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Sagging HF 1000 lb lift

8

8ninety8

New member
Anyong else have a sagging lift, i.e., it slowly goes down after being jacked. By itself. I use the two bar stops, but the piston should hold it at any position?

Can't find any adg. screw or anywhere to tighten up anything. Suppose it's an internal main piston seal? Works great except for this glitch. Maybe someone has fixed theirs? It's the common foot operated 360 lb. red lift. Any input will help.
 
Yeah, mine creeps down too...

But over what time frame?? Likely several hours in my case.
I think with the high quality Chinese hydraulics in most lift devices these days that would be a norm. I know I have seen the same effect in engine hoists and floor jacks.

Just like you should never work under a jack directly, I always use the locking bars on my lift, feel much better about the bar than the jack holding.

Maybe I am being conditioned to accepting crappy consumer goods??
 
Not sure of this lift's mechanism. Mine is a Handy air lift. In the case of mine there is a very little seepage at the air valve. If I leave the hose from the compressor attached with the valve off, the lift creeps up over time. I suspect it would also creep down for the same reason if the hose was not connected and the support bar wasn't dropped down. I have had no evidence of any seepage at the cylinder however.
 
8ninety8 said:
Anyong else have a sagging lift, i.e., it slowly goes down after being jacked. By itself. I use the two bar stops, but the piston should hold it at any position?
Click to expand...
With much of the hydraulics being of the price driven import type these days, if there was someone to ask, they would say it is "working within specifications". Those specs have everything working right out at the far end of reality

Can't find any adg. screw or anywhere to tighten up anything. Suppose it's an internal main piston seal? Works great except for this glitch. Maybe someone has fixed theirs? It's the common foot operated 360 lb. red lift. Any input will help.
Click to expand...
I don't think it's adjustable or even changeable. If you were within the stated warranty period, chances are they would give you a whole new cylinder (jack).
That said, I had a 20 ton Snap-On bottle jack (probably made by Walker back in the old days) and a 12 Ton walker "estimated" for repair recently. $225.00 for the Snap-On and $165.00 for the Walker. I think 2 new imports would total less than $85.00 For what it costs and does, the HF lift is a deal. Use an extra support and watch the fingers.
Part of the new world. :gerg
 
I've always expected hydraulic cylinders to leak down over time. I do have a Harbor Freight lift that (so far) does *not* leak down with a bike on it, but that's one of the few hydraulic lift-based devices that didn't, so I figure it was an anomaly. I always use the safety bar with the bike lift to keep the pressure off the cylinder, and some kind of mechanical support for any other hydraulic lift or jack. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. :nod
 
Allthough my lifts are not from HF I wouldn't know if they leak down anyway. I always use they saftey bar & release the air from the cylinder. I work from a roll around stool a lot & my legs are under the lift all the time.
 
Some will lift the vehicle into the desired position, then place the safety bar or jack stands, finally releasing the hydraulic pressure leaving the load entirely on the fixed supports. Some careful tugging is done on the load to confirm it's stability. This takes the hydraulics out of the equation and you are assured that the fixed support is in position and will hold the load. Never work under or near a load supported only by hydraulics.
 
amiles said:
Some will lift the vehicle into the desired position, then place the safety bar or jack stands, finally releasing the hydraulic pressure leaving the load entirely on the fixed supports. Some careful tugging is done on the load to confirm it's stability. This takes the hydraulics out of the equation and you are assured that the fixed support is in position and will hold the load. Never work under or near a load supported only by hydraulics.
Click to expand...

I have worked on six degree freedom of motion simulators since the late 70's. They use hydraulic legs with a 4" bore & 60" stroke. While attending a Parker-Hanniffin hydraulics school my instuctors were adamant that devices using bottle jacks should always have the "jacked up load" supported as stated above. Seal failures are not uncommon and your bottle jack will last longer if used just to lift "NOT SUPPORT" a load. Safety bars and stands provide users with a backup in case of hyd failure. When servicing the motion bases the aircraft jacks we use are mechanically locked after the load is lifted to prevent any settleing of the load.
 
8ninety8 said:
Anyong else have a sagging lift, i.e., it slowly goes down after being jacked. By itself. I use the two bar stops, but the piston should hold it at any position?

Can't find any adg. screw or anywhere to tighten up anything. Suppose it's an internal main piston seal? Works great except for this glitch. Maybe someone has fixed theirs? It's the common foot operated 360 lb. red lift. Any input will help.
Click to expand...

Like Grandpa said "you get what you pay for". For just a few dollars more---------
 
I use the bar with my HF lift, but, I have taken sometimes 10 or so minutes to get to placing the bar and it does not leak down.

My Craftsman floor jack is 25 years old and began to leak down. I drained and replaced the oil in it, cleaned the bleeder valve and other parts I could get to, and it is working now. But this is not an unusual failure for a hydraulic jack. If you lift works well enough to get the catch bar in place, it's working well enough.
 
I don't recall the brand of the lift I had but it was hydraulic. As far as I know, it didn't leak down but the proper use of any lift is to get the bike up to the desired height to work on and block it in place.

It is extremely unwise to rely on either air or hydraulic fluid [seals] to keep the bike up there. All motorcycle lifts have some method of blocking the table up in the air. You're using the lift correctly if you're blocking it up so seepage shouldn't be a bother.

Just keep using the stops and don't worry about seepage down unless it's not minor and seeps down too fast to block it up safely.

This is the last one I had. Note the yellow supports under the rear wheel area.

OilheadValves.jpg
 
Just an observation based on personal experience. If your lift is the only thing in your life that is sagging, then you are indeed a fortunate man. :usa
 
HF Lift, all good:)

I got one of the first red table lifts they made(foot pump r up), the year they started importing them and its still NO leak down with mine:). Several beemers later, KLTs to GS/GSAs and a KLR and the lift still "holds overnight", no bar in place. KLT1200 was biggest bike I ever lifted with it regularly, which put it through its paces. I know HFTools sold a fix it package warranty for a few bucks when I bought mine and I did not buy it. So far not needed it:), years later...A TIP; You could add a slightly thicker hydraulic oil and it WILL likely quick seeping imo...A lot simpler than changing or building the pump! Randy:usa
 
"QUIT Sagging", I meant:)

The thicker hydraulic oil will most probable stop your issue with sagging lift:). Randy
 
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