In the current trend of increasing energy costs, which appears to be underpinned by big-picture issues such as peak oil and carbon emission reduction, there is a growing awareness of the need to make hydraulic systems more efficient.

The three obvious ways of doing this are:

1. Use components with higher native efficiency: a piston pump instead of a gear … Read more

A large part of being “smart” in any area of expertise comes from doing your homework. And this is especially true with hydraulics. Here’s a story from one of our members which illustrates this point pretty well:

“I’m fairly new to hydraulics and I thought coating the interior of a hydraulic tank I’d made with a zinc spray (cold galvanizing … Read more

Some time ago I recorded a simulation video which explains what happens when the piston-seal on a double-acting cylinder leaks, and it becomes a displacement cylinder.

After watching the video, Larry from Canada sent me this in response:

“I enjoyed your video about cylinder drift not being caused by oil leaking past the seals. But I have to ask the … Read more