How to Measure a chair Gas Cylinder for replacement install/remove 

Hi, it's me again. A tip your viewers might find useful: I had a devil of a time getting the old gas piston out of the base of the chair. It was an old chair and I was beginning to wonder if the old gas piston was fastened in place somehow (it wasn't). I tried using a pipe wrench as you suggested (for your viewers: pipe wrenches are designed to grip smooth cylinders, like pipes) and a whole lot of leverage, but it ended up only making the pipe wrench gouge a groove in the metal of the old gas cylinder. A machinist friend gave me a tip that was the solution -- point a blow dryer or heat gun at the old gas piston where it enters the chair seat. I let the blow dryer run for about 20 minutes. After that the pipe wrench worked. My guess is that the blow dryer simultaneously heated up the metal of the old gas piston, which made it expand, and also softened the plastic of the socket that it was stuck in, so the expanding metal stretched the socket a bit, and maybe broke whatever effect (pressure seal?) that was making it impossible to remove. Thanks again for your useful video!

"When age speaks, wisdom listens." Thanks for your very informative video!

6 years on it 's still a clear and simple guide to changing the gas cylinder on an office chair. Thanks!

You deserve a reward for the best man in the office chair industry 😂 this is the only video that I found that showed how to do this the correctly and very descriptive in that , I’ll be sure to buy my parts from you when ever I need any thank you

This guy is the Mike Erhmantraut of swivel chairs. Thanks for the very thorough, straight to the point videos

About $15 to DYI or buy a new chair. Very useful video, it got me started on the right tract. But I need to point out some omitted information. When ordering new parts, the dimensions listed are an "outer cylinder" and "inner cylinder." By these definitions I would like to elaborate the following: 1:40 the wheelbase is removed and along with it, is the "outer cylinder," the black cylinder sticking out of the wheelbase. When you order a new pneumatic system, that is one of the new parts that will come with it and will be the color you are ordering and will be covered by the telescopic skirt anyway. Part websites will give a diameter or "width" around 1.83" ~ 2.15". Make sure to measure that and remove it from the wheelbase. This might require a rubber mallet or to put a wood board between it and a regular hammer and set it up-side-down on a pair of saw horses to knock it out. 2:30 Don's length measurement method is confirmed correct here and what he is measuring, he calls the "gas cylinder body" that replacement part on websites will be called "inner cylinder." The diameter or "width" of that part will be around 1.1". The parts I looked up had no variation on that width which is probably why he omits this information in the video. The new system you order when it comes in, will also come with the rubber stopper, 2 metal washers, a bearing plate, and a new clip and washer. No need to order those replacement parts. When you remove the "inner cylinder" from the mounting plate on the under side of the seat, you may also have to forcibly knock the cylinder out of the plate. The new system will be held by friction between the wheelbase and mounting plate under the seat and its tightness is reinforced every time you sit down.

Excellent, thank you. I'd watched another video instructing us to just tap the base off with a mallet - luckily I saw this as well and when I checked my chair definitely has the clip holding it in place as in this video. Glad I found this before causing any unnecessary damage. Much appreciated sir.

The only one who shows how to properly remount the bolts, rubber and that white thing with metal balls around it. I was inches away from throwing everything in the thrash. THANK YOU, GOOD SIR!

I want him to be my father, this was the most helpful thing i've ever watched in my entire life.

I love my chair but it has been driving me crazy with it slowing sinking. I'm really glad I found your video. Thank you, I'll give it a try!

I've just saved 60$ within 1 minute after watching how to disassemble the base wheel, helpful video, very instructional and thanks a lot!

These old school guys always are experts on what they are doing. Thanks a lot good sir 👍🙏

Clarity and brevity - Don you're a superstar.

awesome video you just saved me a lot of money was going to throw my chair away ...now i can just fix it. Wisdom is awesome..you sir are filled with wisdom.

Don is my new favorite tech advisor. Great video!! Thanks for explaining everything you were doing during the video.

"The collar is not part of the gas cylinder" - I was hitting mine for a good 20 min then took the plastic guard off and realized it was welded lol. Thanks for the video.

That was super helpful! I now know the correct size to order for my chair which hasn't gone up or down in years!

Very good demonstration. And you didn't even need a huge pipe wrench or sledge hammer!!!

I can't tell you how grateful I am for this video. Thank you so much!

thank you for having these videos! these are always just so perfect and exactly what makes the internet great!

I didn't know you could replace them! Thanks for taking the time to thoroughly explain it!

Thanks Don. Had to abandon my 16-oz hammer and purchase a 4-lb mallet. After a dozen taps on the Lift Off tool, the cylinder came free. Thanks for the video!

Very informative video on how to replace a gas cylinder, also some what reveal to me how the gas cylinder chair works!

Thank you so much! This was super easy to measure and it will cost me like 20 EUR to replace it! :)

Just what I needed! Thanks, pops, hope you doing well!

as we say over here in Australia ONYA MATE great presentation

Thank you Don! I could cannibalize a broken chair and repair mine following your clear video and advices. Regards from Costa Rica!

Thank you so much for this-- you are awesome! Both the original video, and your comments below, have taught me a LOT. One of the best hours I've ever spent.

Some excellent information right here and it saved my chair.. Many thanks.

Still very useful . Especially the calme and clear instructions . Thank you .

Brilliant! Thank you so much for your help. Chair now like new after grandchildren wrecked it at the weekend. Your a ⭐️

Very helpful and much better then other RU-vid vides about the gas pistol and how to replace it thank you

Much appreciated for video! Now understand how to measure the cylinder replacement; wasn't sure till watched your video!

Very helpful, thank you kind sir!

Thank you so much for this video! This is very helpful.

Brilliant informative video!! Thanks from Yorkshire!!

Thanks Don! This video helped me fix my chair!

Great presentation. You have made it simple. Thank you so much.

A well thoughtful and complete explanation of gas cylinder replacement. Bravo!

Thank you Sir for a Excellent presentation on measuring and replacing the gas Cylinders

Don you are an angel! Great instructions.

Love you Pa. God bless you

Superb, thank you 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Brilliant thank you so much; saved me £150 for a new chair

انت كفووووووووووو i am ardic You are a good man ..thank you now i sup

This is a great video and it really helped me a lot. Thank you very much for educating me.

Great explanation of the parts. All ten thumbs up. I'm all thumbs!

Very helpful video, many thanks. Now my cylinder is removed and I just have to a new one. Cheers !

Thank you!

When measuring the length do you have the cylinder all out or in?

Thank you that helped me.

Thank you for taking the time to make this great instructional video.

Nicely done video. Thank you.

nice explication for replace the gas cylinder ,, congrats for you mr.

thank you sir !!! a ton

Great Job. I like the useful hints on the how to.

Thank you for the video, very instructional!

Thank you Sir , helped me a lot!

Thank you for an excellent video...now how do I know that gas cylinder is bad. I'm missing the washers and the clip. We just measured the cylinder and it's 5 1/2", yes its's a child's chair....It's a neat swivel chair and I'd like to keep it...Also I have a beautiful adjustable table that needs fixing as well. Are you able to help us there..I know we need to replace that cyclinder too it doesn't rise. I just subscribed.

Great video Thank You!

good presentation, and Ben is a very nice man. helped me out on the phone

My chair has a built-in column I'm replacing the gas cylinder of my chair for the first and I'm wondering if it's safe to remove the column of a brand new gas cylinder for it to fit in my chair's built-in column.

Tutored by the Pro. Many thanks

Clear, simple, well explained. Thank you.

Nice detailed demonstration.

AND thanks for showing how to replace the clip.

Thank you for this video Sir 🙏

Awesome video.

There are two types of cartridges available, the one you show in this video with a clip on the bottom, and a press fit type. What is the one you show in this video called? I need a new one, but don't want to order the wrong type. Thanks! Agree with several of the others, great video!

RIP Julie Mitchell

I just bought a chair that has a very short lift, can I change it for a higher one? Tha chair is a Realspace® - Big & Tall Chair - Axton chair.

Thank you, this was very helpful. I just watched a half dozen videos on how to replace the gas cylinder on an office chair and *none* of them mentioned the length issue. I measured mine and it's 8 1/2" exposed surface, so I assume I should order a 9 1/2" or as close as I can get. Your site lists a 9" cylinder and a 9 3/4" cylinder. If the exact length is not available, Is it preferred to get a slightly shorter or slightly longer cylinder?

I have a nice saddle seat chair but the bottom part of the chair hurts my ankles and i want to replace it, if i buy the bottom spare part will it fit? The gas cilinders are all the same arent they? Will do more research on this.

What's a newspaper?

Excellent video very clear Top job

Thanks! Very helpful.

Very helpful. Thanks.

You're an old pro! Made that seem really easy. :D

Terrific! thanks for making this video!

Very nicely nerrated one. Thank you sir.

Title should be "Office chair cylinder Sage speaks"

No mention of how to measure the piston diameter?

Good old fella

Hi Don, I really hope your doing well in life my friend good man....thank you so much to show how to measure a cylinder chum! YOur a good man! I hope they solved the mysterious death of Julie Mitchell! So when I order the cylinder it looks like I'm getting the column? I'll just hammer out the column from the base obviously and use the new one!

Thanks from 2023!

thanks for the vid

It all looks soooo easy…until you try to remove the cylinder that’s had 200+ pounds of software engineer bearing down on it for two years at ten hours a day 😂

how do I know if its the cylinder or the column that needs replacing?

Could I order a cylinder that is a little longer than the one already there and it would still work? I would like the chair to be able to rise a little higher.

Very!! Very!! Thank you

great vid. thank U Mr.

Do I need to measure the width of the travel bar that extends? Mine is 1.25 inches, and not 1 inch like the piston I want to order, which is 1 inch and 2 inch widths for the 2 bars. (not talking about the 3rd skinny thing deep inside.)

I just got a $150 office chair and after a few days its already wobbly. I used this helpful video to check the parts and they're all perfectly fine. What could be the problem? it wobbles side to side if that means anything.

so you sell replacement ball bearings ? for the end

How do i find that EXACT cylinder? the reason i ask is because my chair has a 1" diameter cylinder and the piston is 1/2" in diameter and everywhere i look everything is 2" cylinder with 1" piston

I have a task chair mfg in 1996 by Eckadams Company. I recently bought 2 from a local site for my home office. They were both in excellent condition. From what I can see it looks like the clip came off the cylinder and the piston rod is sticking out of the bottom. Not sure what I should order.

Hi. I have read that those cylinders can explode and hurt people in very rare cases... As a pro on that area is that even possible, i mean, if this by any chance explode sometime, is there suficient pressure inside to hurt someone?

My moving company somehow lost the parts that hold the wheel base to the "Spindle"(washers, clip, etc) Where can I get replacements.

Hi I unlocked the clip and the piston went inside the gas cylinder .. is there anyway i can get this out ?

pewdiepie: me: on this video