SAFELY DE-PRESSURIZING AN AIR SPRING

John M. Herrmann
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NOTE/DISCLAIMER: Air springs contain tremendous pressures. Approach CARE!LLL"#
and AL$A"S use suita%&e persona& protecti'e e(uipment. I )as 'er* cautious doing this#
and I can+t %e there )ith *ou to %e sure *ou+re doing it right. ,roceed at *our o)n ris-!
I've often used various odd parts of old office chairs, which I get at oodwill for a very
few !uc"s# For instance, the !ase $spiders$ ma"e dandy La%y &usan $!earings#$ I've
also "ept a few of the lift cylinders, hoping I could find a way to $harvest$ the nicely
polished rods, etc#
'ut I've !een paranoid a!out cutting into them, given the tremendous pressures
involved!
Today I figured out how to do it safely! The !rea"through came when I reali%ed how well
polished the rod has to !e, in order to maintain the pressure seal against the internal
gas"ets#
I started !y grinding a tiny groove in the rod with a (remel dis"# It doesn't need to !e
deep, and pro!a!ly doesn't need to !e as long as I made mine )*1+,$-# The groove is
visi!le in the photo !elow, .ust outside the cylinder section#
/e0t, I put couple of washers around the release !utton at the other end# /ormal air
springs don't have !uttons, so the washers pro!a!ly aren't needed# I .ust re1uired a flat
surface when the !utton was depressed, as it doesn't retract completely#
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John M. Herrmann 4/21/14 Page 1 of 3
Finally, I put the air spring into a suita!le )ie, long enough- gluing clamp# 'efore
tightening the clamp and compressing the air spring, I made sure that the groove was
facing down toward the ta!le# I also placed a rag atop the air spring, so that any oil or
whatever wouldn't fly around#
I then slowly tightened the clamp# The first 1+2$ or so retracted the release !utton#
3fter a!out an inch or so more, I started to hear a slight hiss#
I left the assem!ly alone until the hissing stopped, then closed the clamp a !it further to
!e sure I'd released the last of the pressure#
John M. Herrmann 4/21/14 Page 2 of 3
4nce that was done, I too" the deflated air spring to the lathe, sliced the ends off the
cylinder, and completed the deconstruction# The $harvest$ was not .ust a nice piece of
very straight, hard, and highly polished shafting, !ut also some heavy walled tu!ing )the
outer cylinder- and a piece of thinner tu!ing that was inside the assem!ly#
John M. Herrmann 4/21/14 Page 3 of 3