Barka electric struts, often referred to as actuators, are typically used by boat manufacturers to lift heavy engine covers and hatches but they have that have a huge range of additional applications outside the marine industry. You can find Barka struts on tables, TV’s, consoles, fireship ladders and industrial machinery housings. You can see them converting beds in homes and campervans at the touch of a switch, and even sliding security bars into position behind exposed windows.
Perhaps most importantly, where other struts are thrown away when they begin to fail, ours are fully repairable electronically or mechanically and have a comprehensive spares backup.
Different solutions are available according to the job, with a thrust capability of 100 to 1000 Kg, stroke lengths from 5 cm to 3 meters and a variety of speeds. They are powered from a 12 or 24 Volt DC supply but if you have an AC power source they can be run through a transformer.
WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?
Our struts fall into two main categories: Push Only and Push-Pull.
Push only
The drive screw inside the tube of a Push-Only strut is not connected to the piston, so when the strut is retracted the item being lifted will lower lose naturally under its own weight. A push-only strut will also allow the item to be raised by hand in the event of a technical failure. Foire this reason these are most commonly used for engine rooms or storage areas where there is no secondary means of escape.
Push pull
A push-pull strut, on the other hand, has the drive screw permanently connected to the piston. Push/Pull versions are typically used for horizontal applications where you don’t have gravity to help the strut to retract – extending boat cockpits or bathing platforms, for example. Some boatbuilders prefer to use push-pull struts where, with the help of programmable stroke lengths, they can achieve a tight and even fit on a compressible seal. In this case it is important that the hatch can be opened in an emergency using quick-release hinges.
PROGRAMMED STROKE LENGTHS USING ENCODED STRUTS
Barka struts can operate singly or in pairs and paired struts can be purchased with or without an encoder. Non-encoded pairs are fine if both are required to lift an equal force and distance. If the requirement for each strut is unequal, a typical example being for a very wide hatch with an element of twist in the moulding, or perhaps with a different mounting position on each side, an encoder will allow each strut to be programmed to compensate so the hatch can be raised and lowered perfectly into position.
Barka encoded struts also have the facility to be programmed with up to 4 different stroke settings to allow partial opening: as an example this can be really useful for ventilation of a compartment without the safety hazard of a hatch being fully raised.
With such a broad range of possible applications it’s normal for our struts to be custom made. This will not have a bearing on the final price and the production time is usually a couple of weeks.
We work with both the trade and with private customers. We don’t expect any of our clients to provide complicated 3D drawings and calculations: all you need to do is give us a call or send a rough sketch we’ll take it from there.
Penguin Engineering are the sole UK distributors for Barka electric struts in the UK. You can view and buy our full product range here