Finding a suitable replacement gas spring with 2 easy steps

Gas springs are widely used nowadays, but the lifespan of the gas springs is limited. Generally speaking, it is recommended to replace the gas struts after a few years of use to have better performance.

What is the use of a gas spring?

You may doubt the purpose of a gas spring when you hear about the gas springs or lid support for the first time. Today, I will show you two simple examples and they will tell you the answer.
First, try to recall how you open the car’s very heavy trunk and prop it up. Let’s look closer to the trunk and you’ll find a pair of strong gas springs supporting the trunk silently.
Then, another example is the overhead cabinet in your home. Are you still having to use your head or face to hold the cover every time you open it to retrieve items needed? You don’t need to do this again from now on since a pair of gas springs will allow the cabinet door to keep open and stay where it should be.

How do the gas springs work?

During the process of producing a gas spring, nitrogen and hydraulic oil will be added to the gas spring, which is sealed to prevent overflow. The gas spring stores energy by compressing the Nitrogen gas contained inside. When the gas spring is pushed, the piston rod is pushed into the cylinder, which compresses the gas. When you stop pressing and releasing, the gas will have a reverse pressure to open the piston, and the piston rod will be pushed out, that’s the way the gas springs to support a lid.

Key factors to choose a gas spring

The key factor in choosing a gas spring is knowing the force and the length that you need. If you are looking for a replacement gas spring, you need to know the thickness of the rod as well. Generally speaking, with a larger force and longer length, the rod diameter will be increased as well.

3 Method to figure out gas struts force you need

Let us determine the force first. To know the force you need, you can try the 3 methods below to determine it.

First, check the force of the old gas springs.

Second, remove the door panel from the cabinet and weigh the lid on the scale (X lb). Generally speaking, you need to choose a pair of gas springs that have a force larger or equal to X lb to support an X lb lid. For example, if the weight of the gas spring is 30 lb, the force should be 60 lb, you can use a pair of gas springs larger or equal to 30 lb. These two methods are both highly recommended since they would be more accurate.

There is also an easy way to estimate the needed force if you find it frustrating to remove the cabinet lid. First, weigh yourself on a scale first, we write it down as X. Next, open the door panel of the upper flip cover to a position parallel to the ground, support the weight of the door panel horizontally with your hands, and the scale will show the second weight(Y). The weight of the cover can be calculated roughly as (Y-X) *2. However, there are errors in the results measured in this way, so the first method is more recommended.

After knowing the force, we need to measure the length that is needed. If you are looking for a replacement gas spring, you can check the extended length of the failed gas springs. If you are buying a gas spring for the first installation, try to calculate the height of the lid, the length of the gas springs can be estimated as half of the height of the lid or more than half of the height. For example, if the height of the lid is 30 inches, you can choose a pair of 15 inches gas springs.

By now, we have gotten data on the force and length for a pair of gas springs that we need, and we can buy the better-fitted gas spring for our box with discount code ‘apexstone’ to save money.