Repair it yourself/bottle jack

[jhb]

This falls more under repair it yourself. I have a Home depot 22 ton bottle jack that is not working. This is a Husky. The thing is a couple of years old, and has not seen alot of use.

I went to use it the other day, and it would not jack or hold a load. After some diagnosis, it appears the problem is that oil is leaking into the cylinder sleave. If I jack it up (no load) and push it back down, oil appears between the piston and the sleave.

Being the Yankee I am, I thought I would try and fix it before throwing it away. Is that possible? I have no idea where to get parts for it, but it looks like every other no-brand jack out there, so I assume it is common. The thing cost about 50 bucks, is it even worth it? TIA!

 

[goaliedad]

I think this falls under the what have you got to loose heading- it's not working, not too expensive- can't be that complicated. Heck, tear it down and see if it's a simple o-ring or some unavailable special seal. At least that's what I would do. I would suspect the seal is pretty simple, if you can find one.

 

[JJT]

Are you certain it's filled with oil. I had 1 like this a few years ago, toppped it off with hydo oil and it's been fine ever since.

 

[Egon]

I'd surely check for oil also and store it upside down so seals are always wet.

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[gordon21]

Just a reminder that if you fix it yourself by refilling fluid only make sure to put sturdy jack stands under whatever you might be crawling under. It would be a bad time to discover your repair was not satisfactory when you are under a car or something and the jack suddenly comes back down. Even if you refill it, that still leaves the original problem of a leaking seal unfixed.

Of course, this is good advice anytime, but especially after a newly repaired/leaking jack.

 

[KubotainNH]

Was it stored at an angle? My cheap one came with a case but if you stood the case up like normal the oil would leak out. I refilled it and always store it level now, threw the case out long ago. It's been working for years now. I agree with the last poster, always have a backup like stands or blocks.

 

[john_bud]

jhb,

It's a simple fix. Unscrew the top, take the parts out. There are a couple o-rings that hold the oil in. You may just have a hunk of stuff between the o-ring and the cylinder. It might go back to working if you just take it apart and clean it up good. (mine did!) If not, a couple bucks of o-rings and it's good as new.

Fill with hydraulic oil.

jb

 

[jhb]

I figured since it was leaking into the cylinder it could not be oil, but it most likely is low. I'll fill and test. If it still does not work, i'll disassemble it as suggested. Only problem I can see is finding a wrench large enough to fit over the top. Its larger then the largetst pipe wrench I have!