When estimating the life of a Lift Support, one must first determine how much force the support can lose before the application becomes unacceptable. The time it takes to lose this amount of force is considered to be the life of the support.
All Lift Supports lose output force over time. The rate at which force loss occurs varies greatly by application and manufacturer. Many factors affect the rate of force loss, such as: size of the support, orientation, amount of cycles, ambient temperature, vibration, and the geometry of the application. Considering all of the variables, it is very difficult to estimate life accurately without actual testing in the application.
As noted above, all Lift Supports will lose output force over time. It is recommended that the supports be periodically checked to ensure that they are functioning as intended. This inspection should be implemented as part of a planned maintenance activity, if possible.
