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I was reading through The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder's Guide By: Paweł "Sariel" Kmieć and on "page 113" he mentions converting the pneumatic cylinders to hydraulics ones by replacing the air with liquid "mineral oil to be exact". It is a small section on the thought on hydraulic cylinders and I feel it can be achievable. If you have the book read the section. Do you think it is possible? and if not why? Now here is some information about the basic principles of the hydraulic systems and the components that make up the hydraulic system. Now there are two type of hydraulic systems open-center and closed-center systems. The LEGO pneumatic system is naturally working as a closed-center system begin the pump/compressor is able to rest and stop pumping air/fluid in to the system. A open-center system has the fluid flowing all the time and uses a valve to revert the fluid back in to the reservoir. If you were to put pressurized liquid in the pneumatic system to the "valves with the control lever" every time you move the control lever side to side. This would be the only option to put the fluid back in the reservoir if you were to use the official valves. Now the old distribution block could be used as a possible return to the reservoir if you connected the middle up to the left or right on the "valves with the control lever" and use the center as a return to the reservoir the left side on the old distribution block will be the main pump and the right will be the pressure side. (Note: your going haft to runs the new valves backwards if you don't want a fountain.The reservoir would definitely be not official LEGO construction. You will need a outlet to the pump at the bottom and a inlet at the top so the fluid can return back to the reservoir. Also the reservoir will need a vent to release pressure that could be created inside. The accumulator would be probably not be needed for the Unofficial hydraulic system because were not using very much energy to work with and smoothing the system out is not critical here. Now what the accumulator does is it acts as a backup for the pump in the event of a pump failure. The accumulator stores energy and release the energy back in to the hydraulic system to keep the pressure up on hydraulicassisted devices in events of an emergency. There are many types of hydraulic pumps. Most of them are positive displacement vane or gear style pumps that can also be driven as a motor when fluid is forced through it; However, The plunger pump style that LEGO has developed is not often used in hydraulic systems but it still could work here. There are many types of valves also. Hydraulic pressure control valves are important to limit the maximum working specific pressure in the system or in a specific section. Hydraulic pressure relief valves which drops the pressure in the system. Then directional control valves that direct the flow of the fluid in the system. The Hydraulic Line is probably the most involving and challenging part to do. For starts couplings would need to be required on the hydraulic lines to secure them on the fittings to prevent hose separation. -BL
