Kraken 4B Control Problems... | Page 2 | Power Hammers and Presses | Forum

Larry L;16351 wrote: I did get a new cushion plug bushing built..

Do you suppose the cushion plug is suppose to seat? mine has just a bit of taper (*.010) and will not pass all the way though. I figured it better for the cushion plug to bottom than the ram to crash..

My 3B plug and cushion are not tapered. They were replaced before I bought the machine and I was given the old set.

Mark's pamphlet shows the cushion and plug tapered. I asked about his drawings.... he said they should not show a taper. I think you should verify with someone with a set of original drawings for the 4B.

I'm not an expert on these things, but in my mind, I can't see how a taper will start trapping much air until the plug is almost ready to seat. When the ram is coming up and the plug first enters the bushing, there has to be enough seal (small clearance) to start compressing the air to push the bearings against the check seats. If that air doesn't get compressed soon enough, it won't get the bearings set with enough air in the cavity to cushion the rising ram. Maybe an tiny tiny taper would work, but it would be like having a short plug and bushing.

Have you run it with the taper yet? If not, I'll be surprised if the plug doesn't seat at some point of use. I'm not sure that is better than the ram dead-heading. It seems to me that it could do more damage to the ram cylinder head. I hope I'm wrong so you don't have to redo it.

Again... If this stuff works differently than I envision, my impressions may be wrong.