ULS Pressure Cylinder (Lid)

[Joseph Tovar]

Hi All,

Does anyone know if the Pressure Cylinder's that hold up the lid on a ULS VLS 3.50 can be repaired? Do they need need to be replaced with oil or something like that, or are they simply throw away parts? Besides OEM, where could I find something like that to replace them. I thought it might be like a $15-$20 part, but when I called ULS it was like $100 for the pair.

Any help would be appreciated,

Joseph

[Dick Jordan]

I purchased mine from Guden dot com. It's been a few years but they were $20 for the pair.
I found the original numbers on the tube and they offered the exact same item.
http://www.guden.com/Control/gassprings
I am NOT affiliated with Guden other than as a customer.

[Gary Hair]

Whatever you find, make sure you replace them as a pair. They all lose strength over time and if you replace just the bad one then the new one will bear more of the load than it should, reducing it's lifespan. In time you'll end up replacing them both anyway. I read this on another forum, or maybe another thread here?

Gary

[Mike Null]

Guden is the correct answer and the oem supplier at least when I replaced mine a number of years ago.

[Richard Rumancik]

You can't repair a gas spring. To get a new pair, you could also try eBay. There are some people that have "stores" with various length/force ratings, not just selling a couple gas springs. For example search on "Columbia gas springs". This guy has a lot of options, end fittings, etc plus some good technical info on eBay. You need to measure yours and figure out the force (if they are both damaged this may be difficult to determine but it is likely to be in the range of about 10 to 20 lbs.) See if you can unscrew the end fittings, or whether you need to buy new ones. Also note some rods are threaded metric and some are imperial so you can't mix and match end fittings.

[Joseph Tovar]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the tips. This will definitely save me a cool $70-$80 for the holidays!

[Joseph Tovar]

Hi guys,

I contacted Guden with themodel and size of the one I have and they said they have nothing comparable. They've also changed their policy to a minimum buy of $50. Does anyone know what is important when finding a replacement? Is the overall length more important then the diameter of the housing and rod?

I'll keep looking.

Thanks,

[Mike Mackenzie]

Joseph,

I am sorry to tell you this but those are custom made for Universal and You will not be able to find the exact replacement. I know I have tried! they are ridiculously priced but there are no options.

[Gary Hair]

Hi guys,

I contacted Guden with themodel and size of the one I have and they said they have nothing comparable. They've also changed their policy to a minimum buy of $50. Does anyone know what is important when finding a replacement? Is the overall length more important then the diameter of the housing and rod?

I'll keep looking.

Thanks,

I think the two most important factors would be the weight capacity and the stroke. If you can find one that supports the lid at the height you need then you could extend the length fairly easily, or move the mounts to a different place (that will affect the weight though). It's too bad Universal had them custom made when they could have used stock/standard parts.

Gary

[Dirk Drossel]

Hello
I have been reading the engravers forum for a while and only chime in when I have some good information.

I have a universal 25e and just replaced my pistons last week.
I went to the local auto parts store and matched them up. there are some that you can't unscrew the end to exchange the end that requires a screw to hold the end on. I found ones that were the same size around but were a little shorter. the difference was about 3/8 of an inch. I took them home and installed them in no time. the cost was $25 each.
the lid no longer hits the back of my head when I exchange lasered items.

Dirk
universal 25e

[Joseph Tovar]

CylnderSocket.jpgCylinderBigEyelet.jpgHomemadeEyelet.jpgCylinderNewEyelet.jpgCylinderLid.jpg
OK, before you all laugh, I just want to say that I was able to get a pair to work. I know some will say, "why run around and spend your time when you could have just paid the $100 and be done?" Well...knowing that standard cylinders only run $10-$15/ea, I was determined to get it to work. So even though it took me some time and the $100 would have been so much easier, I learned some things and hopefully this can help someone else.

After looking online at some of the recomendations on this thread, none of them could offer a match. I contacted the ebay seller and they said they had a 7.5" when I needed a 8.25". I said I'd give it a try. He also sent me some eyelets. I thought I was set, but I was wrong. When I received the cylinders the eyelets were way to big. I went to a few hardward stores to see if I could find any eyelets. After finding nothing, I started thinking of other ideas. I remember seeing a few items that might work. I picked up enough to test my idea.

1)Thumb screw 1/4"
2)Coupler 1/4"

At first the thumb screw was too wide. I took a dremel and cut it down a bit. Then I drilled the holes I needed to make the eyelet. After that I tested it out, but the overall length was about 8.5" and a little too long. I cut it down and tried again. Bingo, It worked! Attached are some sample pics.

[Gary Hair]

Well done Joseph, I like ingenuity!