Herman Miller Aeron Tilt lock Repair - Cheap FIX (hack) 

Picked up an Aeron off Marketplace for $60 (yes, $60) because of this issue. THANK YOU! Found my weekend project!

Thanks for this video. For a chair that originally retailed for $1K+ (depending on the options you chose) you'd think Herman-Miller would use a part NOT made of plastic.

I FIXED MY CHAIR!!! Thank you so much. I couldn't have done it without you.

Thank you for the video. I have 4 Aeron chairs all over 15 years, They all have the same problems. The cables won't move. Your video gave me some confidence to open them up and see if I can fix them

Im subbing because youre the only person who mentioned the little arrow and its always about the little details. Appreciate it.

Thanks for making this.. My chair was a bit different, but you game me the confidence to take it apart !

Per Herman Miller - "Using thumb pressure, press front of bottom tilt cover to start separation of tilt covers." That lets the top cover release. If the left-hand side (by tensioner knob) is still clipped together, press in on the lower housing there too and the top housing should separate. This seems to be the easiest & least risky way to go. Thanks for the video!

I’ve watched 3 of your Aeron videos and I don’t even have an Aeron. I have the Logitech Embody but I’m looking into an Aeron and your videos are informative. I subbed because you asked the viewer to and I don’t sub with a lot of youtuber’s but since you presented it so nicely I subbed. Probably won’t be watching anymore of your videos unless you do one for the Embody but I’m glad to have been able to help you out. After all, it don’t cost me nothing. Lol. Gj, Pal!

Threading into plastic might hold up. There is an alternative way to secure the machine screw pin replacement that comes from the 3D-print world: melt a 10-24 heat set insert into the plastic part, and put some blue thread locker on the 10-24 machine screw before you screw it into the insert. The result is super strong. You have to shorten the insert to match the thickness of the geared part, but that's not difficult. I have three Aeron chairs; all had the pin snapped off. The fix has been rock solid for months.

Great video. Thanks. Just got this chair from a reseller and it doesn't tilt. Hoping the seller will just send the part. Excellent description of how to do this repair.

Thank you for this. I ordered a replacement piece on ebay that came with 2 different pieces. I assumed one of them would be the right one, but nope. I needed a "generation 1" piece that I could only find for $40+. Once I had it open I decided to take this route. Easy. Should have done it from the start and save myself $11 on a wasted purchase.

Today I learned something new and was able to fix the problem. It was exact same issue

Thanks! For me, the plastic stop (bar) at the top of the sector gear (which the spring attaches to) was broken off, but I retrieved the broken piece from within the housing cover upon disassembly. I super glued it back together for now.... so far so good! Looks like I can replace this piece (I think a newer version than yours without post in middle) for ~$15-20 if need be....

Thanks for the awesome video. This was exactly what I needed to fix my chair.

Thank you for these great instructions! Helped me loads.

Helpful. Just to note the two screws on the bottom only need to come out if you want to remove the bottom half of the plastic cover. The top half just pries off (with a lot of effort).

SOOOOOOO HELPFUL! Thanks a ton for sharing this.

I have an old 1997 Aeron that I got for free and the only part broken was exactly this (apart from the drooping tilt limiter). Thanks a lot for this video!

Buddy you rock!!! Thanks for this fix.

Thanks for sharing this. I'm going to try this today

thank you so much been trying to get into that bottom box for awhile and now the tilt isnt jammed

Exact fix I needed. Took 20 minutes to make the fix to the chair and I was done.

I've had this exact same chair (Mfg'd in 1996) for about 14 years, got it free when an employer was replacing a bunch of these with newer ones and said we could have our old ones. Tilt lock never worked, and I didn't really care until the last few years when working from home 95-100% of the time and I've started having lower back pain. Anyway, I thought I'd see if I could find some info on how to fix this, and here it is! I'm pretty handy but was hesitant to open this up until I had some guidance. I'm going to give this a shot but it looks pretty straightforward and I'm sure it will work out. Thanks a lot!

Thank you. Exactly what I needed!!!

Thanks for the video, you just made my day.

excellent Tutorial

Thank you so thats probably my issue at the moment when it release upon putting pressure I can still reset the cable and it stays put

Thanks!

Thanks so much!!

Thank you!

Very useful!

Thanks for the post! My Aeron still locks...usually. I suspect the teeth may be worn on the gear, so I might have to just buy the replacement part. :( Still, it looks easy to fix, if a little time-consuming. Great guide!

You should pull off that 10/32 screw and just grind or sand down the threads just below the head to reduce the diameter so that it's smoother contact with the cable loop.

Thanks so much

Thanks a lot for making this video! Excellent job at getting the necessary angles and lighting to show the different components you were talking about! I have a question I am hoping you could answer. First to clarify the terms I'm going to use: - fully up locked = back tilt lever fully up, forward tilt lever fully down - fully forward locked = back tilt lever fully up, forward tilt lever fully up So now to the question: I got a refurb Aeron and the chair has significantly more play when "fully forward locked" (a few degrees of seat rotation) than when "fully up locked" (almost no play). Basically I lose some of the forward tilt because of this. Does you chair behave the same or is there some wear in the mechanism on mine? Thanks a lot!

Thanks- used parts of this to figure out what was wrong with my chair. My particular issue is that the teeth of the tilt limiter gear are broken! And the tilt lock will not work properly. It locks the tilt, but as soon as you let it go, it doesn't lock anymore. Was sort of curious to see the normal behavior of how it locks in place once you pull the lever and how it releases, but at 13:00 your hand blocks how it stays in place without going back!

This saved me!! I was just about to throw out the chair completely. This took me 15 mins to do, though i lost the horse shoe clip... any clue what size it is?

Thank you for your video. Can you please share the hex tool you were using? I found my Aeron chair extremely hard to screw.

Thanks for video, it helped me understand the mechanism. Is your fix still working? I opened up my Aeron and that piece is still ok. But I needed to get the gear unstuck from the tilt limiter. I have a feeling that it could get stuck again.

i have this problem but on the Remastered version.

Thanks, but you forgot to show that the chair is working after the repair.

where do you buy parts?

My 96 Herman Miller Aeron needs a new cylinder. I ordered one from office oasis but not sure it's right size. Any feedback on whether it will work and if not where to get a replacement cylinder? Thanks! J

The two metal bars around the 2:00 mark what is the purpose of those two bars? My left side is getting really loose in terms of it shifting from left to right in the socket but my right side is tight. And I can’t see seem to adjust it at the bolt is pretty darn tight. In terms of functionality I’ve had no issues

I have an irritating issue with tilt mechanism. The first 5-6 cms when I tilt back, it tilts very easily (irrespective of tilt tension). After that, it tilts according to the tilt-tensioner setting. Any idea how to resolve this? It has something to do with the tilt box.

I used this tutorial to fix the tilt lock, but for some reason my '98 Aeron has issues rocking back and forth. Any suggestions?

I have the classic and when I sit it get down a bit , is it normal or is there a way to fix it?

Do you have any tips for fixing the tilt tension knob? My just keeps slipping not just keep turning like most

I dont like this system. If I lean back into the chair the (white plastic piece) tilt limiter slips from it's position. I dont understand why it's doing it , I already disassembled it twice and adjusted it.

My chair seems not to be tilting forward. I suspect the cable or lever is not working right to engage the spring. Any video on how the forward tilt function is supposed to work?

To be fair, that's not a hack, that's a perfectly legitimate fix. I'm here because my forward tilt appears to have ceased to function and I suspect it could very well be the same issue on that side, I haven't taken it apart yet to have a look.

For the bottom of the shell clam cover you hit with your palm, do you happen to know what size screws they are? I bought one used and it's missing those screws.

DO NOT pop the covor off that way. It's easy, there's youtube videos on how to do it properly without brute forcing it. HTere are 4 tabs and some thing flexible pry tool will do it. I used a cut up grift card to slide in to the right places.

hi, I have the same chair but the bolt on each side seems not to be the 6mm hex, it is smaller than 6mm but larger than 5mm, anyone knows why?

My tilt lock lever works in every setting except from 90 degrees. If i try and lock it at 90 and rock backwards it makes a loud clunk and unlocks again. Every other angle is fine. Does anybody know what this might be please?

Note, small correction, you mention a 10/32" (pronounced "ten thirty-seconds") screw, which isn't really a thing. There is a thing called a 5/16" (what 10/32" reduces to) but that's not what you used. You used a #10 ("number ten") screw with a thread pitch of 32 teeth per inch (tpi), which is commonly written as #10-32 or just 10-32 (pronounced "ten thirty two"). Note how similar that is to 10/32", so it's a very easy mistake to make. FYI a 10-32 screw is extremely close to the common 5 mm screw, M5 x 0.8, so close that in most situations (not aerospace) they're interchangeable, a class-B fit but very usable. I would use the M5 screw on a Herman Miller chair since everything else seems to be metric already, but use whichever one you have handy. I don't know why American sized small screws use a number system (#6, #8, #10 etc.), when they go to fractional sizes for 1/4" and up - they musta had a reason back in the day. It's confusing. Metric is so much more logical IMHO. OK I'm belaboring the point. The video is fine and it gives good info you probably won't find elsewhere. Thumbs up! And I'd bet your repair is not only strong enough, it's better than new. Well maybe that's not saying much since the original broke. But now that pin is stronger than it was before.

Is it possible to adjust the armrests on your chair? My Aeron doesn't have armrest levers either that most other Aerons seem to have at the back. Thanks.

Having this problem with the Aeron V2. Should have bought it new

What is that part called if I want to buy one instead?

What kind of allen wrench is that? Where it can reset

Why not show how fix worked or even show what even worked on like what was issue. What a waste of 16 mins of my life. Wow