Replacement Office Chair Gas Lift Cylinder Pneumatic Shock - 5" Travel - S6111

I knew that the gas lift cylinder in my Aeron chair was failing, so I purchased this in advance of its total collapse. So recently when my old cylinder literally fell apart, I was ready to repair my chair. Unfortunately though, the old cylinder was almost impossible to remove. I was not alone in this problem. I have read in multiple locations that others had the same issue. Even though my old cylinder seemed impossible to remove, it was placed into the chair with only friction holding it in place. I used a hammer and a pipe wrench to remove the old cylinder. It took a great deal of effort, and at one stage my son pounded it hard across its end in order to loosen it. Only then could I twist it off with the pipe wrench. The effort seemed extraordinary, but I was finally able to remove the old cylinder. Once the old cylinder was removed, the new cylinder slip easily into place. It fit perfectly. Initially after reassembling the chair the cylinder would not hold its position. I then adjusted the cylinder release "striker", so when I sat in the chair it did not unintentionally press the release button at the cylinder top. After that adjustment, the chair has been perfect. It seems like new.

I originally contacted my local Herman Miller supplier about a replacement gas cylinder for my chair (a thing on the bottom of the gas cylinder broke, and a metal rod poked out the bottom down to the floor). They wanted almost $40 and 3-4 weeks to get it to me. They mentioned that an Aeron this old needed a different gas cylinder than what they're using now, so it would need to be ordered from the manufacturer. Anyway, waiting is for chumps. I need my chair. For my butt. So I started cruising around to see what I could do to get it fixed in a hurry. I found this replacement on here with a couple of comments about how it actually has a longer travel than most of the other replacement cylinders, which is good for me since I'm tall. It was a bit of a gamble, since I couldn't see any reviews that mentioned whether they had tried this cylinder with an Aeron as old as mine. Well I got it in and installed and it works perfectly. It took a little adjustment of the allen screw that presses down on the actuator in the bottom of the chair, but that was relatively painless. It fits, it holds my weight, it's nice and tall, and it didn't take 3-4 weeks to get to me. My butt can rest easy once again.

Bought a very nice used office chair from an office furniture outlet. After a year it started to sag and lose pressure in surprising little drops. Brought it back to the place I purchesed for a new piston. They replaced the old one for free (with another used one) and within a week it was sagging again. A quick search and I was delighted to find that replacement Pistons were fairly inexpensive... Installed in less than 5 min, more like 3 min... Removed the bracket/base from the chair by removing the 4 screws, banged the bottom of the old piston with a regular hammer with the wheel base on the carpet at a 90 degree angle and the piston/chair bracket popped right out of the wheel base, then I flipped the bracket/piston upside down and while holding the piston with the bracket slightly in the air whacked the bracket twice and it popped right off the piston. Screwed the bracket back on the chair, popped the new piston in the bracket with a couple of hammer taps on the piston bottom, flipped the chair over and dropped into the wheel base... Done. I went so fast I forgot to put the accordion plastic back on the piston, no big deal though. No WD-40, just a plain hammer and a power screw driver... Oh and it's much taller than the last one and works perfectly. For 20 bucks I'm super satisfied and if it lasts a year I think that's money well spent (hoping it lasts much longer!!!)

Pros: It works, relatively simple to put on and it fits but not perfectly but not a real big issue Cons: my hyken chairs lowest setting is now a lot higher than before with this lift, approximately 3-5 inches taller than with the stock hyken lift, the bottom fits well, but the top portion that goes into the hyken chair is slightly smaller than the original There was no struggle putting it into the chair, the only gripes i can say is the lowest setting is a lot higher than the stock lift

This is day one review... I will edit and update as necessary. The product includes no instructions... see YouTube. For my 2005 Steelcase Leap chair, I could not get to the end of shaft that was in the chair seat assembly with the pipe wrench. I had to twist the outer section about 15 times with a bit of pressure away from the seat. It gave me enough space to just get the jaws of the pipe wrench around the seat shaft. I did this with the chair on its side on the floor. Once I got the wrench on the proper shaft, it took a bit of effort to get it to turn. Use WD 40 and whack it a few times to start up some vibration. Once it breaks free it will come right out. I then placed the caster base ("legs") over a large trash can with the shaft pointed down. I used a hard mallet (you can use a hammer, but don't miss and hit a chair leg as they will break) and had to strike the shaft protruding from the bottom of the castor base with a sharp blow to free it. Once free, I inserted this new cylinder into the castor base and then into the seat base. Immediately the chair rose... I had to remove the seat using the slide release and a screwdriver to release the catch (keeps the seat from coming off during normal use). This procedure is also on YouTube. There is a allen head screw over the cylinder and I had to back it out about 2 full turns counterclockwise). I kept checking as you only want to back it out just enough as to not engage the cylinder button release unless the chair lever is being used to adjust height. Hope this helps...