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My lid locks in the upward position, but falls at the slightest bump. Anybody dealt with this before? I remember somebody mentioning oiling them before.

The round leather pieces inside get dried out and leak air. I'd recommend reviewing this Youtube video showing how to do a thorough refurbishing of these.! It's a very satisfying fix:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKHdzIL0mLU

Good luck!
Bob

Thanks for that. Does the leather have anything to do with the lid not wanting to stay open though? It closes fine like it suppose to (nice and slow).

There are spring-loaded ball bearings in the assembly that push into holes near the top of the dashpot tube when open. These need to function on both dashpots.

Refer to timecode 2:50 on the above youtube video to see this explained.

You'll need to remove the back and inspect these, and the dashpots may need to be removed for adjustment and/or cleaning.
Hope this helps!
Bob

barnettrp21122 wrote:There are spring-loaded ball bearings in the assembly that push into holes near the top of the dashpot tube when open. These need to function on both dashpots.

Refer to timecode 2:50 on the above youtube video to see this explained.

You'll need to remove the back and inspect these, and the dashpots may need to be removed for adjustment and/or cleaning.
Hope this helps!
Bob

AH HAH! These little balls may be stuck or the spring maybe dirty/worn. Thanks so much for the help. As soon as I get off of work I shall dig into it.

I had to remove mine (which was something of a pain) to get them working properly again, but as Bob wrote, it was a "satisfying" improvement!

George P.

barnettrp21122 wrote:The round leather pieces inside get dried out and leak air. I'd recommend reviewing this Youtube video showing how to do a thorough refurbishing of these.! It's a very satisfying fix:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKHdzIL0mLU

Good luck!
Bob

In re: the youtube, two suggestions: 1) Use saddle soap to clean, followed by neatsfoot oil to renew the leathers; unlike gasoline, they're made specially for leather (and aren't volatile). 2) Use a strap wrench instead of a pipe wrench (it's not a "monkey wrench") to avoid marring the metal cylinders.

travisgreyfox wrote:

barnettrp21122 wrote:There are spring-loaded ball bearings in the assembly that push into holes near the top of the dashpot tube when open. These need to function on both dashpots.

Refer to timecode 2:50 on the above youtube video to see this explained.

You'll need to remove the back and inspect these, and the dashpots may need to be removed for adjustment and/or cleaning.
Hope this helps!
Bob

AH HAH! These little balls may be stuck or the spring maybe dirty/worn. Thanks so much for the help. As soon as I get off of work I shall dig into it.

My Credenza had the same problem. It turns out, that if you watch very carefully, when the lid opens to the point where the spring loaded balls begin to catch, one side will engage just after the other. In other words, the two don't catch simultaneously. This means that only one catch is supporting the lid, the one that caught last, and one is not enough. The slightest touch lets it release. The solution is to shim the mounting flange of the dashpot that catches late. It is tricky, as you'll have to remove the 2 screws holding the dashpot in place, lower the dashpot cylinder, place a dab of grease where the mounting holes are, then place a washer in the grease, aligning the washers with the mounting holes, then carefully raise the cylinder into position and replace the 2 screws. It may take some trial and error to get the 2 dashpots perfectly in sync.

So I finally got around to taking them out and rebuilding them. Everything was going great until I went to adjust them. I accidentally unscrewed the adjustment screw out all the way and two springs and a ball bearing came out.

Does anyone know how these go back in? Stupid mistake, I know.


Jerry, you were also correct in the misaligned theory, thank you for that.

travisgreyfox wrote:So I finally got around to taking them out and rebuilding them. Everything was going great until I went to adjust them. I accidentally unscrewed the adjustment screw out all the way and two springs and a ball bearing came out.

Does anyone know how these go back in? Stupid mistake, I know.


Jerry, you were also correct in the misaligned theory, thank you for that.

Travis,

It's been a while since I took mine apart, but I'm a little surprised to read that you have 2 springs. Not saying that's wrong, I just don't recall it, nor can I figure out why there's 2. I think maybe one spring regulates the pressure on the ball and thereby controls the descent of the lid. I think the other has to do with the dashpot "breathing" in air as the lid is raised. I just don't recall the order of assembly...