In fact, it is not the strength of a pneumatic that we will measure, but the strength of the pump (or the tank) working behind. By attaching a weight to the pneumatic and varying it, we are looking for the point of equilibrium, the point where the weight exactly compensates the pull from the pressure tank. By measuring this critical mass, we obtain the strength of the pressure generated by the pump.

Below is a picture of the measuring device.

We measured the strength of the following pumps:

Type of compressor		It can lift
i)	The small pump	342 bricks	855 grams
ii)	The large pump with the pressure regulator	360 bricks	900 grams
iii)	The large pump without regulator	622 bricks	1555 grams
iv)	The car pump	it was not available, but we suspect it can blast the above values easily.

The pressure regulator I designed limits the pressure to be less than 900 grams while it could be as large as 1500 grams. This is the point of introducing a security device: avoid overflow. At about 2000 grams, the hoses start popping out of the sockets.

Pneumatics don’t react instantly. The main factors are the pressures in the hoses (generated from the pump, and maintained in the tank), and the length of them.

We tested with a hose of 3 m. If the switch is close to the tank, reaction time is slower than when the switch is close to the application. This is because the hose itself must be under pressure. When the switch is next to the application, the hose is already under pressure and ready to push the pneumatic.

Position of the switch Time to expand fully the pneumatic

Close to the pneumatic 0.25 seconds

Far from the pneumatic 0.50 seconds

As seen the difference is not large, around a quarter of a second. However, this difference increase if the number of pneumatics turned on at the same time is large.