hydraulic jacks - maintenance question...

[wuwu77]

I have a 20 ton jack that does work well. How do I troubleshoot these type of jacks? How do you refill / check fluid levels?

Please advise. Thanks.

[Charles Schuler]

Contact the manufacturer?

[Joe]

It's a throwaway. Just check any box store for Chinese bottle jacks and bring home the color you like best. Sometimes you will find a 1/4" pipe plug or similar on the back closing the fill/check hole. Add hydraulic fluid in the vertical position with a pressure oil can until it dribbles out and replace the plug. If it works, use it. If not, discard it. $15 bottle jacks aren't made to be serviced. When the seals are shot they can be dangerous. HTH

Joe

[Harry K]

You are talking about the common 1 1/2 or 2 ton jack, His is a 20 ton and those do not come cheap and are not throwaways.

Harry K

[mm]

I'd say you clean it off now, and if it never gets oily again, you know it hasn't lost any fluid. If it does lose substantial fluid, there is probably a valve or plug you can unscrew and fill it with hydraulic fluid to overflowing or maybe a quarter inch below that. But I haven't seen it.

[dpb]

Typically, if there's sufficient leakage that the fluid level is low, the jack will need a new set of seals (and perhaps more) in order for it to operate well (and most importantly safely) again. Here are some useful sites...

[tnom]

What doesn't work well? Is it a bottle jack or does it have a separate pump? Does it leak?

Typically these jacks us a hydraulic oil with a lot of paraffin in it. Over time the paraffin settles out and leaves a waxy substance on components that control the jack (check valves, spools ect.) If it is a quality jack these control/pump components can be accessed. Disassemble and clean. If the Jack is not made for disassembly then chuck it.

Sometimes.......at your own risk......You can heat the jack to melt any waxy deposits and rework the paraffin back into the oil. I wouldn't go any higher than 200 degrees if you attempt this.

[GROVER]

The previous poster, Joe was right on the money. I couldn't believe it myself at first, but even a professional grade 1 1/2 ton Walker (US made) was economically unrepairable due to high local labor costs when compared with the new cost of Chinese imports at less than $100. I assume the parts needed, probably some "O" rings were relatively inexpensive. Now these jacks join the throw away catagory. Joe G

[dpb]

...

That's still a far cry from a 20T.

Nothing to prevent you from doing the rebuild yourself, however, is there? The sites I provided above have repair kits for most Walker/ Blackhawk US-built at affordable prices. The key is some of them had square o-rings that are hard to find from local gasket suppliers, otherwise that is usually the simpler route--disassemble, take the o- rings to the local guys and replace them. As long as other mechanicals are ok, that usually will be the extent of mandatory repair. The kits are kinda' like carb kits, though, in that they include the ball valve(s), springs, replaceable seats if any, etc., etc., ...