Hackers Help: Need help adjusting IKEA OLOV legs

marylou
Hackers Help26 Comments 5

Photo: IKEA.com

I have some IKEA OLOV adjustable legs. I have followed instructions many times … but they do not lock. It just slides down when I put the table upright???? HELP!

 

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26 Responses

  2. Ivan Reply

    it so happens that the lower (thin) part of the leg is not fixed even when using the Michael method (described above). I fixed it this way – I separated two parts of the leg and glued cloth tape on the locking cone. on those parts of it with which it comes into contact with the upper pipe when tightening.

  3. Linda J Reply

    Does anyone know what to do if 2 of the legs have been pulled out too far and are jammed out (not all the way)? Is there a way to screw it back into the mechanism inside or should I throw them both out and get new ones?

  5. Mārcis Reply

    None of these methods worked, what worked – to decouple the decorative plastic ring which is lodged between the thicker and thinner metallic pipes.

    Basically yank out the thinner pipe (which would stand on the floor) and when you reinsert it make sure the decorative plastic ring is hanging loose somewhere down. Without it “centering” the thinner pipe they are somehow able to make an unmoving “seal” , later you can slide back and insert the decorative plastic.

  6. Michael Reply

    I have just fixed this problem and this is what I did.

    1. First push the leg totally up so it is as short as possible. Hold it so that the leg would slide out but put your finger on it to keep it short.
    2. Then slowly start to turn the leg and every now and again pull your finger away to see if the leg is held by gravity. You want it to stop falling or only fall slowly a short distance.
    3. If the leg can pull down slowly draw it down until you get to the length you want twisting the leg slightly if it gets stuck before
    4. Tighten.

    • Vivian Gude Reply

      This finally worked for mi! It’s a pity that IKEA, the mother of do-it-yourself didn’t put these instructions in the package. Someone should tell them. I assume that a few worn out of trying have already returned them. sharpen up, IKEA!

  7. jerry Reply

    i have a 23″ leg that is useless to me. the adjusting mechanism simply doesn’t work. next time i visit ikea i will seek revenge

    • Vivian Gude Reply

      It works! Simply loose it turning it clockwise to the left, loose it a little and then tighten counterclockwise to the right. Repeat little by little until you get the to the wished hight.

  8. Lara Reply

    I had the problem that one of my two legs would lock and don’t move anymore. Unexpectadly, the simple solution was to keep pushing and pulling harder while turning it into the right direction.

  9. Marjorie Reply

    After reading all these comments and twisting “clockwise” over and over to no avail, a lightbulb came on in my head, and I was able to make it work. “Clockwise” all depends on your perspective. If the table legs are upside down, i.e. attached to the table and the table is lying on its top, then clockwise is the way to go. I was working on a table that was already assembled and sitting in the upright position, sitting on the floor and looking at it from above. From that perspective, I actually needed to turn it *counter-clockwise*, and voila, I have tight legs on my table. I felt really stupid once I figured this out, it was a real “duh” moment. I hope that my testimonial can save others some frustration, lol :-).

  10. Ann Reply

    So, thanks for all these comments. The legs are not so bad if you don’t overtwist. I managed to untwist one leg so much (before I knew what i was doing) it came undone from the mechanism inside the leg and was very loose and would not tighten. After pushing it all the way collapsed I twisted it and could feel it catch and become re-attached to the adjustable mechanism in the leg. After that I did not twist too far and it works very well. Turn the bottom part counter clockwise just until you can adjust the leg- I keep it pretty snug, then put the leg in the selected measurement and the twist clockwise to tighten. It’s nice because the measurement is snug when you tighten and it doesn’t slip around. On the last leg I made the adjustment to the floor so there is no table wobble. You can adjust when upright to account for uneven floors. Don’t give up.

  11. stefan Reply

    One of the legs was not working as should.
    I had two problems.

    1. If the bottom part is not gripping into the upper part whichever way you are turning…
    I had this problem because we went past the maximum height, now I could not get the two parts to connect with eachother.

    Lay your tabletop upside down, fix the upper part to the table first. Next take the lower part and push downwards hard into the upper part and turn counterclockwise . Now it will start to grip and you can start to adjust the leg again.

    2. If you try to fix the bottom part by turning clockwise and it collapses:
    Try squeezing the stationary part of the leg near the junction with your two hands as hard as you can (See post Jared, thanks !). Ask another person to rotate the bottom part clockwise to secure it in place.

    I would suggest once this is in place to never touch this again 🙂

  12. Sheryl Thompson Reply

    I was able to make the legs work. When they say turn it clockwise to tighten…. turn it a bunch…. after 10-20 revolutions, it finally started to tighten. I have 8 of these adjustable legs and they are all at the desired height – locked…

  13. B H Reply

    Before screwing the legs in…You have to twist the bottom/adjustable half of leg counterclockwise, adjust to height (I had to adjust a little, very little, higher than desired height). then to tighten in place, you twist bottom half counterclockwise at the same time of twisting top clockwise. It isn’t perfect but I plan to use a sticky cusion pad under the legs to help the tiny wobble..fill in the little space between leg and floor.

  14. Jared Reply

    Try squeezing the stationary part of the leg near the junction with your other hand while you turn the adjustable end.

  15. TT Reply

    After much frustration I found out these legs actually do work. Turn them counter clockwise to adjust and clockwise to tighten. Good luck!

  16. chris Reply

    I just got these legs and one of them won’t adjust anymore I am so pissed. Does anyone know how to fix it? Also customer service keeps hanging up on me and I can’t get a hold of them!!! I am so mad at ikea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • kc Reply

      hold and turn counterclockwise to adjust to stop mark. then turn clockwise, you can find it start to tighten. if you want to adjust again hold and turn counterclockwise then adjust to desired height and then turn clockwise to lock.

  17. Krizta Reply

    Terrible! I just got these along with the table top that goes along with it and not only is it too small for me because the adjustments won’t stay in place, the legs move around which is not supposed to happen! I keep trying to take it off so I can redo the legs but they’re stuck! I know ikea is one of the cheapest places to buy furniture but that doesn’t mean that the quality has to suck this bad!! Not happy. They better accept my return and give me something that ACTUALLY works this time!

  18. Teddy Reply

    I too was struggling with adjusting the legs, but then I discovered that if you twist them to the height you want BEFORE screwing them into the table, they lock solidly very quickly. It also helped to hold them parallel to the ground while I was twisting. Table is now holding lots of weight at the maximum height. Good luck!

  19. CARROLL FIFE Reply

    I am in line to return theses legs right because they collapsed under my frame. Not safe, Ikea.

  21. Stella Reply

    I could only once install these legs. When I tried to change the legs, they got lame.

  22. Jon Reply

    I am not sure if it the same but I usually twist the other way pretty securely to make sure it is locked.

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