Noisy office chair.

[nctnico]

In my experience, a good chair starts at around 700 Euro
Never look for good chairs in office supply stores, they all suck, no matter how much they cost.

You have to specify that a little bit further. Stores like Staples and Ikea won't have good chairs but the companies which are office furniture dealers will have the good stuff. The shop I go to is basically an office furniture dealer but they also carry office supplies (don't ask me why but apparantly it helps not to be forgotten by their customers).

[Electro Detective]

$700 Euros?   

Most chairs in OfficeWorks over here get pretty good at the $70 mark, up to $300+

Some of their cheapies under 70 can be pretty good too if the seat sponge is generous and you can live without arm rests

and I've found out the hard way that no arm rests are better than badly designed ones 

[VK5RC]

Re trying to quieten the chair, I would try some carbon graphite paste, it is used to stop carbon fibre bike frames from creaking - esp where the seat post enters the frame - a high-end bike shop will have some. Failing that I would try some silicon spray lubricant.

[paulca]

Re trying to quieten the chair, I would try some carbon graphite paste, it is used to stop carbon fibre bike frames from creaking - esp where the seat post enters the frame - a high-end bike shop will have some. Failing that I would try some silicon spray lubricant.

I'd be wary of using a lubricant on the adjustment clutches, if the chair has them.  They are just dry metal plates compressed together with a spring.  In the case of my chair it was the clutches slipping that caused the noise.  Adding lubricant to them may cause them to slip a lot more and destroy the adjustment of the chair.

[Electro Detective]

is steve30 still with us?     

Hoping he hasn't had a mishap trying to sort out the chair with the advice offered,

slipped and laying on the floor waiting for paramedics and news reporters to rock up

 

[Distelzombie]

Maybe, while choking the chair, he accidentally ended up in the ferrite-bead himself.

[Electro Detective]

Maybe, while choking the chair, he accidentally ended up in the ferrite-bead himself.

yeah, it happens, those jumbo bead click on clamps are a pain to get off sometimes,
need to speak to the leather clad little lady next time for other bed time options   

 

[Ducttape]

After 4 or 5 office chairs over the years that were quiet only during the first 6 months of use I finally got this cheapo Nadler model. I was specifically looking for a chair with only up/down and swivel movement. And little or no plastic near where things move.

After a couple of years it is still quiet. Of course it is no longer available since management must have gotten wind of this lack of integrated obsolescence. Someone probably lost their job over this one.

Until companies figure out how to force a 'subscribe' model onto chair customers they'll just have to stick with the noise feature to spur continued sales.

[steve30]

is steve30 still with us?     

Hoping he hasn't had a mishap trying to sort out the chair with the advice offered,

slipped and laying on the floor waiting for paramedics and news reporters to rock up

 

I'm still here . I've been following the topic, but just haven't replied.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I'll try and obtain some lubricants and see how I get on with that.

[nanofrog]

Until companies figure out how to force a 'subscribe' model onto chair customers they'll just have to stick with the noise feature to spur continued sales.

Historically, I think that's called rental.

The modern twist would be to add a legal mandate for some existing federal police agency to break down your door and yank it out from under your @ss when the payment is late.  Just bribe a few politicians, and voila! New and improved version of an existing business model.

[tooki]

At my last office, the chairs they bought were $1200 Giroflex chairs. (Swiss made, so probably similar quality to an $800-1000 made-in-USA chair.) Maybe not the very best bang for buck, but comfortable, durable, and quiet. A good office chair is not to be underestimated. (Same goes for any other item even distantly related to ergonomics, like desks, keyboards, lamps, etc.)

[GreyWoolfe]

At my last office, the chairs they bought were $1200 Giroflex chairs. (Swiss made, so probably similar quality to an $800-1000 made-in-USA chair.) Maybe not the very best bang for buck, but comfortable, durable, and quiet. A good office chair is not to be underestimated. (Same goes for any other item even distantly related to ergonomics, like desks, keyboards, lamps, etc.)

The cheapest nod to ergonomics I have are a pair of Anker vertical mice.  One is on my docked company laptop and the other on my main computer.  About $20 USD each and much more comfortable to use with my arthritic hands than a standard mouse.  They are funny looking, though.

[Distelzombie]

You can actually use these? 

You have to be a monster!

[GreyWoolfe]

It does look strange but it fits my hand perfectly.  Then again, I do wear a size 13 wedding ring.

[steve30]

Finally an update on the noisy office chair. I bought two products to try. One is Electrolube Dry Film Lubricant, and the other is 3-in-one brand Which lithium grease, both in aerosol cans.

I put some of the dry film lubricant on the moving plastic parts, and the grease on the metal parts (the rails where the seat moves in and out). I'm pleased to say this seems to have cured it, and my chair is now more or less silent!  .

I think the grease on the metal rails tackled most of the noise.

[CopperCone]

Ugh, that will accumulate dust. My chair was fixed for some reason by putting castor oil on the interface between the bolts and the wooden bottom  I don't know if it soaked into the wood and tightened the fit or what. Had to do it every 3 months or so. Otherwise it would fucking shriek.

If you have a chair that uses wood and screws/bolts that go into it, I recommend soaking the area around the bolts with water, letting it absorb and then using linseed oil to seal it (like a hammer head or a barrel)

[SeanB]

My one chair that squeaked was fixed by using a welder to repair the cracked steel plates of the base, and then painting and oiling the rest of it. Seeing as it is around 40 years old, having fatigue was not exactly unexpected, as I got it on an auction a long time ago. The other I ust put a drop of oil and some grease on the swivel point every so often, as the original grease they used is both mostly turned to powder, and also was there in such a minimal amount that 1 small 50g tube would likely have done 500 chairs. I used some nice stringy axle grease blended with black moly loaded CV joint grease, as it will stick to anything ( including PTFE) and is a really good low speed lubricant, though it is stringy and tacky forever. Would use fork lift chain grease but have none to hand, that stuff really sticks, but as it quickly gets a dust coat it is not sticky in use.

With plastic parts dry chain lube for bicycles works well, it both is clear and generally does not harm plastic, though you will have to be careful in application, as it is like glue in it's ability to attach to surfaces.

[NiHaoMike]

The cheapest nod to ergonomics I have are a pair of Anker vertical mice.  One is on my docked company laptop and the other on my main computer.  About $20 USD each and much more comfortable to use with my arthritic hands than a standard mouse.  They are funny looking, though.

Any that have a tilt wheel? Horizontal scrolling is something I use quite a bit.

[GreyWoolfe]

The cheapest nod to ergonomics I have are a pair of Anker vertical mice.  One is on my docked company laptop and the other on my main computer.  About $20 USD each and much more comfortable to use with my arthritic hands than a standard mouse.  They are funny looking, though.

Any that have a tilt wheel? Horizontal scrolling is something I use quite a bit.

The one that I have does have a tilt wheel.  I don't ever use it but it is there.  There are also forward and back buttons that I do use.  These aren't made for small hands.  There is a company that makes vertical mice, Evoluent and they come in different sizes.  They are expensive, about $90 USD, but they come in small, medium and large.  I didn't look into it enough to see if they have tilt wheels.  My hands are quite large so the Anker works for me.  It doesn't work for Mrs GreyWoolfe.  I bought one of the 2 for her but her hands are too small so she gave it back to me.  I will probably pick up a 3rd for my ham radio computer just because it feels so good to use compared to a regular mouse.  Then maybe a 4th for the workbench but I would have to change out my regular KVM switch for a USB KVM switch to make it work.

[AndersonJoan]

Wow, that would annoy the hell out of me!

One thing you could try is to impregnate all the crevices with glycerol.
I am proposing glycerol in favor of mineral oil, because it is water soluble, so it does not permanently stain your clothes if you happen to apply it a bit too generously.

you can try to change the shock absorbers

[humbertomcneary]

I tried different things to make my chair stop making any noise, but it just doesn't help.

[WandaX]

I hate that noise. I used to sit on a squeaky chair at my old office, and I was afraid to make a move on it. All my co-workers were also complaining about that annoying squeaky noise. But I couldn’t sit still for the whole day. I also have to change my position to feel more comfortable or stand up and go somewhere. I’ve got tired of hearing all those complaints all the time, and it becomes really annoying. I tried to convince my manager to replace my squeaky chair, but he refused. I had no other choice except to pay for a new chair with my own money. Luckily, I found a stylish and comfortable chair on furnicraft-ae.com It wasn’t that expensive, so I do not regret that I gave my own money for it. Besides, I can take it home just in case.

[paulca]

Warning:  This thread has already grown maggots.