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Stand 444 PNEUMATIC CYLINDERS: WHY AND WHEN DOES QUALITY MATTER?
Craemer-UK_FactoryHandlingSolutions_195x75mm_2025-NP1.indd 1 11.02.2025 09:52:08
Mike Bacon, internal technical applications engineer at Matara, addresses the issue of quality when it comes to pneumatic cylinders: what constitutes quality, why does quality matter and, just as importantly, when does it matter.
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Over the years, a wide array of pneumatic cylinders has been including roundline, guided, precision slide, compact, clamp and stopper cylinders. Rodless pneumatic cylinders are also available and becoming more popular which have been designed to perform as a self-contained linear
As with all mechanical devices, quality differs between types of pneumatic cylinders and between manufacturers.
WHEN IT PAYS TO INVEST IN QUALITY Whilst I’d like to say that quality always matters, the reality is that quality matters more in certain applications.
When it comes to miniature ‘brown’ cylinders, typically used in moving items off a conveyor belt that don’t tend to be long lasting. You could invest in better quality versions, but the return on investment doesn’t add up, mostly because they are very low cost so it’s not worth repairing them, and they are incredibly easy to replace. Where quality most certainly does matter is when it comes to the bigger cylinders, 125, 100, 6200 bore cylinders which are lifting heavy weights. Replacing a big pneumatic cylinder is costly and rarely quick, as they generally aren’t stock items and therefore have to be machined and cut, which could easily take several days. At Matara, we have a large UK based machine shop and are able to build many pneumatic cylinders in-house, which means we can frequently deliver a replacement cylinder in two to three days, but that isn’t the case for all suppliers. Time is also required for the on-site engineers hours, not minutes. All of this time is clearly disrupting the process at hand. You then have the health and safety
implications to take into account, especially if the cylinders are lifting several tonnes of machinery or items vertically. The last thing anyone wants in this scenario is the cylinder to fail and everything to plummet. If this did happen, other machinery could be damaged and you would probably have to shut down the whole area, which could last for days.
WHAT CONSTITUTES QUALITY IN A PNEUMATIC CYLINDER?
Pneumatic cylinders are fairly simple devices in that they’re composed of just three or four parts. This makes it quite straightforward to tell when they’re not good quality by just looking at them. Typically, there will be gaps, such as around the seals, and they may not quite line up. To discover other important quality issues, you will need to probe a little further.
Let’s start with the materials used in construction. Aluminium, steel and stainless steel are essential. When it comes to the rods, chromed rods are ideal if the cylinder will be lifting heavy weights as these are far less prone to breaking. The seals are the items that are most likely to go wrong on a cylinder as they can be easily damaged, especially in dirty, dusty sites. In harsher environments, it pays to invest in better quality seals. In food environments, seals would be a good option, but there are also PTF, PTFE and wiper seals.
To ensure you end up with a pneumatic cylinder that meets the demands of your site and application, it’s important that the manufacturer is able to offer a range of accessories. These cylinder itself, including scrapers and bellows to protect the rod from dust and debris. adheres to the relevant standards: ISO
FACTORY&HANDLINGSOLUTIONS | MARCH 2025 5
15552, ISO 21287 and ISO 6432. All reputable companies manufacture to those international standards, so that shouldn’t be an issue. What is an issue though is how those manufacturers test their products. Avoid batch tested products been tested. At Matara we test each and every cylinder we manufacture in house, which means we very rarely have any returned. Lastly, what level of support can the manufacturer bring? This is a much impacts the overall quality of the product and service. Is the manufacturer willing to visit the site and provide advice on the cylinder? Maybe it can be repaired rather than replaced. Would a high temperature seal solve any issues? Based in the UK, Matara is a linear motion, automation and pneumatic component specialist. For more information go to
www.matara.com
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