What *is* the code on that thing?

We have a few compartments on the inside of the bus, and nearly all of the outside compartments, on which the doors are held up by gas springs or gas struts. Some of them are not holding so well anymore, so we were thinking that we should replace them.

On some of them, we could see the name of the item (for this one, for one of the cabinets over the driver compartment, we were able to remove it and easily able to get the information).

This is the information that is needed to order a replacement - the brand is "Lift-O-Mat" (which is no longer made, I guess), and its number is 75754 0100N. The last numbers, 221/99, I found out, indicate when it was made - maybe the 221st day of 1999? (definitely 1999, not sure about what the 221 means)

This is the one from the under-bed storage - it is 752983 0500N - also manufactured sometime in 1999.

The number with the "N" after it is the strength of the gas spring in "Newtons".

In physics, the newton (symbol: N) is the SI unit of force, named after Sir Isaac Newton in recognition of his work on classical mechanics. It was first used around 1904, but not until 1948 was it officially adopted by the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) as the name for the mks unit of force. (source: https://www.convertunits.com/from/newtons/to/lbs)

There are about 4.45 pounds in a newton. So, the overhead cabinet gas spring should support about 22.5 pounds, and the under-bed storage gas spring should support about 112.5 pounds.

We had discovered that a source for getting these gas springs is Orr&Orr (http://www.orrorr.com/index.html) and we were able to order replacement ones for the gas springs that we have.

The gas spring on the door that allows us access to the the generator controls outside the bus is also weak, so we wanted to order a replacement gas spring for it as well. Unfortunately, getting to the label proved to be a bigger job than we could resolve...

Using a mirror, we could find the brand label...

Zoomed in on that... (remember it is a mirror image!) "Lift-O-Mat High Pressure Do not open. Do not heat. Observe disposal instructions. Mexico - " (and a city and state in Mexico - cannot read it on this picture).

But we could not find the set of numbers that identify the size and weight rating anywhere on the shaft of the gas spring... We tried taking it off, but compressing it is harder than we seemed to be able to manage... so... getting it replaced is going on the "Jimmy" list for the next time we're at the farm!!!