Thread: double-acting

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Just bought a double-acting Bimba cylinder. If I plug the top hole, that will allow it to operate as a single acting, correct?

um..... kinda

single acting actually have a spring inside, by plugging the end you are using the compressibility of air as a spring, but this method has a few drawbacks

1) if ANY air leaks out of the sealed end then over a period of time you will lose performance, and eventually stop working, pneumatics are normally tolerant of quite a lot of air leakage.

2) the controllably of position will suck

3) controlling speed is virtually impossible

Short answer... no.

You need a double throw relay and it'll work great though. On the "on" position it will extend, on the "off" it will retract. And it'll work faster and with more reliability than the single throw.

if you're moving the prop against gravity when activated, then you can use it as a single acting, and the weight of the prop will return the cylinder to the starting position. Don't plug the hole. You can get ventilated caps from Grainger to eliminate debris from getting sucked in, or just use a muffler from Monster Guts.

Thanks to all for the advice. The plug or muffler sounds like the easiest so we'll start there and work with the others if needed.

EDIT: I probably should add that this will be going on Creep Crafters Corpselator(a sort of pop-up)....if that matters.