ETS Hydraulic Educational Series

"Saving the World - One Customer at a Time..." ™

Educational Series - Volume 5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - June 17, 2026

Hydraulic Myth #3

System Pressure

Determines the Speed of your

Cylinder or Motor

Sometimes maintenance personnel will try to adjust the speed of the actuator in their hydraulic system by manipulating the System Relief Valve - wrongfully believing that it will increase the speed of their actuator.

TRUTH:

Adjusting the System Relief Valve has no impact on Actuator Speed.

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If you need to move faster, then you need a pump with a higher

flow rate.

Adjusting the Pressure Relief Valve has no influence on the speed of your actuator -

it's like putting more air in your tires to make

your car radio play louder.

Hydraulic Motor Application Example

Motor Speed (RPM) =

Flow Rate (GPM) x 231

Motor Displacement (IN³/rev)

As you can see in the above chart, the speed of the motor only depends only the flow rate from the pump - it's independent of system pressure.

The same principle applies to hydraulic cylinders.

Fundamentals of Hydraulics Classes

Our week-long sessions include two major components of training:

Academic Training (above)

Hands-On Training (right)

(click on images for more information)

Our "Hands-On" training

helps students understand fluid power functionality with actual system components.

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