If you already need the definition of duty cycle, start with our explainer on linear actuator duty cycle. This article assumes you know what it is and answers the question that datasheet actually leaves open: how many times per hour can this thing move in my warehouse?

That number is the difference between a station that runs for years and one that fails in week three.

Quick answer A 10% duty cycle published as 2 min on / 18 min off allows roughly 6 minutes of motion per hour. Divide that by your single-cycle time to get maximum cycles per hour — then design below it.

The Misreading That Burns Out Actuators

Here is the mistake, almost verbatim, from countless RFQs:

"We run 24/7, but the actuator only moves occasionally — maybe 10% of the time. So a 10% duty cycle is fine."

The reasoning fails because duty cycle is defined per interval, not per shift. Every model in our industrial range publishes the duty as 10%, 2min. on / 18min. off — see the spec tables for the FY028, FY020 and FY015.

That definition says: after 2 minutes of motion, the motor needs 18 minutes to shed heat. You cannot save up quiet hours overnight and spend them on a 45-minute continuous run during peak. The thermal mass does not work that way.

The percentage alone is unspecifiable. The interval is the spec. Any supplier who publishes "10% duty" without stating the on/off window has not given you enough information to design with — and that is a legitimate qualification question to put to them.

How Do You Convert a Duty Cycle Into Cycles Per Hour?

Step 1 — Read the on/off interval, not the percentage

Find the interval on the datasheet. Ours is 2 min on / 18 min off, so the period is 20 minutes.

Step 2 — Calculate allowed motion minutes per hour

periods per hour=3

allowed motion=3×2 min=6 minutes per hour=360 seconds

Step 3 — Measure your single-cycle travel time

Time a complete cycle — extend plus retract — at your real stroke, real load and real supply voltage. Two things people forget to include:

• Dwell under power. If the actuator holds position with the motor energised rather than relying on mechanical self-locking, that time counts as on-time.
• Load-dependent speed. Actuator speed drops under load. Our FY015 spec table publishes 5mm/s (7000N), 160mm/s (750N) — a factor of 32 between the loaded and light ends of the range. Timing a cycle unloaded on a bench will badly overstate your capacity.

Step 4 — Divide, then apply a thermal margin

max cycles/hour=360s/single-cycle seconds

Then take a margin off the top. Reasons to be more conservative:

Worked Examples From Four Warehouse Stations

All examples use the published 6 minutes of motion per hour.

Example 1 — Carton diverter, 150 mm stroke Cycle at roughly 30 mm/s → 5 s out, 5 s back = 10 s per cycle. 360 ÷ 10 = 36 cycles/hour maximum. If the line diverts 120 cartons/hour, a 10% duty actuator is the wrong choice for that station. Options: shorten the stroke, use a pivoting mechanism that needs less travel, or move to a different motion technology. Details in the conveyor diverter selection guide.

Example 2 — Scissor lift table, 600 mm rise, heavy load At 5 mm/s under high load → 120 s up, 120 s down = 240 s per cycle. 360 ÷ 240 = 1.5 cycles/hour. Note something important: a single up-down already consumes 4 minutes of the 6-minute allowance, and the 240 s of continuous motion exceeds the 2-minute on-time limit in one go. This design needs either a faster model or a rest interval built into the process. See scissor lift table sizing.

Example 3 — AMR deck lift, 80 mm stroke At 20 mm/s → 4 s up, 4 s down = 8 s, plus 2 s of powered dwell = 10 s. 360 ÷ 10 = 36 lifts/hour. For a robot completing a pick-drop round trip every 4 minutes, that is 15 lifts/hour — comfortably inside the limit. This is the classic case where 24/7 operation and a 10% duty actuator coexist happily.

Example 4 — Pallet positioner, 300 mm stroke, adjusted once per pallet At 30 mm/s → 10 s up, 10 s down = 20 s. 360 ÷ 20 = 18 cycles/hour. Matches a typical manual palletising station well.

The pattern: short-stroke, high-frequency stations are duty-limited; long-stroke, low-frequency stations are usually fine. Diverters are the risky ones. Lift tables fail differently — they exceed the continuous on-time rather than the hourly total.

What Happens Thermally When You Exceed Duty

Heat generated in the windings scales with the square of current. Exceed the duty and you enter a regime where each cycle starts hotter than the last. Consequences, in the order they usually appear:

1. Grease thins and migrates away from the screw contact zone — efficiency drops, which raises current, which raises heat further.
2. Thermal protection trips mid-shift. Operators log it as a "random stoppage."
3. Insulation ages faster; the motor's remaining life shortens even after conditions improve.
4. Screw and nut wear accelerates because the lubricant film is no longer intact.

The reason this rarely shows up in acceptance testing is simple: bench tests run for minutes, thermal steady state takes hours. Duty-cycle failures are a production-floor phenomenon.

Five Ways to Stay Inside Duty Without Buying a Bigger Actuator

How to Write Duty Requirements Into an RFQ

Send these five lines and any competent supplier can size correctly on the first pass:

Required force at rod:        ____ N (worst case, including mechanism multiplication)
Stroke:                       ____ mm
Cycles per hour (peak):       ____
Longest continuous motion:    ____ seconds in one movement
Ambient temperature range:    ____ °C to ____ °C

The fourth line is the one everyone omits, and it is the one that caught Example 2 above.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a 10% duty cycle mean the actuator runs 10% of an 8-hour shift? 

No. The limit is per interval. Published as 2 min on / 18 min off, it allows 2 minutes of motion in any 20-minute window — about 6 minutes per hour. Unused time cannot be banked.

How many cycles per hour can a 10% duty actuator perform? 

Divide 360 seconds by your single-cycle time. An 8-second cycle gives about 45; a 20-second cycle gives about 18.

What happens if I exceed the duty cycle? 

Heat accumulates faster than it dissipates: lubricant degradation, thermal cut-outs in service, shortened insulation and screw life.

Can an actuator run continuously in a 24/7 warehouse? 

A 24/7 facility does not need a 100% duty actuator. What matters is motion demand per hour at that station — many are well inside 10%.

Does holding a load under power count toward duty? 

Yes, if the motor is energised to hold. Mechanically self-locking designs avoid this; confirm the holding method for your chosen model.

Do all JDR industrial models share the same duty rating? 

The published duty on the FY028, FY020, FY015, FY021D, FY021C, FY015D, FY015C and FY011E is 10% (2 min on / 18 min off). If your application needs more, tell us the cycle rate and we will advise what is achievable.

Get Your Cycle Rate Checked Before You Build

Send us force, stroke, cycles per hour and your longest single movement and we will confirm whether the duty works — before you commit to a bracket design.

Send your cycle requirement → · Industrial actuator series → · Back to the material handling guide →