Quote Originally Posted by Liftoff View Post
Chris, what I would do is to drill some holes at the top end cap, say six 6mm holes - that will eliminate back pressure when you fire the ram ( the air on the top side of the piston is creating a restriction as its being forced out of the top port)
I had a chat about back pressure at the champs. It seems it is actually better to leave it as is. The air in that side of the cylinder will easily compress and will also prevent the piston slamming into the end of the ram, improving reliability. The actual improvement in terms of force and speed is negligible. Got no data to back this up but I agree with the reliability option and think that is better than a minute increase in speed as you have more than enough power anyway.