Thread: Trying to understand this bandsaw

I have a bandsaw that has a hydraulic lift system where it is easy to lift up and when you set it down on your work it slowly feeds the pressure. Well it stopped doing this and is now dead weight. I tried to fill it with hydraulic fluid by filling a funnel and then lifting the bandsaw up slowly to suck in the fluid. This worked, somewhat. It is still dead weight when I lift it up, however about 3/4 of the way back down it supports itself and depending on how I have the valve adjusted, will either stay there or come down slowly. I made a diagram of the system that is on the bandsaw. The valves are basically knobs that thread in. So in the diagram they are at the bottom limit. The cylinder and both valves are shown how they are positioned on the bandsaw. If both valves are closed (at the bottom limit) the bandsaw will stop just above the work. If any of the two valves are opened slightly, the bandsaw will start to feed into the work.

I am just trying to understand what I did wrong and how at some point this bandsaw worked correctly. I am not an engineer or anything but I would like to understand the fundamentals of how this "double-action" system worked where it would help me lift the bandsaw up and stay up while I position the piece to be cut, and then when I let the bandsaw down, it would slowly feed into the work.

Thanks for the help.

Bandsaw Feed System.png