Is your old gas strut in need of a replacement? Before you try to find a strut replacement it is necessary to find out how the strong ‘old’ gas strut of gas struts are. In this article Gasspringsshop tells you more about checking the old gas struts and of course the gas struts we sell.
Expressing the power of gas springs
Usually there is printed information on the gas spring (or on a label affixed to the housing) in which something is reported such as ‘N’. The ‘N’ stands for Newton and the numbers that are in front then represent the number of Newtons. For example, 300 N is 300 Newton and 0300 N is 300 Newton. Once you know how strong (how many Newtons) the gas springs must be, you can go to the first step.
Process to find a strut replacement
The method described below is based on calculating with the ‘old’ gas strut measure (note: in millimeters!).
There are two measuring points, the thickness of the rod (the thin part) and the thickness of the housing (the thick part). We sell the following types of gas springs:
| Type of strut | Thickness of rod | Thickness of housing |
| 4-12 | 4mm | 12mm |
| 6-15 | 6mm | 15mm |
| 8-19 | 8mm | 19mm |
| 10-23 | 10mm | 23mm |
| 14-28 | 14mm | 28mm |
Choose a replacement gas strut type from this table that comes closest to the just-measured thickness of the rod and the thickness of the cylinder. Then you note down the gas strut replacement, like: ‘gas spring type’ = … – … ‘ The above description is actually the way you also see it in the configurator.
The other way to calculate your strut replacement
Measure the maximum length of the ‘old’ gas spring. For instance if we open a cover completely, then the gas spring extends completely into its maximum length. We must now determine this maximum length, measured center-to-center. Fully open the cover and measure the distance from the center of one end fitting to the center of the other end fitting. Write down the replacement gas spring, like: length ‘max’ = … mm’.
Or measure the shortest length of the old gas spring
If we close the cover, the gas strut is pushed into a certain length. It is almost never the case that the gas spring is then completely (until the end of its stroke length) pushed in. A piece of unused stroke length is almost always left over. By taking into account this fact we are more likely to find a suitable gas spring (in terms of length) as a replacement for the ‘old’ gas strut. Therefore determine, with the ‘old’ gas spring still mounted, the shortest occurring center to center distance between the end fitting of the gas spring:
- Open the cover or the hatch.
- Tie a thin rope tightly around the rod (the thin part of the gas spring).
- Move the rope until it is against the cylinder (the thick part of the gas spring).
- Close the cover or the hatch so that the gas spring gets its shortest occurring length.
- Open the cover or the hatch completely and measure the distance between the moved rope up to against the cylinder.
- Subtract this measurement from the previously measured ‘Length ‘max’’. Write down for the replacement gas spring: ‘Length ‘in’ = …… mm.’
The replacement gas spring must, when fully retracted, measured center to center between the connections, be able to become a bit shorter than the ‘Length in’ value found.
The most suitable stroke length for the gas strut replacement
Go to our configurator on the website and choose a strut replacement type in the middle column (the length is unimportant at this time). Then you can choose the new end fittings to apply in the left and right column (the maximum center to center measurement between connection is shown). Push the gas spring in completely with the mouse/cursor in order to read the shortest possible center to center measurement. In the middle column choose a stroke length that is as close as possible to ‘Length ‘in’ from below, that is associated with the replacement gas spring type. Now compare the extended length of the selected gas strut with the previously measured ‘Length ‘max’’ and assess the result of this with a possible difference in length (cover opens slightly less far or slightly farther).
If this seems acceptable then you have succeeded in your attempt to find a gas spring replacement! If you only know the measurements of the application, you can use our calculator. You only need to fill in those associated properties and you can immediately see which gas spring suits it.
More about the service of Gasspringsshop
Did you know we send our shipment in like one day? We also have a large stock of our products. Do you have questions? Please fill in our contact form. We are likely to help you in one working day. We are happy to help you. Please contact our customer service and tell us what your application is and what the dimensions are. We can help you find the right gas strut.
Posted in: Configurator
