Are you having posture issues due to leaning on your office chair and don’t find yourself as comfortable as before? If yes, then we are here to help you out!
To solve all these problems you need to know how to fix an office chair. This article will provide you with every bit of detail on fixing an office chair that leans in three different positions.
Employees who choose poorly designed office chairs suffer several adverse outcomes like a distraction in office work and uncomfortable positions that will eventually lead to muscle fatigue, stiffness, cramping, aches, impeded circulation and back pain.
The consequences of using non-ergonomic chair effects not only your occupational activities but also your holistic health. Most chairs come with an adjusting knob that allows you to adjust your chair at different positions and restrict leaning and rocking as much as possible.
How To Fix An Office Chair That Leans Forward?
It is uncomfortable and annoying when we don’t have a proper chair in the office. You might be thinking that your chair is broken.
That’s why it’s leaning forward. But hold on, your office chair isn’t broken. It just ran into a fundamental problem that you can solve by yourself.
Why Does The Chair Lean Forward?
First of all, to fix the problem, you should know what the problem is. The question is, why do chairs lean forward? There are three reasons why you can’t lock the forward mechanism.
The first one is simple. Maybe the forward tilt knob is loose. Secondly, the tilt knob might be stuck, and finally, you may experience forward-leaning when the tilt knob is broken or dislocated.
To solve these problems, there are three simple ways that you can use to fix your office chair:
1. Loose Forward Tilt Knob
It is an effortless and straightforward procedure. In this procedure, all you need to do is fix a loosened forward tilt knob. In this step, you have to tight the forward tilt knob by simply using your hands.
If the knob is loose, it will lean the office chair forward because of your leg’s weight, and if it is tightened, the mechanism will hold the chair in one direction, despite its weight.
- Find the knob that holds the forward tilt knob mechanism.
- Once you find it tilt it in a clockwise direction.
That’s it you’ve done the right job. If you want it to be more tightening, then you can readjust it according to your choice.
2. A Stuck Forward Knob
You’ve successfully passed the first step, but your chair is still leaning forward. Maybe the forward tilt knob is stuck, so now it’s time to apply another procedure. The reason the chair knob stuck is usually due to dirt particles stuck in between the knob or rusted knob. To undo this fault, you need to clean it out.
- First of all, remove the seat.
- Now below the seat, you will see that there is housing covering. Remove covering through screwdriver.
- After removing the covering, you will see some lever and knob connections. Find the one which connects the forward knob.
- This is your targeted knob. Now clean this specific knob. Use a spray like WD-40 to remove all sorts of dirt and rust.
- Once the dirt is removed, your forward tilt knob is free to move.
3. How To Fix A Broken Knob?
If you are trying hard to adjust your knob by tightening and cleaning, but nothing happens, it means your knob is dislocated or broken. To fix this dislocation of the knob, you need to open the housing again.
- Remove the seat and open housing.
- After that, search for the forward knob as it will be easy to find since it has a broken pin.
- Once you find out the dislocated or broken pin, you can place it back yourself. All you need to do is fit the hook into its respective section.
- In case if the pin is broken, you need to place a new one.
- In the end, assemble all parts again, and you are all ready to use your office chair again.
Must Read: How To Raise Office Chair Without Lever?
How To Fix An Office Chair That Leans Back?
As you spend a long time on your office chair, it needs to be comfortable, but a leaning chair might destroy all your comfortable and relaxing office time.
It’s not possible to buy a new chair every time, so what about repairing your chair that leans backward? Following are quick and easy methods to fix your office chair that leans back:
1. Knob Placement
The main thing is the placement of the knob. Sometimes, the basic and simple fault is that the chair leans backward due to the knob. First of all, look for the knob; if the knob is loose, it has less resistance, so it will easily lean backward.
To avoid this, check the knob if it is tightly locked or not in case you feel leaning backward; tight your knob in a clockwise direction.
2. Inspect Chair Wheels
Put the chair in an upside-down position, and now examine your chair legs. In this way, you’ll easily find the broken wheel in your chair. Generally, back-leaning problems occur due to broken wheels. This defective wheel can cause leaning in your chair.
Therefore, you should find the fractured leg and place it with a new wheel. This is the only step you need to do for a broken wheel.
3. Missing Screw
Sometimes, due to a chair’s heavy-duty, the screws can be popped out of the chairs and cause leaning problems. To resolve this issue, search for a new screw; however, keep one thing in mind that the size of the new screw should be the same as the old one.
Now insert the screw into the chair using a screwdriver, and that’s all; you have resolved your leaning problem by a simple method.
4. Examine Black-Plate
In every hydraulic chair, there is a black plate under the seat. This black plate contains different screws, bolts, and levers. Firstly, inspect if any screw, bolt, or lever is missing.
If yes, then make sure to replace that respective bolt with a new one. But sometimes the black plate is damaged. Mostly the black plate can’t be fixed, and you need to replace the entire plate. This procedure is for quick treatment, but it will eventually remove your chair’s leaning problem.
5. Quick Fix
- Turn your chair upside down.
- Open every part of your chair and look for a back tilt knob.
- Realign your arms
- Fix the wheels for this. You need to replace the old ones.
- Assemble everything
- Tighten all screws and look for any missing screws.
- Reinstall the black plate
Now, check if it’s perfectly working or not?
Also Read: How To Attach And Detach The Back Of A Recliner?
How To Fix An Office Chair That Leans Sideways?
An office chair that leans on one side will surely damage your posture results in many physical health problems. It’s hard to figure out what’s exactly happening, as fixing a chair that leans on one side is difficult to examine.
There are different reasons why your chair leans on one side, but below we have provided some easy steps to fix your chair.
1. Look For Uneven Casters
Sometimes the reason your chair leans on one side is maybe due to its uneven casters. Place your chair upside down and upright in both directions and check for an uneven caster.
There are different reasons due to which casters break or dislocate. Moreover, casters can break due to uneven weight, or if your chair is on an uneven floor, the caster will not touch the base and give you a leaning problem.
2. Replace Casters
Buy a matching set of new casters in case your old casters are broken. Now replace the new set of casters with old ones. Place your chair upside down and remove the old casters. Now fix the new ones by using glue or use screws for better results. After applying new casters, check out the leaning defect if it is still in its place, then move to the next solution.
3. Remove Wheels
Pull each caster straight to remove it from the chair. If you can’t pull the caster freely by your hands, maybe the casters are fixed with screws. Use a screwdriver to remove the screws.
In case the casters are not fixed with screws, but you are still unable to remove them, use a screwdriver and wedge the blade of this screwdriver into the small gaps meeting on the point of casters of the chair. Also, you can use this screwdriver blade as a lever by slowly working it back and forth.
4. Apply Lubricant
Lubricants like WD-40 are perfect for this job. Insert the given straw into the nozzle, stick it into each socket, and spray it on the targeted zone. Do not exceed time more than half a second on each socket. In case you do not have a lubricating spray, then rub a pea-sized amount of petroleum jelly on the leg of each caster.
5. Use A Rubber Mallet
After applying the lubricating spray, tap each caster into its socket with a rubber mallet, line up a caster stem with its socket and give the caster a hard push by hand. If you are lucky, it will pop up in its place. If not, then use a rubber mallet and tap on the caster until the stem is fully inserted into the socket.
6. Test The Chair
Now, at last, flip the chair over and test the newly inserted casters. You can test it by sitting on your chair. If it rolls smoothly and doesn’t lean to one side anymore, then you are all done. But in case if the chair still slants on one side, then fix a new black plate under your chair.
Related Article: How to Fix a Recliner that Leans to One Side?
Final Words
Summing up, fixing a leaning office chair can go from rotating a knob to replacing a knob, wheels, lever, and certain parts or even buying a new office chair sometimes. This article helps you stick to your problem and find a particular solution regarding leaning on an office chair.
We hope that some of these simple methods that we mentioned above may help you to fix your leaning chair problems.
In this way, you can save your money and rest your back without getting sick because a healthy life is a key to success.