How come my office chair stopped reclining?

December 22, 2007 10:45 PM

I have one of those pretty standard, leather, 'executive' chairs that you buy at Staples. it has the L-shaped yoke on the right hand side, and the phallic tube extending from the base. Recently it stopped reclining, like, all of a sudden. I remember playing with the Phallus until it reclined again, but that's not working. What do I do?
posted by tremspeed to home & garden (10 comments total)

Well, to use your analogy...Try pulling the pud ;)


The phallus should pull straight out and let you fall over backwards again....I think my dog pushes mine in when I'm not looking because I certainly don't mess with it!
posted by legotech at 10:50 PM on December 22, 2007

Yeah. My pussy cat rubs against the phallic L and locks the chair all the time. You just have to pull it out.

Man, and I tried to make that not sexy sounding.
posted by sanka at 11:48 PM on December 22, 2007

Um, dude, I have one of those too, and mine doesn't "pull out" anymore. It's kinda stuck.

And I managed to break the damn base of the chair by stretching... strangely.

So good luck to you. This is why I steal my friend's Aeron when he's not in the office.
posted by disillusioned at 3:30 AM on December 23, 2007

I've had this problem for years and been too ashamed to admit I can't figure out how to make these damn things work. My chair was stuck on non-recline for like three weeks this month because I couldn't figure out how to undo whatever I did to it. I'll be checking back here for updates.
posted by bluejayk at 3:31 AM on December 23, 2007

Metafilter: play with the phallus until it reclines again.

Most reclining chairs have a method to lock the motion. It's often on the same control, but sometimes it'll be on another one nearby. If the prior suggestions of pulling and twisting don't help, try looking for another control next to the existing one.

What I've most often seen has been a smaller lock lever next to a much larger tension control.
posted by Malor at 5:50 AM on December 23, 2007

Oh, and if you do replacement, let me echo bluejay and say, "Aeron!". I've been sitting in this chair for over ten years. Best $600 you'll ever spend.
posted by Malor at 5:52 AM on December 23, 2007

argh. "do get a replacement".
posted by Malor at 5:52 AM on December 23, 2007

On my office chair at home, there's a small ring on the yoke that, when the yoke is pushed in, will lock into a gap in the base and prevent the chair from reclining. All I have to do is bump the yoke with my leg and the chair will lock up... happens all the time. Perhaps that's your issue? First time it happened, I didn't have the foggiest idea what was going on.
posted by jal0021 at 8:12 AM on December 23, 2007

Yeah, mine used to do the same thing all the time - then it stopped.

At first, if I lift up the chair and let it drop in a rather violent fashion, it'd start reclining again. I finally figured out that there's a pin on the pillar of the chair where it intersects the side "pull-to-adjust-height" handle - which has a ___/-----\___ bend in it to release the pneumatic cartridge seal; and the pin would get mis-positioned somehow and lock up the reclining path.

Taking a large screwdriver and a hammer you can knock the pin back into position.

Unfortunately, I think I weakened some small metal bit that keeps the pneumatic cartridge closed from my violent dropping of the chair and one day that small metal bit broke off and the chair no longer stays at a fixed position (aside from fully high - but at least it compresses all the way down when I sit on it - I'm still paranoid that something else will break and shoot the pneumatic cartridge through the seat of the chair).
posted by porpoise at 5:22 PM on December 23, 2007

yeah, it was the yoke 'lock.' whether intentional or just bad design, it's amazing that 1 cm of nudge of that little thing prevents any and all reclining.

thanks for the replies. if you are in the same boat, try yanking the yoke away (to your right) from the base of the chair.
posted by tremspeed at 10:29 PM on December 23, 2007