In most of the offices, you will notice chairs with wheels. It gives some comfort and mobility to move around even when you are sitting on the chair. But after some years, the wheels start showing some issues like getting broken and in some cases the wheels start falling off. So in this post we will guide you on few tried and tested methods and try our best to answer the question – How to Fix Office Chair Wheels that keeps falling off.
Why do office chair wheels keep falling off?
Over time with the usage of a chair, the wheels become loose and sometimes fall off. Therefore, a metal pin is attached to the wheels of the chair. This metal pin is inserted into a plastic socket which is right beneath the caster stem of the chair.
The perfect fitting of the wheels implies more tightly fastening of the pins into the socket. But over time, the socket expands in size. So the pins loosen and finally detached from the socket. That’s why the wheels come off.
Another reason behind this problem is the metal pin sometimes becomes a victim of corrosion. These rusted pins are no longer capable of holding the wheels within the socket. As a result, the uniform shape of the pins is destroyed.
How to Fix an Office Chair Wheels that keeps falling off?
There are several interesting ways to fix this issue. All of them are pretty simple and can be performed at your home. However, for these methods, you need some essential equipment that everyone usually has in his home.
Required objects are –
- Flat-headed screwdriver,
- Medium-sized hammer,
- Wrench, duct tape,
- Paper and high-quality glue.
With the help of these tools you will be able to fix your office chair easily without taking the help of anyone else.
Method 1 – How to Fix Office Chair Wheels that keeps falling off
At first, you need to remove the wheels from the socket. For this, you can use a wrench or a wide-headed screwdriver.
Now pull it against the socket with a wrench of ¾ wide-mouthed or flat-headed screwdriver will do the job. The wheel will remove smoothly.
If you see any dirt around the wheel, then clean it first and then wrap duct tape around the metal pin of the wheel.
Don’t wrap too much tape, or else the pin’s width will get bigger than the socket hole, and the pin will not fit into this.
Now the wheel will be tightly attached to the socket.
Method 2 – How to Fix Office Chair Wheels that keeps falling off
After pulling off the wheels, wrap a smaller piece of paper around the pin just to adjust the additional gap. If it still doesn’t fit properly, you can use a thicker paper piece or fold the previous 2 to 3 times.
In this way, one can simply fix this problem.
Method 3 – How to Fix Office Chair Wheels that keeps falling off
You can use higher-quality glue that has a higher binding property or use a glue gun.
Put some amount of glue on top of the pin and then insert it into the socket.
This will tightly bind the pin within the socket. But try not to put much of it or else the diameter of the pin will get bigger than the socket.
But the drawback of this method is you can’t easily replace the wheels whenever it’s required.
As it sticks to the wheel firmly, you need to put in some extra effort. Sometimes you need to dampen the area just to loosen up the glue.
Method 4 – How to Fix Office Chair Wheels that keeps falling off
The methods mentioned above are only helpful when the pins of the wheels are in good condition. If the pins get damaged or rusted, then you need to replace them.
So you may consider this method as an alternative way to fix office chair wheels that keep falling off.
1. According to the size of the socket of your office chair, buy a good quality wheel. First, remove the old one with the help of a screwdriver. Now place the pin inside the socket hole and tighten it with the hammer. Don’t hit the hammer with much pressure, or else it can break the new wheels.
2. Another way is that you can install a pin with a larger diameter. So here is the entire procedure of this method.
After removing the old wheels, you need to detach the caster from the chair. Then, with the help of a drilling machine, you make the caster’s socket wider so it can accept a larger pin. After that, install the new wheels inside the socket and fit it with the help of a hammer.
After this the wheels are not going to fall.
Fixing or replacing the Wheels: what makes more sense?
Fixing the wheels of an office chair can give you temporary relief. But when the paper or duct tape is ruined, then the wheels again start to fall off. Apart from this, if the wheel pin is not in good condition, then fixing techniques will not last for a long time.
In this scenario, you can replace the wheels of the chair. Some of you may wonder that replacing a chair wheel can be laborious or need an expert. But in reality, it is quite easy to propose.
For your convenience, we enlisted the exact procedure to replace the wheels of an office chair.
Step 1. First, you need to remove the old wheels from the caster. You can pull it with your hand. If the wheel is stuck on the plastic socket, you can use a screwdriver to remove it.
Step 2. To buy a new wheel, you need to measure the pin of the old wheel so that the new one fits perfectly within the socket. Measure the diameter and length of the pin and buy the new one according to it.
Step 3. When the new one arrives, remove all the old wheels from the chair. Now insert the pin into the plastic socket. If it doesn’t fit properly with manual pressure, you can use a small hammer to fit it correctly.
But if the sockets get damaged, then you need to change the plastic caster. Plastic casters of office chairs are easily available on the online shopping portal. One can get from there according to the size and model of the caster.
Conclusion
Avoiding or ignoring such issues can be dangerous. As you are using it regularly, fixing this issue will be a smart approach. You can see, the techniques are pretty simple and less time-consuming. So one can fix this problem before any sort of casualty happens.
But if you think replacing is the better choice for you, you can also go for that without further delay.
