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I have an office chair, which has a leaning mechanism that can be tightend and loosend as per requirement. But the problem is, whenever i lean backwards, and then come forward, the mechanism makes a krrrrr sound in the forward journey. I found out the sound comes from the cylindrical box type thing. Any ideas how can i get rid of this annoying sound? I don't see a way to open it either.

me.ydv.5
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    Be aware that the "cylinder box thing" has a spring inside that you tension with that knob. Loosening the knob all the way might give you access, but the spring might always be under tension so trying to open it could be dangerous at worst, or just hard to put back together if it does open. – JPhi1618 Jan 18 '18 at 16:14
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because office chairs aren't home improvement – mmathis Jan 18 '18 at 18:48
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    @mmathis Repairing a household chair seems pretty DIY to me. If it were a wooden chair I doubt there would be any debate at all – Machavity Jan 23 '18 at 14:02

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I've used Lock Ease for this exact issue.

Lock Ease is an amazing product. It's dry graphite, with an alcohol (I think) based carrier fluid packaged in an aerosol can. The carrier fluid help gets the dry graphite to penetrate then evaporates leaving no oily residue behind. It's made for lock cylinders, but I use it wherever dry lubricant (such as graphite) is needed.

Disclaimer: Amazon link for convenience only, I don't work Lock-Ease, Amazon, or the Amazon Marketplace seller distributing the product.

enter image description here

agentp
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Tyson
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    Not sure why the can would need to breath underwater, but it's nice that it includes a flexible snorkel if the need arises. – Tester101 Jan 18 '18 at 17:20
  • @Tester101 it's a short little red tube, just like wd-40 cans use. – Tyson Jan 18 '18 at 17:22
  • And honestly for anyone reading this, if you keep a can of WD-40 on hand, you should keep this right next to it. You'll be surprised how many times you reach for the Lock Ease instead. – Tyson Jan 18 '18 at 17:36
  • I thought that was funny tester, good product I use on a grandmother's wall clock. Lasts for years, I thought it used propane, but whatever it only leaves the graphite after a few seconds. – Ed Beal Jan 18 '18 at 19:51
  • I do see the humour re-reading that, I think I was on the phone with a customer when I responded , I just thought he was wondering what it meant. =] – Tyson Jan 18 '18 at 19:56
  • fyi if you edit your post and add an 'm' to the end of the attached file name (UdFbTm.jpg) it will appear as a more reasonable size. ( or s even smaller ) – agentp Jan 18 '18 at 21:15
  • @agentp did seem to change or me, I tried both. – Tyson Jan 18 '18 at 21:21
  • seems to work for me. Have to wait till someone reviews my edit though. – agentp Jan 18 '18 at 21:34
  • Thanks for the suggestion but I doubt I will be able to open the box, because as @JPhi1618 said in the question comment, the spring might be hard to put back. Moreover, I don't see any orifice for lubrication from the outside. – me.ydv.5 Jan 19 '18 at 14:08
  • @me.ydv.5 you missed the very first line, I’ve used this product for this exact issue. I didn’t take anything apart, I did it all just by turning the chair over and squirting and moving the moveable parts that move by hand. Just to repeat — nothing needs to be taken apart. – Tyson Jan 19 '18 at 14:41
  • @me.ydv.5 If you look at the knob, there are usually a couple holes where you can squirt lube in. If not, you may be able to get it in through the top, between the base plate and the pivot bracket. – Tester101 Jan 19 '18 at 17:27
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Get some dry silicone lubricant (whichever brand you fancy), and find a way to spray it into the spring housing.

Tester101
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I've used standard WD-40 to remove all kinds of office chair noise. It smells for a few hours, but then it prevents squeaks for months or years.

I've also used 3-1 oil, sometimes called light machine oil or sewing machine oil. It's a little harder to get in the right spots, but it's slightly thicker, gets more oil in (usually too much, though), and smells less.

Pretty much any lubricating oil will work, although you probably want to stay away from used motor oil. That "aroma" will stick around for days.

computercarguy
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  • And make sure the chair is not on carpet for days... Even if you wipe away what you can see at the time of treatment the chair will drip. – Tyson Jan 18 '18 at 19:54