How does an office chair gas cylinder works?

How does an office chair gas cylinder work? Everyone who has had experience sitting on any office chair knows what it’s like to find the right height adjustment.

If your chair’s seat height isn’t aligned with yours, you will have an uncomfortable sitting experience with back pain and irritation. This is where the office chair gas cylinder comes in.

Do you know what an office chair gas cylinder is? Well, they’re cylinders found underneath your chair base that help adjust the height and improve your seating positions.

What Are Office Chair Gas Cylinders?

The cylinders work together with air compressors to adjust the seat height of a chair to a person’s personal preferences when seated in it. The seat’s height can be adjusted from its lowest to highest position from the comfort of your desk. They are usually found underneath the seat of your ergonomic chair base.

Generally, depending on the type of mechanism, these are divided into two categories:

Pneumatic Cylinders

The cylinder in which fluid power is provided by means of pressurized compressed gas is called a pneumatic cylinder and chairs in which this type of cylinder is used are called pneumatic chairs.

Hydraulic Cylinders

On the other hand in hydraulic systems instead of pure gas fluid power is provided with the help of fluids such as oil and glycol etc. Chairs in which this type of cylinder is used are called hydraulic chairs.

How Does an Office Chair Gas Cylinder Work?

Gas cylinders are an integral part of many pieces of office furniture; they keep people sitting comfortably at their desks for hours.

So if you want to know more details about the many features of office chair cylinders and how does gas lift mechanism work? This blog post contains all the essential information you are looking for, so keep reading.

Importance of Gas Cylinder in Office Chair?

For the efficient working of an office chair for long periods, it’s essential that its gas cylinder also works effectively. All the components mentioned above collectively make the cylinder work so that you can make the right height adjustment on your office chair.

An office chair gas cylinder is composed of two interrelated components. One component is the air compressor which includes a control system to maintain the desired operating pressure. The second component is called gas and an engine and its associated components.

These cylinders are mainly used to adjust your chair’s seat base. These cylinders change the air pressure to control the height of chairs and tables. They accumulate the compressed air pumped into them when they are in use.

When you engage the lever and lift your weight while releasing your weight from the seat, the compressed nitrogen gas in the cylinder can force the piston head out of the air chamber.

When you press down on the lever, the piston expands and lowers the seat by expanding the pressurized gas in the chamber. They are also known as balance or lift cylinders, which can be adjusted depending on the task that you’re doing at your desk.

What these products do is by controlling the height of chairs with a single pump of air stored within them is what makes them so effective for designing ergonomic chairs and other furniture.

Components of Gas Cylinders

There are quite a few components that make up a gas cylinder for office chairs. These include:

1. Stand Pipe or Outer Column

A standpipe is a cylindrical column with a hose connected. There is a taper at the bottom of the column. One end of the column is inserted into the wheelbase during chair assembly.

The standpipe holds the cylinder upright and connects it to the base of an ergonomic chair. The length of this column may differ from model to model, but it has a standard diameter of 2 inches with most cylinders.

2. Piston or Inner Column

The piston is the most important part of a gas cylinder as it is connected to the base for adjustment activity. One end of the piston, known as the swivel unit, is fitted into the hole of the base.

This part is covered with a cover that can be removed to expose the button. The piston can move between the top dead center and the bottom dead center. It is the primary component of the height adjustment mechanism.

3. Actuator

The actuator is connected to the swivel unit and is activated utilizing an activation button.

The activation button can be found on the cylinder’s surface, activating the gas pressure when assembled correctly in an ergonomic chair.

4. Dust Cover

It is the lid that goes over the central column. This part helps prevent dust from entering the cylinder and causing damage to it. It is easy to remove and attach when in need.

5. Retainer Clip

The retainer clip is the part that holds the piston and the standpipe together during assembly. It can be found at the base of the cylinder.

The purpose of this mechanism is to keep everything together in place.

Office Chair Cylinder Replacement

As an office furniture owner, you want to ensure that your chair gives you the comfort it was designed for without fail. If your chair does not function properly for an extended period of time, it’s best to hunt what’s the reason behind it.

Oftentimes, other parts of the office chair work properly and no apparent fault is seen, so you must check the gas cylinder attached underneath. If it has issues, you should get it replaced by any furniture repair shop.

You can do it yourself, and replacing an office chair cylinder is straightforward and relatively simple. You have to look at the following things for the replacement process:

1. Determine office chair gas cylinder sizes

The office chair gas cylinder replacement service can be made more accessible by finding out the size of your cylinder.

Most standard cylinders have a standard diameter of 2 inches and 1.1 inches of the piston, so if your cylinder has the exact measurements, you can find the replacement cylinder.

There are several places where you can find the office chair gas cylinder sizes, such as the manufacturer’s website, where the cylinders are usually labeled on the seat of your chair.

Regarding finding outsourcing, manufacturers usually have their own sources for office chair gas lift cylinder replacements, so it may be easier to find out by looking at their website.

2. Determine the stroke

The stroke is how far the cylinder needs to move to bring the chair up and down, so it’s critical to replace a similar model of the gas cylinder.

You can look at the office chair gas cylinder retainer clips to check the replacement cylinder. This will help you see if your original cylinder has a similar stroke.

It’s easy to find this information by looking at the label on your original cylinder. You must make sure that your replacement parts have an equal or greater stroke capacity than your original gas cylinders before purchasing them, for they fit nicely on your chair.

3. Weight capacity

While you can find plenty of different kinds of replacement cylinders from which to choose, you have to ensure that they come with a weight capacity equivalent to your chair’s current weight.

It’s good to purchase a cylinder for your chair seat that is adequate for the weight of your body when sitting on it. A gas cylinder’s standard weight holding capacity is up to 250 lbs, and heavy-duty can hold up to 450 lbs.

Also, ensure that the cylinder is rotating or non-rotating for the perfect match of your chair seat.

Removing the old cylinder

After considering all the above things, now it’s time to remove the old gas cylinder. We’ve already outlined a detailed process for removing a gas cylinder, but for your ease, here are a few simple steps:

• Firstly, tip your chair’s wheelbase and tap on the edge of the cylinder with a rubber mallet or hammer.
• To remove the column from the base, tap the edges to loosen it but try to avoid hitting on the retainer clip.
• You can remove the retainer clip with the help of a flathead screwdriver.
• You can release the piston from this process. After releasing the piston, you will see that the wheelbase is free with an empty cylinder column.
• To remove this column, turn the wheelbase upside down with the help of a hammer.
• Now remove the piston using the rubber mallet to loosen it by tapping on the edge of the top.
• When the piston loses, you will be able to replace your old gas cylinder with the new one.

Last Thoughts!

Lastly, the next time you feel that your office chair height adjustment isn’t doing well, you know where the real problem lies. If you can’t move your chair up and down, it means that your chair’s gas cylinder needs some fixing or a total replacement.

In case of replacement, now you know how to do that. So, why don’t you give it a try? But before that make sure to note down its size and other measurements. This will help you pick the right replacement for your existing cylinder.

After you’ve bought your office chair cylinder replacement, it’s time to remove the old one and install the new one in its place. Yes, it’s that simple.

The above information will help you in case of any emergency, such as if your chair stops working in a mid-work session.  So don’t worry if something happens to your office chair because now there’s a solution for this. This article shows how to replace the gas cylinder in office chairs in the most efficient way.