The Secret Life Of Gas Springs

Need a constant force? Gas springs have got you covered!
But how on earth do they do what they do?!

We need some common ground to understand what's going on. If you can't stand the wait, jump to 17:28.

--------------
Music: Wayne Jones 'Mr. Sunny Face'

[Infrared]

Sir, I will not be skipping past 17m 28s of anything you put out there.

[docpayce]

The atmospheric pressure also pushes on the part of the piston outside of the cylinder.

❤❤❤

[ChrisBLong]

For years, every time I closed the boot (trunk) of my car, I've thought 'I must look up how those gas struts work' but then I always forgot about it, until the next time. Finally, I know! Thank you.

[davidbaker]

I was trying to fast forward to 17:28 but there was a constant force pushing back on my fast forward finger. You did it again.

[BroughtToYouByDDean]

They didn't use a stretchy spring because it could be stretched past its comfy zone and will inevitably damage the spring. By using a squeezy spring in the configuration they did, it prevents damage to the spring and instead it hits a dead stop when it is fully squeezed... (But I know you know that Tony 😜 I commented because al gore has no rhythm)

[nathanparker]

My dad was a mechanic, but he never had the patience to explain things to me, so I went off and became a biologist. Thanks for being my internet dad, This Old Tony.

[jasonodom]

When I was a kid all the old wooden screen doors had a long skinny stretchey spring. I haven't seen one in decades now, but ill never forget the sound of those springs stretching and rubbing against the door and then the sound of the door slamming back against the door frame as they closed.

[rogerwilson]

I have a product that uses gas springs, I love the dampened movement, the constant force isn't an advantage. But understanding the simplicity of how this device maintains the constant force made my day. Thank you This Old Tony, love your humor too my friend!

[bpc]

"You'll notice all these springs are different." [moves duplicate off camera] Classic! Tony, you're the best!

[jonathansimon]

There's 14.7 psi on both sides of the piston but now that you've drilled a hole in the side. you've now turned the entire world around it into a giant gas spring, so now there's 14.7 psi pushing on the end of the rod also! Congratulations you've now restored balance to the world, and that gas spring.

[motoxjosh]

no explained this to a 15 year mechanical engineer so simply. love your channel!! cant believe its as simple as that groove that make it all work....

[PatrickHoodDaniel]

A simple explanation is always better than a complex argument. Well done!!

[kevinjohansen]

I don't know if anyone has addressed this in the comments, but the gas spring is crimped and welded together with no visible port to charge the gas. It's pretty interesting process. They put the gas springs in a sealed chamber, pressurize the outside of the spring and the gas pressure goes past the seal on the rod because the lip is only pointing one direction. The gas goes past the lip seal into the spring to some equalizing pressure slightly lower than the outside pressure. The chamber is depressurized, take the spring out and they are charged. Our local supplier has some stocked charged very low, and they can increase the charge as desired by an application.

[thanatos]

"Be careful. Don't stupid." needs to be on some merch.

[mightyluv]

Your video reminded me of the days when I was broke but had access to metalworking machinery and materials; I designed and built a backcountry water pump that would discharge an equal volume of water on both push and pull strokes based on the piston rod displacement. It was a good mental challenge at the time, and super useful when I was out hiking.
By contrast, I’m now financially comfy, but no longer have access to that equipment. I really miss those days.

[ChrisAWare]

I unfortunately didn't get to watch this when it was uploaded, so i know my comment will just be buried and you may never see this. But you just answered an issue we had with a hydraulic cylinder that my shop built for rather large steel manufacturing company that commissioned some 30k# lift cylinders from us. They gave us drawings their "engineers." They called for single acting, 5 inch bore, 2 inch rod, but the piston had a hole in it. I mentioned to my boss that i didn't think they would lift what they want with the hole, but i couldn't explain a reason. The cylinders came back, they wouldn't lift. Your illustration at 19:00 finally gave me the answer I needed. I didn't think of it as the top side of the piston counter acting the force at the bottom, but my brain was telling me that they were only getting the lifting power equal to the 2 inch rod. Once we replaced the piston with a solid one and a seal, they had their lifting power (5" at 2500psi). I just knew that there was a reason behind most single acting cylinders being sealed at the piston properly, or in the case of telescopic cylinders, the "rods" being only slightly smaller than the bore to get the power they produce. Thanks TOT!

[nielscremer]

I miss the days when TOT was still new to me and I had like 200 new videos still left to go through 😢

[barretthoward]

This old tony makes me feel like a kid again. 11 years old and home from school. It's raining so I can't go outside. Mom put PBS on the TV so I would stop bothering her about my being bored. The reading rainbow just started, and normally I'd scoff at the idea of an " educational adventure" but this time is different. I want that. Several hours later I can't stop talking at dinner about how much work goes into building a dam, or what airline pilots actually do. Having for the first time enjoyed learning something.
This old tony thank you for making me want to learn again.

[trespyyy]

1:50 Secretly changing the colour of the screwdriver you're holding is genuinely a diabolical mindf*ck.

[integza]

This is one of those cases in which the math checks out, the physics checks out but I still can’t believe it works like that.