a few questions for the pros

I've been the owner of a juiced truck that has been around in my area (Wiscompton) for a few years now and I have done a lot of learning. A good friend of mine is a sort of oracle according to suspension questions but I've stumped him a couple few times now. I've fixed almost anything that can go wrong with a hydraulic setup but still have yet to install one from scratch. I've worked with many brands with the exception of the hydroholics gear (which looks great might I add) including the ol' skool fenner steel block pumps which I still have a couple of.  I've recently installed accumulators on a friend's Chevelle that has a dual mini-pump setup. He's very particular according to the ride and I haven't had much of a chance to tune it in yet. I've gone as far as renting a 125cf Nitrogen tank from my local welding supply store and assembled my own accumulator charging setup. I'm using parker fittings and implement quality hoses, gauges and fill chucks. The accumulators that I ended up installing have the oversized shrader fill valve. I have the correct no loss chuck and a good regulator but I'm slightly afraid of adjusting such high pressure values. I've read up on it a lot and I know the prefill value of the accumulators is 350psi. I want to know what pressure is too high? My regulator will accurately charge to ~700psi. The other side of this is the front accumulators are on their own dumps so the driver can switch the dumps closed if he/she wants to hop the car. I'm also concerned with the life of the dumps as they would be open the majority of the time the vehicle is being driven. To avoid excessive wear, I have one side of the dump coil grounded and the other side is on ignition switched positive so it is only opening the dump to the accumulator when the vehicle is running as the accumulator isn't doing much unless you're driving somewhere anyway. It has delta dumps installed as I had a few extras laying around and I know rebuild kits for these are getting harder and harder to source. Do you think these will be okay to run on this thing seeing as he plans on regularly driving it a long distance? I'd image there was a reason that delta was phased out with distributors as I can't seem to find much on them anymore. Also, I found a good deal on smaller parker accumulators a while back. I wound up with 10 of them but they are a 1/4 of the volume of the standard sized units that are commonly used on automotive setups. My plan is to use them along with the standard sized units to create a larger buffer zone of impact for the fluid by charging the smaller units at a higher pressure than the larger ones. The issue I'm having with them is that they to not have a traditional fill valve on them. They have the usual oversized (1" or so) fill stem with the allen head screw that seals the chamber but the threads don't start until about and inch or so down the neck of the unit.. I'm not sure what I would do to charge them.  I'll be shopping for batteries soon and I would like the most punch per square inch of space that I can buy. I plan on running either @ 24 or 36 volts and would like to run a second battery for my vehicle's electrical system so I can run the stereo with the ignition off for a while and still be able to start the truck. I want a maximum of 6 batteries (2 for vehicle electrical and 4 at most for the power to the suspension) and I want them as small as possible. I'm also looking to charge the suspension batteries off of the vehicle's charging system. I have a theory that running a trickle charger per suspension battery and then plugging them all into an inverter that is on ignition switched will keep all of the chargers isolated from one another as to prevent a short circuit. I've quizzed local batteries plus employees and no one seems to be able to confirm that this will or will not work. Any ideas? I'm trying to keep the electrical charging side of things on the cheap. I understand that running an inverter just to run trickle chargers is more of less a waste of electrical energy but, if each 12V circuit is isolated from one another, it would allow monitoring of each battery's charge cycle independently and wouldn't cost anywhere near the amount of the 72V chargers that most places sell. I could also integrate an extension cord into the mix and switch it into that circuit to allow charging from a standard 110V wall plug. Far fetched but I think it'll work.. I've got more but I think this has gotten long enough for one post. 

Hey Sal, I love the idea that you're thinking outside the box.  It's ideas like yours that have helped advance the hydraulic industry.  Anyhow, my knowledge is limited to my own experience with the products that I use.  -I've only used 20-21ci accumulators since they have always given us such amazing results.  Pressure usually ranges from 350-500 in the rear and 400-600 in the front depending on the vehicle.   -Regarding dumps to close the front accumulators, I'm assuming you've managed to find some NON momentary dumps?  If they ARE momentary than that would mean your coil is holding them open (or closed) while you have them activated and I'm pretty confident this will ultimately cause dump failure since the coil will heat up so much it could cause th dump stem to swell, and ultimately melt the coil.  It's the same scenario you'd experience if your switch stuck and the dump was held open...you'd have some smoke pouring out of your trunk (or bed) in no time. -The only reason Delta dumps aren't used too much anymore (at least for automotive hydraulic application) is because the Chinese dumps are so inexpensive and manufacturers are doing anything they can to keep the price of their kits down.  Hydroholics, however, still uses genuine Delta dumps and we can offer you rebuild kits if you'd like.  Deltas are still used in industrial hydraulic applications since they are, handsdown, the most reliable dump available.  I'm sure you have discoverd that on your own since you're still running them. -I've never used 5ci accumulators, so I can't offer you any advice there.  If you install them I'd love to hear your feedback just to satisfy my own curiosity.  In order to charge accumulators without a schrader vavle (using only an alen bolt) you will need a charge port gun.  You can buy one, but for $400 I'm not sure it'd be worth the initial cost.  Hydroholics can charge them for you with our gun, or you can replace the alen bolt with a schrader valve (Parker sells a kit, but it's rediculously expensive, like $55 each). -We experimented with smaller Kinetik batteries in the past (using 3 HC1200's) and they didnt' have the power to lift the car.  We've had nothing but the best of luck with the HC1800's and they hold their charge for so long that having an onboard charging system has never been worth the hassle, though I think your concept would work.  I'm sure you've heard of streetchargers?  They are designed for automotive hydraulic applications and can charge up to 6-7 batteries while you drive.  There are pros/cons to this setup that I can discuss with you if you're interested.   I hope I answered all your questions for you.  If you need anything else please don't hesitate to ask. -Aaron -

i know prohopper sells a front accumulator kit with a dump settup like your lookin to do but they use the normaly open dumps and you wire them to the switch for the pump and they will close the accumulators for faster response

The only thing I can add to this is not only pressure, can effect ride quality.  What kinds of cylinders that you're running (some brands build theirs too tight for accumulators) and also the type of oil that you're using. Being that you're in Wisconsin AW-32 is the the oil you want to run...if you're running anything else the viscosity will change too much in the cold and not allow the fluild to allow free-flowing movement. 

Derek, thanks for the recommendation on oil. I've not been sure about what to use and I've been told to get detergent free as it's better on the seals. The cylinders in the Chevelle are the equivalent to the prohopper street cylinder. 1 5/8" I'd like to say offhand. I know it's all a volume calculation, I'm just not that great with math that deep..  I've seen the prohopper kit for the shut off but I never looked into it because it looked like a regular 4 dump setup with the accumulator on the output side of each dump.. I'm glad someone mentioned a non-momentary dump. I wasn't aware that this was available! I'm guessing it only uses the solenoid to close off the accumulator then? I take it this a latching relay style action with a plumbing circuit? my plan with the .5cf accumulators is to try and broaden the range of adjustability for the damping curve of the accumulation effect. I'm looking to autocross my truck when it is road ready just to see how it does under intense situations but within a certain amount of control. I've had some close calls and I don't need anymore of them. Not sure how many of my 9 lives are left I have an idea to be able to change my front coils in ~15 minutes using two blocks of wood and a remote dump switch in each wheel well. I'd like to tune the ol' girl to hug every corner on my way to work. Then I'll install the 350 and have to tune it all over again! Aaron- I've not heard of street chargers. I'll do some looking around. The club member I bought the truck from had a 3 bank isolated charger with charge/diagnostic readout per load. He wouldn't include it with the truck as it was a gift from his parents. I can't find another one like it! I'll most likely be going 24 volt with 4 batteries just so if one takes a dump I can still nurse it home. I'm kinda OCD when it comes to being prepared for hydraulic disaster. I keep a replacement part for anything that could break in the front or the rear according to the fluid end of the suspension. O-rings, dump, pump head, fluid, cylinder for front and rear, etc. The only thing I wouldn't be able to fix is a broken line. I'm currently running rubber 'soft' lines so it would be a matter of just keeping a 25' hose in the truck somewhere. I was able keep all of the above mentioned parts behind the bench seat of my standard cab s10. I'm 5'8" so it works out well.   here's another one for ya. I have standard 3/4" machined aluminum blocks with the air fill valve on them (shrader valve). I have some blocks that say 30 psi max and some that say 130 psi max.. there are very few differences in build between the styles of blocks, they are just different brands. Assuming I am using quality hardware along with standard sized endcaps on the tanks, what's a good air pressure to keep the blocks/tanks at or around? To my understanding, the air fill valve on the block is there to create a pressurized pocket of gas above the fluid that would help push oil thru the pump head, thus making life easier on the driveline of the of the electric motor and fluid pump and increasing efficiency. Also, it acts as a buffer upon fluid return and helps prevent foaming in the tank by keeping pressure on the surface of the oil. Each pump's tank gas bubble psi would be tuned independently depending on the load on the output side of the check valve. I hope my theories are kind of right but feel free to correct me at any point in time!!