Office chairs can explode if they are not appropriately maintained. When it comes to office chairs, the biggest threat is the gas cylinder that inflates the chair's seat and backrest. Over time, the gas in these cylinders can leak out or become trapped inside them. If there is too much pressure in one of these cylinders, it can lead to an explosion.
The best way to prevent this is by regularly taking care of your office chair. Check all its parts periodically and ensure they're in good working order. If you notice anything wrong with your chair, don't hesitate to get it fixed immediately to avoid any potential problems down the road.
How Can Office Chairs Explode?
To understand why office chairs explode, you must know what parts of chairs are more susceptible to causing such mishaps.
- The first thing is the chair quality which is getting higher with each passing day to excessive use in gaming and working. These fully fabricated chairs often lack quality assurance.
Among them, a pneumatic gas cylinder is a major component of an office chair that adds air pressure and cheaply replaces standard compressed nitrogen gas.
The issue escalates when manufacturers use pressurized air instead of pressurized gas in office chairs. The pressure helps adjust the chair's height by ascending and descending it. Almost 1500 to 2000 PSI is used to lift the height of the lever, and the ascending gas spring also develops maximum pressure. If the seal doesn’t limit the pressure, it leads to a massive explosion.
To summarize:
- When pressure is maximum, but the chair is at its lowest height
- When the piston is loose
- If the seals are defective
- If instead of pressurized gas, the air is used in a cylinder.
What Causes Office Chair Explosion? - Case Study
You may not know, but in the US, Europe, Canada, and Australia, several tests have been run to ensure the durability and safety of office chairs. This happened after some horrible incidents of office chair explosion that took place in 2008 in China, where an older man got severe injuries, and in 2013 again in Chine where a young woman got badly injured by explosion and penetration of metal pieces inside her body.
These are some serious incidents that everyone should try to avoid happening. But to prevent them, you must know what causes these chair explosions.
Poorly Built Chairs
Checking the track records of the seller will help you get a slight idea of the quality reputation. Also, you can go for warranty or replacement offerings to keep things aligned.
Defective Gas Cylinder
Gas cylinder is one of the major cause of office chair explosion due to improper functioning. Whether to replace it or get a new chair to make things safe and secure, if the gas cylinder isn’t the problem, it could be pressurized gas itself.
Abusive Use of Chair
Excessive or abusive use of office chairs can make them explosive. There are some signs to predict that your chair isn’t safe anymore, such as torn fabric at the back of the chair, cracks in the frame, wobbly legs, visible springs from the upholstery, leakage in the gas lift mechanism, and a weird smell coming out of the chair.
How to Prevent Office Chair Explosion?
In most regions of the world, you don’t need to worry about office chair explosion due to strict safety regulations. But in many areas, you get caught in such incidents by even minor errors in manufacturing. The ideal way to prevent office chairs from exploding is to minimize the risk leading to such conditions.
You may lack sufficient knowledge while buying these chairs or compromise the quality by spending less money. Here are some ways to avoid such terrifying scenarios:
Invest In Good Quality Chair
We invest in office chairs less often, but whenever you can buy one, ensure you get the premium or best quality. Before buying a gaming or office chair, inspect the steel seal on the gas cylinder. Steel seal marks gas lift or qualified gas cylinder. If you don’t see any qualified steel seal, do not buy that chair.
Sometimes, any certification is labeled to display the quality of some national or international authorities. If you hear unusual sounds from the chair, it also depicts poor quality.
Always Keep Safety First
You might be worried about the budget, but remember, safety always comes first. Office chairs are meant to add comfort in your workplace to keep you relaxed during long work hours. If you want to achieve all those perks, ensure you are not buying any explosive chairs.
Always invest in the top quality chair and its gas cylinder. If somehow gas cylinder explodes, the better quality chair won’t burn, increasing the chances of lethal risks.
For more security, always follow the instructions recommended by the manufacturer about the weight capacity. In case you stand on your chair, stop doing this!
Immediate Replacement of Gas Cylinder
Gas cylinders most commonly explode due to poor wall thickness of gas spring or too large preload. The other reason is frequent rotation and height adjustments that overheat the parts leading to an explosion.
If your cylinder has inferior nitrogen purity, it will definitely cause an office chair explosion. Therefore, pure inert nitrogen gas is only good for office chairs. Also, avoid chairs having gas cylinders filled with air pressure instead of nitrogen gas.
The shady material of the cylinder also clearly indicates the signs of poor construction and must be replaced by a better quality gas cylinder.
Buy From Trusted & Well-reputed Manufacturers
Choose the product suggested by the manufacturer's guide whenever you buy office chairs. If there is no production or expiration date mentioned on the product, do not buy it. Also, if there is no sign of quality assurance, it will compromise your safety. Buying from trusted and well-reputed manufacturers is highly suggested.
Is The Compressed Air In Office Chair Causing Explosion?
This will lead to tremendous explosions, which will completely shatter the parts of the chair. The explosion can prove lethal if someone is in the vicinity of that office chair. So, the only advice is to avoid sitting on chairs having compressed air or gas other than nitrogen.
Conclusion
Can office chairs explode? A concerning query turns horrible when you get a positive notion. Office chair explosions aren't very common, which rarely happen under high negligence.
But the good way to keep yourself safe is to invest in good quality chairs, handle them with great care, check the condition of the gas cylinder and replace each part abruptly whenever you notice any defect.
Related Posts
