DISTRIBUTOR-FIRST SUPPLY PARTNER · SINCE 1999 Live · Pneumatic Automation System
A speed controller is an inline functional fitting that threads directly into a cylinder port and sets how fast that cylinder extends or retracts. It combines two elements in one body: an adjustable metering needle and a check valve. Air is throttled through the needle in one direction and flows freely past the check valve in the other — so the controller restricts the cylinder's motion on one stroke and lets it move at full speed on the return. It is the standard, purpose-built way to control pneumatic cylinder speed, and the second sale on every cylinder: a cylinder without speed control slams its end-of-stroke and cannot be tuned to the line's cycle time. The controller is sized to the same tube OD as the push-to-connect fittings on the machine and installs at the cylinder port, between the directional valve and the actuator.
Tips and pointers on when the speed controller is the right call — and when to spec something else. Scroll the strip →
A needle valve throttles flow in one direction, an integral check lets flow pass freely the other way. No regulator and no plain flow-control can do this — meter the exhaust on the working stroke, free flow on the return.
Throttling the exhaust (suffix O) keeps a column of pressurized air on the back side of the piston — motion stays smooth across changing loads. Default for any double-acting cylinder; meter-in is the exception (spring-return single-acting only).
Two per double-acting, one per single-acting. A 16-cylinder machine needs 30+ controllers; stock in 25- or 50-count cases. Miss them at quote time and the customer either calls back angry or sources from a competitor.
Part-number suffix O = meter-out, I = meter-in. Double-acting = meter-out, almost always. Wrong direction creates jerky load-dependent lurching that worsens at lighter loads — 5-minute fix, but only if the suffix is verified at order.
The integral check forces one-direction throttling — wrong for line balancing or pilot signal timing where both directions need to meter equally. → Re-spec to flow control valve when the throttle lives in the line, not at the cylinder port.
A speed controller's check unseats on pilot reversal — it cannot trap the cylinder chamber against a directional valve venting on power loss. → Re-spec to pilot-operated check valve at each cylinder port for load-holding service.
A speed controller is always partly open — it can't be locked off for OSHA lockout-tagout. → Re-spec to quarter-turn shutoff valve upstream of the FRL when the job is deliberate manual isolation, not cylinder-port speed tuning.
From the machine spec sheet → to the part number. Answer what you know — leave the rest blank — and send.
Every cylinder sale is two speed-controller sales. Miss them at quote time and the customer either calls back angry or sources them from a competitor.
O) for any double-acting cylinder. Meter-in (suffix I) only for single-acting with spring return, or rare constant-load double-acting cases. Verify the suffix before quoting — a wrong-direction swap creates jerky motion.Each industry below uses this product across the listed areas. Open an industry to see how it fits the rest of its system.
Also applies to Every double-acting cylinder install · Single-acting / spring-return cylinders · Air motors + rotary air tools · Air-operated diaphragm pumps (AODD) · Bench-mounted pneumatic presses + clamping fixtures · Vacuum pick-and-place · Cylinder retrofits on legacy machines
Every entry is a real product on this site — linked, not just named. Quote them on the same line item.
Stock speed controllers in 25- or 50-count cases on the repair cart so a slammed cylinder doesn't wait on a re-order. A 16-cylinder machine consumes 30+ controllers; cylinder-heavy lines run through cases.
O = meter-out, I = meter-in. Double-acting = meter-out, almost always. Wrong direction creates jerky motion that worsens at lighter loads.O suffix). 5-minute fix.Send us the application — a specialist routes you to the correct tier with a configured part. Lead-times and pricing returned within one business day.
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