I finally fixed a $300 chair with a 50 cent spring

Found a high end barber chair at an estate sale for $75. Looked great but the hydraulic lift was garbage. Spent 3 weeks chasing the problem. Replaced seals, oil, even the whole cylinder. Nothing. Turns out it was a tiny $0.50 spring inside the release mechanism. Got it off McMaster. Chair works perfect now. Has anyone else wasted time on the wrong part?

3 comments

3 Comments

blairtaylor8d ago

Three weeks, man. I once spent a whole weekend rebuilding a carburetor on a lawnmower only to find out the gas cap was clogged and creating a vacuum lock. Felt like a real genius when I just unscrewed the cap and it fired right up. Does that count as a win or a loss? Either way, glad you got the chair working, nothing beats that feeling of finally finding the dumb little thing that broke the whole deal.

the_laura7d ago

Wait hold up. You rebuilt the whole carburetor and it was just the gas cap? That is brutal. I would have thrown that mower into the street. All that time getting grease under your nails and reading diagrams and it was the simplest thing ever. I once took apart a whole toaster because it wasn't popping up, turns out the little plastic knob just broke off on the inside. Felt like the biggest fool. But yeah, no win feels better than finding that one dumb screw that was loose the whole time.

the_robin5d ago

Oh man, that lawnmower gas cap story hit me hard. I did almost the exact same thing with an old snowblower a few winters back. Spent hours taking the carb apart, cleaning jets, replacing the fuel filter, all that. Ended up ordering a whole new carb online for like 20 bucks. Installed it, still wouldn't start. Finally after 3 days I noticed the gas cap vent was totally gunked up with old gas varnish. Stuck a paper clip in there and she fired up on the first pull. Did you at least keep the old carb as a spare or just chuck it in the corner like I did?