by Bob of Pennsylvania (thanks Bob!)
This is a comment from Bozocity of Maine that I think is of special importance:
"The cord used on the Nordic Fitness Chair is *NOT* the same as the parachute cord commonly available at hardware and army-navy stores. Parachute chord is made of nylon and is designed to stretch when tensioned (to absorb shock when a parachute opens). The chord on the Chair is polyester and is designed not to stretch, so that all energy is transferred to the brake. Using parachute chord will make the Chair feel mushy, with low resistance. I was able to find good chord at a rock climbing store. Although most of their chord was designed to stretch, they had some thin chord intended for lashing items together that does not stretch. Its superior abrasion resistance makes it better than the original chord."
I replaced my cords about a year ago, and this is written up mostly from memory of how I did it.
Changing cords on your chair is not hard, but it is an involved process. It will take about 1 to 1-1/2 hours to accomplish, and it's a good idea to have a helper for the final steps to hold the cords for you when they have tension on them.
Tools and helpful items:
You will need about 13-14 ft. of parachute cord for each arm of the chair. I used 13 ft. on mine, but I never use the chair for the leg exercises. If you use the leg exercise pulleys, you may want to make the cords longer - measure it out. You can get the parachute cord at an Army/Navy surplus store. They can cut it in whatever length you want. I forget how much it costs, but it's not very expensive at all.
It is probably a good idea to take pictures or make sketches of the resistance brake before you remove it from the chair so you have a reference to mount it properly on the chair when you are done. Pay particular attention to the position of the holes where the cords exit the resistance brake to go through the pulleys onto the chair frame. Also, you should mark the top and bottom halves of the resistance brake with paint or permanent marker marks so you can line up the marks and put it back together in the same position.
Grab the cord on the bottom of the chair near where it goes into the resistance brake, and cut off the exercise pull handle (if the cord isn't already broken off). Let the cord pull back into the resistance brake gently through your hand, instead of letting it snap back quickly. Repeat for the other side as you cut off the exercise pull handle. Use an allen wrench to remove the resistance brake from the bottom of the chair.
Once you have the screws out of the resistance brake, CAREFULLY take the top part. You will see the cord coiled around the inside spool. Unwind the old cord until you get to the end where a metal cord retainer clip is held against a bracket on the spool. Take a look at this area to see how the cord retainer fits into this bracket and remember it for re-assembly.
** Pull the old cord out, and carefully remove the retaining clip by gently prying up the little metal tab that is pressed into the cord. Use a hammer & small flat tip screwdriver or small punch to do this, but don't break the tab off, or you have just made the job a lot harder (you will have to find an alternative method to retain the cord). After you have the retainer off, put the new cord into the retainer, and use a punch & hammer to push the tab on the retainer back down tight on the cord. Put the retainer clip into a vise (if you have one) and pull HARD on the cord to make sure that the retainer clip doesn't release the cord. It's better to find out that the cord is going to slip through the retainer now rather than when you are exercising. You can still fix the retainer easily now. Trim the end of the cord so that only a short stub remains sticking out of the retainer clip. Use a cigarette lighter or match to slightly melt the tip of the cord sticking out of the retainer clip. The cord is nylon and will melt easily. If you don't do this, the ends of the cord will fray and may cause problems. You can practice on a surplus piece of cord if you want to see how the cord will melt. (Legal disclaimer - Do NOT breathe in the fumes from the melting cord, I'm sure they are toxic to some degree.)
Thread the cord through the spool bracket making sure the cord retainer clip catches properly in the bracket, then wrap the cord around the spool and put this half of the resistance brake cover back on, lining up your match marks on both halves. Pull on the cord through the opening and see if the spool is working properly with spring tension pulling the cord back. If not, look inside to see how the spring works with the spool and adjust position of spool. Carefully flip the resistance brake over, keeping both pieces together with marks lined up. Now, repeat procedure from the ** symbol above for the other cord. When this is done, and operation of 2nd cord is checked, bolt the resistance brake back together now, with your match marks on both halves lined up. Pull a length of cord out of each hole, and use duct tape or another strong tape to tape the end to the outside of the resistance brake. That way, you won't have to fish around for the end of the cord once the resistance brake is mounted on the chair. If you've gotten this far, the worst is over!
Take the resistance brake to the chair and mount it with the cord exit holes in the proper positions using your photos or sketches or memory. Use a Torx square tip bit screwdriver to remove the pulley assembly from each of the moveable chair arms. These pulleys are at the end of the arms, right where the exercise pull handles go when at rest. Taking off these pulley assemblies makes it easier to thread the cords through the pulleys.
Here's where a second person would be helpful for the final assembly process. Tilt the chair over so it is face-down on the floor. Pull one of the cords out of the resistance brake and give yourself enough slack to fish it through the first pulley on the bottom of the chair, and then down through the metal frame on the back of the chair. Don't let the cord slip from your grasp, or you will have to reach into the resistance brake to find the end of it again. When you have the cord to the top of this metal tube, hopefully you have a friend to hold it there. Otherwise, use duct tape to tape it to the frame securely so it doesn't get pulled back into the resistance brake. Now repeat this procedure for the other cord.
Set the chair upright. ### Fish the cord through the moveable section of the arm and down to the end where you took the pulley assembly out. Feed the cord through the hole in the pulley assembly and around the pulley. Run the cord through the metal ring on the exercise pull handle and wrap it around the ring a couple of times. Tie the cord in a tight knot around the metal ring on the exercise pull handle and pull hard on the handle to make sure the cord will not pull loose. When you have a secure knot, trim the cord end and melt the end with a lighter to keep it from fraying. Put the pulley assembly back in the arm, and fasten with the screws. You have completed one side! Now repeat this procedure from the ### symbol above for the other arm. You are done!
In my experience, the pull cords will feel a bit different for a while, sometimes "skipping" a bit, but after the chair is used a few times, the tension and feel returns to normal. On my chair I noticed the new cords "fritzing" slightly from the friction, so I wrapped some duct tape tightly around the cords for about 3-1/2 inches near the pull handles to protect them. It's a good idea to periodically lubricate the pulleys on your chair using silicone spray. It is not greasy and will ease the operation of your fitness chair = Many Happy Workouts!