Setting up an Aeron chair
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This Herman Miller Aeron chair is absolutely jam-packed with all the adjustment features you could ever dream of.
You can adjust pretty much any part of the chair to your own needs, which is a dream come true for people who might suffer from poor posture, back pain, or even hip pain.
It offers features to adjust the lumbar support, tilt lock, tension, pivoting arms, and more. Most of the Aeron chairs won’t have all the features, and some may be incompatible with others.
Make sure that when you purchase an Aeron chair that you know which features it has so it is best suited for you. Also, note that some features are not automatically active and may need activating when you set up the chair.
We will have a look at all the available features today, but first of all, let’s focus on the ones that you may have to activate during set up.
Features and adjustments
Before we start celebrating all the amazing features that are offered by this chair, let’s have a look at the features you will likely have to activate during the set-up of the chair.
Tilt lock
First, let’s look at the tilt lock. This is a feature that is on some of these chairs, ensure that your chair has this before you attempt to activate this feature. Be aware that if the tension control is too firm then the chair will not tilt backward.
To activate and set, ensure that the tilt lock lever is in the down position, then turn the tension knob adjustment for around 3-5 minutes, to lose the tension to the absolute least resistance possible.
Don’t sit on the chair whilst you turn the tension knob. When you do sit, be cautious as the backrest will easily move back as the tension has now been set for minimal resistance.
Sitting on the chair, push back slightly to activate the tilt lock feature, and then to lock the chair into your preferred position, lift the tilt lock lever to the up position. It is that simple.
Tension Control
Next the tension control, this feature is found on a majority of Aeron chairs. To activate this feature for the first time you need to turn the tension control knob to the side for about 3-5 minutes, similar to the tilt lock system.
Similarly to before, do not sit on the chair while you do this. If your chair also has the tilt lock feature as well then the lever needs to be in the down position to activate the tension control. Keep this in mind when you are activating these features.
It takes 3-5 minutes to turn the tension control knob to the minus side, and activate it to the minimal resistance. If you wish to turn to it the maximum, then you turn it to the plus side for 3-5 minutes.
If you wish to alter the tension resistance and your chair has a tilt lock, then again you must ensure that the lever is turned to the down position.
Forward Tilt
This feature is not included on many Aeron chairs. Double-check it has this feature before seeking to activate it.
To activate this feature and move it into a forward position, you must ensure that the tension is set to firm. This is because if the tension is not firm then the forward tilt will not do anything.
To set this up you need to unlock the tilt lock and let your chair move forward until you hear a ‘click’ sound.
Then tilt it back, while you do this lift up the forward tilt lever and lean forwards, at this point the chair should move forward. However, if it does not move into a forward position then the tension control is not set to a maximum firmness, or the chair did not click (you must listen for the click).
If you did not hear the click, return to the starting point, turning the tension knob, and moving the chair forward so you get that sought after ‘click’ and try again.
Other adjustments to note.
Now that we have looked at these, let us look at other features that these chairs often have.
Seat height
The seat height is altered via a paddle-shaped lever on the right-hand side, to raise it take your weight off the chair and raise the lever up, to lower while seated raise it up.
Adjust the height of the chair so that your feet rest flat on the floor or the footrest. Ensure your body is seated comfortably. Avoid having dangling legs as this can put pressure on your back.
Arm height
Adjustments for the arm height are made via a wheel on the base of the arm support on either side. To raise or lower the arms, while seated, turn up wheel upward until the arm loosens.
Then grab the base of the arm support and raise or lower to your desired height. Then turn the wheel down to lock it into place.
Arm angle
To alter the arm angle, pulling them inward or outward seek controls at the front of each arm pad. To do so while seated grasp the front end of the arm pad and pivot them to the left or right as you desire.
Doing so can help support different types of work and shifts in posture.
Lumbar adjustments
There are two types of lumbar adjustments you can make with this chair, lumbar depth, and lumbar height. To alter the lumbar depth use the equal pressure on each end of the support pad, lift it out of its track and flip it over then place it back in the track.
To alter to heigh use the pressure again and raise or lower it to the position via the adjustment track.
Footring height
To alter the footring height (this feature is only available on some versions), alter via the long stem on the left side with the knob. To raise it, while seated lift your feet off the ring and turn the knob forward.
To lower it, lift your feet while seated and rotate the ring backward.