Thread: Some pneumatic help here. Cylinder isn't as violent as I would like.

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Here's the story. I have a few double acting cylinders laying around and tried using them in a vice to see the speed of the action. Well I have 5 MAC solenoids that have 1/8 NPT and goes out into a 1/4 tube then into the 1/4 threads on the cylinders. Exhaust muffler attached. I bumped the hell out of the compressor at 120psi and no difference between 20psi and 100psi.

I was thinking it was the tube size going from a 1/8 thread to a 1/4 tube. So another cyclinder this one was a little faster with 1/8 thread and 1/4 tube back to a 1/8 thread cyclinder. Still though it seemed slow.

Next I went with a double 1 inch stroke 6/32 threads 1/4 tube and this was lighting quick at 20psi. My guess is that it is the tube sizing.

Do I need bigger threads on my solenoids to get them to throw quicker? I see some with 1/4, 3/8 and even 1/2. Maybe I'm over looking the obvious here.

hook them up to a scissor.

is there a difference in the diameter of the cylinders?
you also stated that it is a double acting cylinder....only hook up one end and then throw the solenoid...you may not be exhausting the air when trying to throw it the opposite direction. only hookup one end of the cylinder and be sure the exhaust port of the solenoid is not plugged or routed.

the larger the diameter of the cylinder the longer it will take to "fill" the chamber and throw the cylinder but it should be fast no matter the size.

i think you have an exhausting air issue either on the solenoid or the way your hooking up the opposite ends of the sylinder

i use 1/8" tubing on 3/4 inch diamer cylinders and they are lightning fast.......check your exhausting

i just read your post again...what is the solenoid your using?
do you have a different solenoid on each port or is it a single 4/5 port solenoid?
if your using separate solenoids be sure to disengage one solenoid when engaging the other to allow it to exhaust.

Well the weird thing is it works great if I move the out put tube of the solenoid back and forth between the the left/right ends of the cylinder. When I picoboo it then it slows down. I tried 3 different exhaust mufflers and solenoids. Not really sure what to do. I know now that it isn't the tubing size. Is there an adjustment knob or something that opens the valve quicker maybe?

Can you post a picture of your set up? A vid of it in action would be even better. If you don't know how to do that just email it to me.

The first thing I would do is to remove the Exhaust muffler if I had to guess (without seeing it) I would say the air isn't exiting fast enough to let your cylinder piston move out fast.

The 5 port solenoid has a normal open and a close port. If you are using a double acting cylinder you should have the normally open port connected to the top port of your air cylinder. This keeps the piston from moving up. Once power is applied to the solenoid the port that supplies air to the top port of your air cylinder is shut off and the other port opens. That means air is now going to the port that pushes the piston out. BUT before the piston can move up air MUST leave the port that is keeping your piston down/close. That air exits through the port(s) that has the Exhaust muffler and this might be slowing down the release of air going out.

If you could get me a vid I'm sure we could fix your problem.

I'm not around any air solenoid valves right now but I can get to my pictures. So is you muffers like the ones in the middle of this picture (kinda like a cork) or like the one circle in black?
The one in black isn't a "muffer" its a flow control and can be adjusted.

What type of MAC valve do you have, is it a 5 port or do you have 5 seperate valves? Are the coils on the valve(s) correct? by this I maean are you trying to use a DC coil on AC or vice -versa? Also check the valve(s) to see if there is an air leak from the output ports when there is one port enegerized. . Also you might check the cylinders themselves for leaks from the oppisite end that has air applied to it, if the cylinder is extended there should not be any air coming from the other port on the cylinder, if there is you have a bad cylinder. One last question, these are REAL cylinders we're talking about , not some pvc junk.......

This is what I have



I do have 2 5 port solenoids but was under the impression that these would work. Maybe I should try those.