Could someone explain in which situation a single acting cylinder would be beneficial over the double; and in which situation the double would be beneficial over the single?
I would think that the double would always be better because I assume it is just exchanging the air between the cavities, therefore not expelling any of the compressed air. But if it does leak air during this process maybe the single is better because it only loses air during one stroke rather than both.
Granted I haven’t worked with either of them and am asking so I can decide which ones to get for our team.
A single action piston uses less air but can only be actuated outward and thus needs to be pulled in with something like rubber bands before firing agian. The double action uses more air but it can actuate both ways.
Not exactly, when a double acting piston is actuated, all of the air from one side is released and the other side is pressurized.
The benefit of a double acting piston is that both the expansion and retract are powered, but it uses more air.
The benefit of a single action is that only one motion is powered, giving you more actuation, but VEX single action pistons have rather stiff springs, so you’re not getting anywhere twice the number of uses
IMO, get the double acting pistons, you can retrofit rubber bands to turn them into single action pistons.