HW OBoy Rebuild Question

[ElectronGod]

I just finished rebuilding my old HW OBoy, 1-1/4 Ton. Filled it with oil last night and so far all looks good with the exception of a small amount of oil leaking from the two screws that cover the overload and check valve. Should this have been assembled with a thread sealant? Or is it an indication of something wrong?

Here is a picture of the screw caps i'm referring to before the rebuild.

Thanks for any advise you guys can lend!

Dale

 

[paulsomlo]

I believe there should be a rubber seal under each screw, although they don't always stop the fluid from escaping, apparently. Try wrapping some teflon tape around each screw.

Here's a recent post on the subject: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7965304&postcount=359

 

[ElectronGod]

There were two "seals" included with the rebuild kit. They looked more like little cups, wider at one end. I inserted them wide side down and screwed the plug down on top of them. In doing some research on this I read where teflon tape is not recommended. What about some PTFE paste or some LockTite 545?

 

[paulsomlo]

The two seals install with the "open" side down, sounds like you got it right.

Some people shy away from Teflon due to the fear of pieces of tape getting into the works. You can try PTFE paste, pipe dope, whatever. Don't know much about 545, but any thread sealer you have on hand will probably do. In the post I linked the person ended up using teflon tape, worked out fine.

 

[Hiball]

I believe I’ve cautioned against Teflon tape in the past, the main concern is not to wrap excessively below the threads in order prevent pieces of tape from floating thru the system clogging intake screens etc.

 

[ElectronGod]

OK, I have that problem fixed. I damaged the cup for the check valve when I installed it. I reused one of the old ones and used some Permatex thread seal and it appears OK.

If I may ask another question, however, what is supposed to happen as you're pumping and the ram reaches the end of travel? Should the handle be able to be pressed through so that it lays horizontal? I thought that was the purpose of overload valve? Mine will move a little bit but I can't get it to go all the way.

 

[ElectronGod]

Picture of damanged seal cup.