Pistons not extending fast enough?

[TheHolyHades1]

Originally Posted by s_forbes

We are using this trick as well, to eliminate unneeded tubing and fittings between the solenoid and the piston to increase flow rate. See this image of our setup; it shows the solenoid valves directly attached to the pistons and how our plumbing is laid out.

This is immensely helpful. Thank you.

Apart from having the solenoids connected directly to the cylinders, adding tanks before the pistons, and having them vented to the atmosphere is there anything else you've done to increase you efficiency? While I certainly believe that will help I find it hard to believe that this will bring our dysfunctional setup to working capacity, though I'm certainly going to try.

EDIT: Also, how do the pistons fall back in the cylinder? Does gravity do the work?