Ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause for the effort this legend put in to sharing this bit of knowledge. Holding the camera in one hand whilst doing a tutorial is a pain in the buttocks. I certainly appreciate the effort.
Thank you! I bought the same replacement cylinder and read in the reviews the herman miller aeron needed adjustment from several people but no one left a photo to show where I needed to get at.
I know this was posted a while ago so, I hope the author is still watching. This was a great video and helped me save a chair that I was about to replace...it's pretty much back to new! A few notes though, I'm a big guy so, perhaps the cylinder was wedged in the seat and base a bit more than most after having my FA on it for 5 years. The tool to move the cylinder from the seat took a number of tries. Also, the base too quite a bit of banging...which ended up not working. I ended up leaving it out in the cold for shrinkage and then using a pipe wrench to wiggle it out.
bought this kit from amazon because of the call out you made at @4:10. I had to wipe my original piston down so the tool would grip. After I wiped it down with some paper towels and overly tightened it. Then it popped the piston out like no problem. To get the piston out of the base I just gave it two really good hammer whacks on the bottom of the piston while holding the wheels in the other hand. It popped right out, didn't scratch my base at all. My Aeron sits about 2-3inches higher now. Thanks for the guide
I finally got mine loose with 1/2 a can of wd-40, a 14" pipe wrench and a 25lb kettle bell that I had to basicly throw at the pipe wrench 5 times. Also to note, if you are not using an authentic HM cylinder, there is an adjustable hex screw where the cylinder meets the chair to adjust the depth of the cylinder height adjustment nipple. My chair wouldn't stop rising up but I backed that screw out and it works great!
Couldn't get it off pounding from the bottom, thanks for the block tip. Now it feels like new chair time. I also got the wheels by oasis, they are super silent and smooth.
block tip seems nice. i just pounded the shit out of my chair base and it worked fine. i saw a video of a guy doing it here and he got it in one go, don't know if it was staged or not. i striked it a couple times and it was fine. definitely damaged the outer of the old cylinder but i didn't give a crap. got my aeron for $200 in high school so i'm just glad i could breathe new life into it. thanks for the video
I'm pleased that you mentioned how the original cylinder was so low that it dragged on the carpet. I hadn't found anywhere where that's was mentioned. My Aeron (inherited from a friend) is so low that it actually caught the carpet and tore it. I've been wondering if that was something peculiar about my particular sample, but now I see that it was inherent in the design. It looks to me like the newer ones are are designed to be higher off the floor. I guess there's nothing I can do about it except replacing the cylinder.
@@jthompson1982 - I like that idea! I will look into it. I hope I can assume that kind of wheel is standard, in that they will all fit in the same mounting holes. The stock Aeron wheels look pretty generic.
I bought a refurbished Aeron size C (I'm filling out) to replace my old size B but had to swap out the castors for larger ones because the new chair's cylinder was virtually touching the floor. You might see them advertised as "carpet castors". I think the standard Aeron has a 60mm rollers, so I got 75mm ones to give me a little extra height. They have an 11mm wide rod, from memory (so check!), which is pretty standard.
Bought a kit that came with this tool but it didn't work out for me. Had to use the pipe wrench method and wd 40 but DOWNWARDS smashing the pipe wrench with a mallet to have the most force. The aeron classic I have is probably nearly 2 decades old and the gas cylinder was probably why the previous owner got rid of it for cheap.
Does that top activor button reslly woek well with the aeron. Because the original cylinder has a reaooy tiny activator button comoared to this one. My guess is that you need to adjust the set screw quite a lot with this new one
Are you damaging the base by hammering on it take out the gas cyclinder in the garage? My Aeron is 15 years and the cylinder is so hard to remove. I've been hammering on it for 20 minutes but no dice
Word ot advice, checj what gas cylinder is the n your aeron. Pre march 2013 had too activated cylinder and post yave side acticated. If you buy a top actibated for the nrwer model your out of like ck. I velieve those parts are hard ro come by
So I’m a certified Herman Miller chair repair man this wasn’t bad but to make it easier use a 6mm Allen head socket take off the seat kick that top plastic cover from the back it will pop right off then use a 3/4 socket on top of the cylinder with a 4lb hammer should come out easily and if you brace the base on your knee and hold the opposite side and hit the cylinder out
I need to order a cylinder for my Herman Miller Aeron chair. I've heard that the cylinder is different for Top Adjusted vs Side Adjusted, is that accurate?
I bought the same chair cylinder. I have a Teknion Contessa. After i installed the new oasis cylinder, it sinks right back down completely. Do I need to adjust the screw? There's no video of this particular chair on how to do that.
All gas cylinders are considered wear items like breaks on your car. The bypass damping seals inside fail eventually, usually in 3 years. Just make sure to search a bit more on Amazon for the more heavy duty 300 and 400 lb rated gas cylinders and not be stuck with a 200 lb cylinder for kids gaming chairs with no damper bolt at the bottom of the cylinder.
Thanks for the great video! A question though - these are expensive chairs, right? Should you need to be doing this? Looking to buy a bunch for a new office we are setting up. Their website says With limited exceptions, our products are covered by a 12-year warranty that includes parts and labor. (but then does have a long list of models that have shorter warranty). If we are going to spend that much, should we have to be replacing the piston a) at all - shouldn't it last under the warranty? and b) if it does fail in less than 12 years, why get your hands dirty? Just have THEM replace it under warranty?
OK, I saw the video after having the piston in my Aeron fail (partially). I've tried this on other similar type chairs. When I saw the two ring, Oasis system, I was sold. 1) I applied the two rings as instructed but couldn't get the system to work. I removed the rings and reapplied them. After no results, I noticed that the top ring was being pulled into the plastic framing above and read the instructions again. Oh, I had not wiped the grease off of the old piston prior to applying the two rings! Removed the rings, wiped off all residue of anything: piston and inside of the rings that may have been picked up on the original application. Reapplied the two rings, tightened each screw three times and Walla, a single give and it popped off. 2) I watched videos (including this one) where they used rubber mallets etc. I set the piston on a block and hammered on a 2x4 over the frame 3-4 times....nothing. I flipped it upside down, frame resting on the workbench on one side, I held the other, with a hand sized sledge hammer, I hit the bottom (now the top) twice VERY firmly. Out it popped. (I put plywood on the floor under it so it wouldn't chip the floor when it landed - and watched my feet). Reassembled and it worked: no pipe wrenches, blow torches, or prybars. It was well worth the $30 and re-reading the instructions.
I'm having a similar problem. I also bought the Oasis system. Which worked great to release it from the seat. But my old cylinder seems to be stuck. I folllowed their directions both options and it won't budge. I also tried putting it on a block and hitting the lets with my rubber mallet, no luck either. It's now sitting with WD-40 on it in the upright position. Any suggestion? This is probably the original cylinder -- it seems like it's glued in!
I got the old cylinder out in one shot - no need to put it on cement/wood block..... if you have a heavy gauge steel hammer....the heavier the better....or even a small sledge hammer.... the weight and bulk of it will pop that cylinder out no problem and not destroy the top of the base legs.
@@indecisivegarage2389 actually just figured it out, needed to use the collars to remove part of the cylinder. I noticed the lowest height is a tad bit higher with this new cylinder which is annoying, curious if there's a way to make it shorter?
Just a small tip from here to maybe ease the suffering for someone else Could NOT(!) remove the lower part - but then I left the base under the hot water for 10 min and then I could pop out the piston with a good whack.
Thanks for the idea. I was having a crazy difficult time. I tried the wooden block...no luck. I turned the base over a wooden box and pounded on the bottom of the piston for quite a long time. That didn't work either. So, I left the base/piston out in the cold (10 degrees F.) thinking the cold would contract and the piston would slide out. Nope. I did get the piston to move out so the bottom of the cylinder was level with the base of the chair by banking it against an outside wall. Then, when I was about to give up, I tried one more time with a pipe wrench...and it worked! I would have tried warm water afterwards though
@@davidcoughlin8905 Are you talking about the getting the small cylinder out that enters the bottom of the chair. Or are you talking about getting the large cylinder out of the base where the wheels are attached to. Both can be difficult. A pipe wrench is best to get the small cylinder out of the chair, you need to hold the chair and then with your foot start standing and kicking down on the pipe wrench. Or use a huge breaker bar attached to the pipe wrench. You really need to kick down on the pipe wrench to break it free. For the base where the wheels are attached, I think just add water to the top of it and let it soak overnight, then it will just tap out easily. I found this out by hosing down a chair and the cylinder popped out super easy, I guess the water just loosens everything up.
