Originally Posted by
shannow
Brilliant tests ! Thank you very much, it is very useful. I've read it and it's top notch.
Most helpful. Glad I finally have something to show to people who didn't believe me when I said I didn't see how a tapered piston would change anything.
One thing I'd like to remark as I couldn't find anything on it is the tolerance of the piston/cylinder itself.
On my shocks the cylinder bore is 12.04mm and the piston itself 11,87mm.
That's a 0.075mm gap all around which is not bad but will influence of "hole" area.
So cylinder bore area = 6.02²x3.14= 113,795mm²
Piston surface area = 5.935²x3.14= 110.604mm²
Gap around the piston = 113.795-110.604= 3.191mm²
Which is not negligible I think.
Plus the inner piston hole on the rod which will also "leak" a little but this is possibly negligible.
Again many thanks for such precious info ! Looking forward to more tests
.
Jonathan
I did not mention the dimensions of the shock at this point. I did measure everything, and yes, they would be important. When I do the tests with all sorts of different piston hole # and size configurations, I'll be sharing actual dimensions as well. Because I cannot make my own pistons, I'm at the mercy of what is available for clearance tolerances.
If people have pistons of different brands (for 10mm, 12mm, and 16mm shocks), please let me know of some alternative options to try different clearance option pistons. (Measure with a good calibrator to X.xx mm) I'll need to know brand and part number. Also, I'm in need of blank pistons for the 12mm, if anyone has a suggestion, I'm struggling to find them.