Inspecting Floor Jack Valves

[Jeeper]

Started to rebuild a floor jack. This is the third Walker/Snap On 93642/YA642 that I have done. The previous two I have problems with after the rebuild with the jack handle raising. I know this is a valve issue.

While I have this current floor jack apart, what is the the tools to look and assess the valves in a floor jack? I have bought eye lopes, otoscope, usb endoscope and even a pocket microscope. But not one them give me a good, bright, in focused view of the valve seats. I'd really like to see if I will have problems before I put it this one back together.

Have any of you been successful inspecting and fixing valve seats?

I have been in touch with Hiball over the years but can't quite get the right tool...or not using the ones I have right.

 

[Jeeper]

Here are a couple friends of the first couple of jacks I have done:

First YA642. Still has handle raising issues but very functional. This jack was dry and rusted inside when I got it:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=173844&showall=1


Second Walker 93642. This is someone else's thread but I had to redo casters so that part is in this thread. This was a rusted out jack when I got it but someone painted it.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=248594


Part of my problem is I am starting with some rough floor jacks that have rust. This current one I am looks OK from the inside other than the someone had been in it. The overload valve is missing the metal cup that presses against the ball and the order of weights and balls in the check valves was out of order.

 

[Hiball]

When I tear down a jack, seat condition is accessed for the following conditions with a small pen light with a focused beam, for up close work I use a small cheap amazon otoscope. I’ve found that 99% of the time the small pen light tells the story.

1. Is there signs of rust scale?
2. Has improperly installed or wrong sized components damaged/changed the seat.
3. Rust scale is first hit with a stiff round bristle brush, once cleaned I reinspect the seat for pitting caused by the rust, this is where the lapping compound Comes into play. If there is severe damage.. I then access how deep the damage is and if the carbide tipped balls will rectify the damage.
4. Once the seat is clean, a New OEM sized ball is introduced to the seat and meets a punch/hammer.

A thing to remember is whenever the seat is effectively lowered by removing material or trying to beat it into submission. The middle weight length might need to be shortened, as it can prevent the upper ball from seating.

With all that said.. Probably 1 out of 100 jacks require more than some light cleaning and reforming.

 

[Jeeper]

When I tear down a jack, seat condition is accessed for the following conditions with a small pen light with a focused beam, for up close work I use a small cheap amazon otoscope. I’ve found that 99% of the time the small pen light tells the story.

1. Is there signs of rust scale?
2. Has improperly installed or wrong sized components damaged/changed the seat.
3. Rust scale is first hit with a stiff round bristle brush, once cleaned I reinspect the seat for pitting caused by the rust, this is where the lapping compound Comes into play. If there is severe damage.. I then access how deep the damage is and if the carbide tipped balls will rectify the damage.
4. Once the seat is clean, a New OEM sized ball is introduced to the seat and meets a punch/hammer.

A thing to remember is whenever the seat is effectively lowered by removing material or trying to beat it into submission. The middle weight length might need to be shortened, as it can prevent the upper ball from seating.

With all that said.. Probably 1 out of 100 jacks require more than some light cleaning and reforming.

Thanks Hiball for responding. Always appreciate the help.

I don't know how you can identify with just a pen light. I just checked and I can see the 2 rings of silver metal (talking about the working valves) where the seats are. They look fine to me but there does look like some rust-ish color in the bore on either side of the seats. Not horrible but not silver metal color either. I don't trust that I see it with enough detail to absolutely know, unless I put everything together and check.

I have a walmart otoscope...maybe $20 is what it cost. But it seems to only focus at the end of the tip which isn't deep enough into the bore. Also, the light can't get all the way deep enough to see the seats with the otoscope.

What kind of brushes do you use to clean the bore?

 

[Hiball]

Thanks Hiball for responding. Always appreciate the help.

I don't know how you can identify with just a pen light. I just checked and I can see the 2 rings of silver metal (talking about the working valves) where the seats are. They look fine to me but there does look like some rust-ish color in the bore on either side of the seats. Not horrible but not silver metal color either. I don't trust that I see it with enough detail to absolutely know, unless I put everything together and check.

I have a walmart otoscope...maybe $20 is what it cost. But it seems to only focus at the end of the tip which isn't deep enough into the bore. Also, the light can't get all the way deep enough to see the seats with the otoscope.

What kind of brushes do you use to clean the bore?

If you are seeing bright silver metal color on the seat, that is where you need to focus your attention for imperfections as that is where the action is at. It’s a good sign of you can see shiny around the seat area, I wouldn’t sweat anything above or outside of the actual seat, it’s normal for it to be discolored as it’s just a guide to funnel the ball down under pressure to seat.

The brushes I use are very stiff, similar to a parts washer brush and I believe I got them at my local welding shop, not sure what there intended application was. I did speak with a member the other day who purchased some round brass brushes and ran them on a drill, he claimed he had good results, but I would caution about getting too rough in the bore.

 

[Jeeper]

If you are seeing bright silver metal color on the seat, that is where you need to focus your attention for imperfections as that is where the action is at. It’s a good sign of you can see shiny around the seat area, I wouldn’t sweat anything above or outside of the actual seat, it’s normal for it to be discolored as it’s just a guide to funnel the ball down under pressure to seat.

The brushes I use are very stiff, similar to a parts washer brush and I believe I got them at my local welding shop, not sure what there intended application was. I did speak with a member the other day who purchased some round brass brushes and ran them on a drill, he claimed he had good results, but I would caution about getting too rough in the bore.

Still not sure how to focus on the seat without some form of magnification. Most of the tools I have bought for magnification have a focal length of an 1" which isn't enough to see down the bore. I think I need to find the right magnifier...maybe something 5x or 10x that has a focal length of a several inches.

Any chance you can post a pic of your otoscope and brush you use? If you find the post of pics of pain, I can PM you my email and you can email them.

 

[Jeeper]

I could see somewhat better with a regular magnifying glass and a pen light but even that wasn’t conclusive. But I could see the overload seat didn’t look great.

Figuring the one seat needed some care and the others just didn’t seem great I bought the bal-tec diamond charged ball on stems to clean up the seats. They seemed to have done the trick. Also when re-looking at the seats they seemed a lot shinier and clean looking after I lapped them with the diamond spheres.

Got the jack back together and seems to be working but need to put it through the paces some more. So far the jack handle didn’t raise and the lift arm didn’t bleed down with a load on jack pad. This is different from some of the others jacks I have of the same type. This means I will be going into those other jacks and lapping the seats.

Pics are of the diamond spheres. You can see the stems aren’t very long. Then a pic of the jack picking up a GMC Yukon.