Hydralic support question

D.Hunter83 · Mar 21, 2018

Hi all, so I am building my first diy canopy and all was going well until I added the top covering boards. The door lifts up (its actually the entire front and some of the top). After I added the top, the door wont stay open by itself now. I found my solution in the form of some cheap hydralic supports. But before I order I have the option of what pressure. The choices are in kilograms which I admittedly dont fully understand, even if it showed the ratings in lbs I still wouldnt be sure which to choose. So available are 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 15kg. Id like to hear your thoughts begore i choose. The frame is built with 1x2s and the top boards are a 1x8 and 1x10, so it's not a lot of weight but i dont need it to fall since the lights will be mounted inside. Thanks for any help. The pic is what I copied my frame design from, its slightly different but I do t have any pics of it's current state.

Cjud7982 · Mar 22, 2018

the weight rating is how much the support is able to hold up. if your "door" has a lifting force of 10 pounds to lift it then you would need at least a 10lb support or I would do 2 7.5lb supports, one on each side. This will give you a little extra for when the cylinders wear a bit. You can hold a scale or something against the door and push on the scale to lift the door to figure this out. You will also need to know an approximate fully open length of the piston. not super critical, you just dont want to get one that is too short. If you cant figure it out, I would think that 2 of the8 or 10kg pistons would work well. that will give you a lifting/holding capacity of 35 or just shy 45 pounds. just make sure that when you install them that they are able to extend all the way so they do not try and rip the mounting points out of the wood. and when you close it it is pushing horizontally against the hinge so it doesn't try to open by itself.

killr66tb · Mar 22, 2018

If your using hydraulics Your going to need a pivot point in the back, also make sure it doesn't slam up when you open it.

D.Hunter83 · Mar 22, 2018

Opening to fast was also a concern along with taking too much force to close. Hydralics might not be the best solution bit I wasn't finding any prop open method I liked either. These supports are pretty cheap so i may just order multiple weights and test before final set up.