When was the last time you had your pneumatic cylinders checked out? Be completely honest with yourself. If you’re like most small business owners, then you haven’t found the time or money to do so. Even larger enterprise-level firms don’t check things nearly as often as they should.
Unfortunately, this can lead to some sticky situations. While compressed air-driven equipment tends to be extremely reliable, you do need to check your cylinders regularly.
Pneumatic air cylinders are mechanical devices that leverage the power inherent in compressed gas to produce reciprocating linear force in the same way that an internal combustion piston works. The operating fluid is a gas, so if the cylinder ever leaks it won’t containment the surrounding area. This makes these units a healthy competitor to hydraulic cylinders that could cause liquid to leak all over the place.
Before you rush to see which cylinders need immediate replacement, make sure to check the catalog from SMC Pneumatics. We offer everything you need to completely revamp your manufacturing, service, construction or even medical workshops.
You’ll also want to consider the following list of the top five pneumatic cylinders that you could install today.
Pneumatic Cylinders for Your Job Site
1) Series NCM Stainless Steel Body Cylinders
These heavy-duty cylinders are perfect if you need durable equipment that isn’t going to give up no matter what you throw at it. You should find that they’re offered in more than enough designs to fit almost any use case. They ship standard in all of the following bore sizes:
- 7/16?
- 9/16?
- 3/4?
- 7/8?
- 1-1/16?
- 1-1/4?
- 1-1/2?
- 2?
No matter what kind of equipment you’re running, you should be able to interface one of these cylinders without having to change out a great deal of gear. That’s one of the big advantages of the NCM series. While the upfront cost might be a little higher than average, you won’t have to invest much money into buying anything else if you already have plenty of hardware in your workshop.
There’s a good chance that they’ll outlast some of their competition as well. Once you replace an existing cylinder with any of these NCM models, you should be good to go for quite some time.
2) Series CM2 Air Cylinders
Technicians who are more concerned with having many design variants to choose from will want to look into the CM2 series of pneumatic cylinders. They’d be able to pick from any of the following technologies:
- Standard
- Non-rotating Rod
- Direct Mount
- Direct Mount with a non-rotating rod
- Low Friction
- Centralized Piping
- End Lock Equipped
- Low-speed Cylinder
This should be more than enough to ensure that every possible use case is covered in this particular category is covered by at least one model.
Many work crews have been in a situation where they can’t find equipment that does exactly what they need it to, so in the end, they opt to use a component that doesn’t fit their needs. You’ve probably had this happen at least once or twice in your own workshop before. The wide variety of variants offered by the CM2 series ensures that this episode won’t play out at your place of business again.
3) Long Stroke Series MXY Cylinders
These cylinders prominently use a linear guide, which helps them to offer a rigid compact design that’s also light on weight. Each device in the MXY series comes with a built-in magnetically coupled rodless cylinder attached to the slide table. Best of all, the stroke adjuster doesn’t protrude from the workpiece’s mounting surface. This gives you a high degree of flexibility when it comes to workpiece mounting. You can use the onboard lock plates to securely lock the adjustment bolt with fairly little force.
4) CQ2 Compact Pneumatic Cylinder
CQ2 models were recently redesigned. Skilled engineers remodeled them with a new body that maximizes their flexibility. As a result, you should be able to mount small automatic switches on four different surfaces. These auto switches can be mounted on any of the cylinder’s hardpoints, which helps it adapt to different installation conditions. It’s small enough to fit in areas where you might not normally be able to finagle enough room to put a full-sized cylinder. This makes them especially attractive for use on cramped workbenches where technicians need as much space devoted to their tasks as possible.
5) NCA1 NFPA Interchangeable Large Bore Cylinders
Some tasks call for only the best. If you’re looking for a non-rotating cylinder you can install in tandem, then the NCA1 series might be for you. These offer a jaw-dropping 12 different NFPA mounting options as well as compatibility with auto switches. Since the cushion seal is designed to float, you shouldn’t notice any bouncing of the piston rod at all. Problems related to those annoying cracking pressures that occur at the beginning of a stroke will be a thing of the past the moment you switch to a strong NCA1 series model.
SMC engineers also increased the cushion volume and switched to a new type of seal. This has helped the NCA1 series to absorb around 30 percent more kinetic energy than most previous models. Companies that have to deal with very delicate workflows should certainly have reason to celebrate because this level of precision is quite rare.
Getting Fresh Ideas for Your Pneumatic Cylinder-related Inquiries
There’s a possibility that you’re still not sure which pneumatic cylinder to pick even after reading over this list. If that’s the case, then you should feel free to contact us today and speak with a representative of our skilled engineering teams. Our engineers and technicians are available to offer you fresh ideas when dealing with complex problems. They’re also on hand to answer any questions you might have. You don’t ever have to feel alone no matter how complicated your company’s problems may seem.
Best of all, our teams have experience helping small businesses and larger enterprise-level firms alike.