs are not the same. Hence, you should determine the specifications of a cylinder before picking it.

Based on the height of the cylinder, you can establish whether it is suitable for comfortable sitting over extended periods. That is, the taller you are, the longer your chair’s cylinder should be.

Conclusion

The key aspects to remember as you remove your cylinder are protecting yourself, your chair’s parts, the working, the surface, and following instructions:

You don’t have to spend time measuring your seat height with different shoes on and trying other ways to determine a suitable cylinder replacement.

By removing your current cylinder and carrying it with you to the store, you can let your dealer handle the technicalities for you.

Author

Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith is the founder of CozySeating, is a father of 2, and an engineer from one of the leading furniture stores in the country. Due to his 10 years of experience, he has proved to be the best person to offer advice to clients regarding different seating furniture based on their needs and performance. Besides, he is a specialist in product reviews and always keeps up with the current trends in the market.

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How to Remove Office Chair Cylinder