Do These Casters Come Apart? with pics...

[DerbyDad03]

The casters in the following pics are from an office chair purchased at Staples many years ago. The casters are pretty sluggish due to lint and hair (too many years in my daughters' bedroom). I have tried to clean them as much as possible with a razor blade and tweezers, but the performance didn't improve very much.

I tried to pry a wheel off using a small pry bar wedged between the wheel on the body, but it didn't budge. I used as much force as I felt comfortable using without breaking something.

The local stores don't seem to carry casters with such a short stem so I'm trying to clean the casters up before we deliver the chair to my daughter at college on Wednesday. I might be able to find them online but I wouldn't get them by Wednesday.

Does anyone know if the wheels can be removed for cleaning? Thanks.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Are you trying to fix them? Nothing to fix. All plastic job. I replaced a few. There Time is money! Costs a few dollars each.

[micky]

I spent a lot of time trying to take apart casters like these. (But don't worry. I watched TV while I did it, so no time was wasted.) I did get one wheel off one of them. There wasn't much hair or anything, and oiling didn't help much but nonetheless, I'd try oiling them before taking them apart, since that is so hard to do.

Maybe you have another chair somewhere that uses similar casters, and you can steal them until you get new ones by mail.

Maybe you take her the chair with crummy wheels and can ship the new wheels to her at school, straight from the vendor. She's a college girl now and should be able to do new things. Unless she is only 12 and you sent her to boarding school, maybe because she is a delinquent. In that case she can get her boyfriend to do it for her.

[SteveB]

Those propane torches work good too. OOOH, the smell of burning hair. Vulgar, yet somewhat stimulating in a provocative sort of bent. Brings sixties flashbacks.

Trouble is, they don't roll worth a darn afterward.

Steve ;-)

[DerbyDad03]

Oiling didn't help much.

No chair with matching casters available.

That's certainly an option.

I did say college. I did mean college. 2 x 12. No boyfriend.

[DerbyDad03]

As I said, "I have tried to clean them as much as possible with a razor blade and tweezers..."

I picked and tweezed and I did it in front of the vacuum cleaner hose. Yes, the vacuum was on. ;-)

I'm down to the stuff that I believe is either inside where the axle goes in to the body or is so tightly wound around the axle that my tools can't get to it. The inside lip of the wheel prevents direct, straight-in access to the axle. If I can get the wheel off I can come in from the side.

[DerbyDad03]

I gave up. I tried the widest prying object that I could get between the wheel and the axle housing. Using more force than I was comfortable with, all I did was put indentations in the plastic housing. The wheel didn't move outward by even the tiniest amount.

I'm thinking that each wheel has a "knob" on the end of its axle that is captured within the sealed housing preventing it from being moved outward, away from the housing.

I'm going to take some measurements, order new casters and have them delivered to my daughter at her college.

[David L. Martel]

Derby,

No, they don't come apart.

Dave M.

[DerbyDad03]

My bandsaw will make quick work of cutting the caster neatly down the middle.

It'll be a while, but I'll get it done.

[dadiOH]

I'd suggest ball casters, easy to clean. One source...

Prices vary for $2+ to $10+ depending on source.

[DerbyDad03]

That might be an idea if they come with the correct size stem for the chair I have.

Why are they easy to clean? Is the axle more accessible than the plastic wheeled casters I was struggling with?

[dadiOH]

I've never had to clean one but yes, the axle is more accessible. You can get them with different sizes/types of stems. If any of the stemmed ones at Outwater Plastics would serve, their prices are great as is their shipping. Getting the whole catalog is worthwhile too.

[DerbyDad03]

I may have said college, but I don't think I said "dorm room". My daughter is going for a masters (actually 2) and is also working at the college. As compensation she gets free room and board. The "room" is a brand new, fully furnished, LEED certified, 2 bedroom apartment. It's almost 1000 square feet. Yes, it's in a dorm, but I wouldn't call it a "dorm room". :-) Instead of a room number, it says Private Residence on the wall outside her apartment. It's pretty sweet.

Anyway, the living room is carpeted, as was her bedroom, but a lot of the debris in the casters is hair. Both of the daughters that shared the room the chair was in have longish blond hair and a lot it is wound around the axles of the casters.

I cut and tweezed out as much as I could, but the wheels are still pretty sluggish. I should note that you don't notice a major issue with rolling around in the chair when you are sitting in it. I wouldn't even have looked at the casters if I wasn't trying to break the chair down into small pieces to make it easier to transport tomorrow night. Once I flipped the base over to pull the casters out I noticed the hair and the fact that they didn't spin freely. The OCD DIY'er in me makes me wants to make them like new.

[NotMe]

Might try drain cleaner that's intended to clear hair clogs. Don't know how the cleaner will effect the plastic or the metal.

[TimR]

Some casters do come apart.

We had a couple of sturdy chairs from a dental office (not the treatment chairs, the ones where a hygienist might sit).

They were really solid and just right for a computer desk where you might roll away frequently, with a comfortable padded armrest.

When I got them (Dumpster Supply, Inc) they didn't roll well, but the casters came apart and once cleaned up they worked great.

[hillcountrycole]

HEY! THE WEBSITE RECOMMENDED HAS NO CASTERS! IT'S A SCAM TO GET U TO LOOK!

[hillcountrycole]