MaxJax Transport, Install, Impression, and Comparison

[EuroVt]

Anchor issue

I have had an issue with three of my ten anchors not setting. I have installed three anchors with epoxy. Tonight on the final torque down to 80ft. lbs. the top 3-4mm of concrete pulled off on one of the anchors.




The Anchor doesn't appear to move and there are no cracks in the concrete.
I torqued it down again after cleaning the chips and it seems to be fine.

I'm not really sure what to do at this point.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[tomsmith]

I had a similar problem where I wasn't confident with the anchors. I too had epoxied my anchors but on some, the epoxy squeezed out so I knew I had good contact but on others, no epoxy came out.

To test the anchors, I put the sacrificial bolt and washer in the anchor and then used a pry bar to try and lift the anchor out. I figured a 3ft pry bar with my 210lbs resting on it can't budge the anchor, it's probably OK.

All anchors passed my 'test'

If I could it again, I would buy a proper, electric caulking gun. Both of my gun handles broke with the concrete epoxy - it's pretty stiff stuff in there!

 

[UPSHIFT]

Re: Anchor issue

I have had an issue with three of my ten anchors not setting. I have installed three anchors with epoxy. Tonight on the final torque down to 80ft. lbs. the top 3-4mm of concrete pulled off on one of the anchors.




The Anchor doesn't appear to move and there are no cracks in the concrete.
I torqued it down again after cleaning the chips and it seems to be fine.

I'm not really sure what to do at this point.

Any advice appreciated.

EuroVT,

As long as the anchor is set and not coming loose after you raise the car all is good.

It is not uncommon for the surface of the concrete to break like that, especially if the anchor was tight going in. If the concrete is craking when you are lifting that would be a concern.

Please call if you have any concerns..

Thank You,

Gabe
Dannmar
877-432-6627

 

[WVBrady]

...If I could it again, I would buy a proper, electric caulking gun. Both of my gun handles broke with the concrete epoxy - it's pretty stiff stuff in there!

Are you sure that you didn't just hit the end of the front chamber in the tube? The kind I used had one part of the epoxy in the front of the tube and the other in the back. By the time the plunger had reached the middle of the tube, the tube was empty. Until I cut one of the tubes open I thought that it had hardened in the tube.

 

[EuroVt]

Thanks for the reply. I'm pretty confident in the install.

I will probably get some quick-set just to keep water out of the low spot.

 

[Rodbuilder]

In other threads the Dannmar folks say they have less trouble with uneven lifting if the quick disconnects on the flow divider are omitted. That's probably why they aren't including them going forward.

I would still use the 90* elbows on the diverter, it keeps the hoses from sticking straight out.

One other thing I have found helpful is I bought some 1/4"x1 1/2" oval head bolts the ones with the rounded top and put some plastic hose on the threads. I drop them into the mollies when the lift is stowed, keeps **** out of the molly threads. I put a little hitch grease on the plastic to keep the molly threads clean.

 

[Todd.Brock]

Well, finally got the lift installed. Of all the fittings to leak, it had to be at the cylinder in the column. One side let out a good splash. The other side was like a quick slip topping off your oil. I guess I didn't get them tight enough. I had to drain the cylinder , and wrestle the column to get back to them. Lift is really quiet though compared to my old Nussbaym 2 post overhead. I was lifting and bleeding, so I didn't get a car in the air yet.

Do those anchors rust out with winter water and salt? I was thinking some type of Screw in plug, or those plastic plugs that came in the flow divider. I can't exactly picture what RodBuilder assembled, but the concept is the same.

 

[JakeKohl]

Personally, I would use a nylon hex socket set screw to plug the holes when not in use. McMaster has them available up to 3/4"-10. (I don't know what size bolts the MaxJax bolts are).

Button heads would be fine but will still be at risk for damage because they protrude above the surface of the floor.

 

[5mall5nail5]

I am interested in the MaxJax - just not sure how thick my floor is. Best way to test that beforehand? Don't want to drill a hole in the are of install as that'll compromise the pad there.

 

[Todd.Brock]

Thanks Jake I was looking at MSC this morning. I keep finding plugs for pipe threads. Per GES website, the bolts are 5/8-11. I will call them and ask, or do you happen to have a link to the style you referenced?

 

[tomsmith]

Are you sure that you didn't just hit the end of the front chamber in the tube? The kind I used had one part of the epoxy in the front of the tube and the other in the back. By the time the plunger had reached the middle of the tube, the tube was empty. Until I cut one of the tubes open I thought that it had hardened in the tube.

I did read someone else's post (maybe it was yours?) when they ran into a problem with tubes only being 'half full' but in my case, the plunger was barely 2 inches in when the handle broke. I found another gun, but that didn't fare any better. I did one more hole before the ratcheting mechanism snapped.

I ended up using my Irwin clamp to push the plunger down and was able to fill 3 more holes before the tube was empty.

 

[tomsmith]

I am interested in the MaxJax - just not sure how thick my floor is. Best way to test that beforehand? Don't want to drill a hole in the are of install as that'll compromise the pad there.

Unfortunately, I don't think there is a way without drilling a hole in the area you want to install the columns. What you could do is drill one hole on the assumption that's where at least one of the anchors will go. That way, if your concrete is fine, you have one less hole to drill

You don't have to do the full 7/8" either .. just use whatever smallish masonry bit you have, drill the hole as deep as you can and then use a metal coat hangar to measure the depth.

 

[dmeadow]

If I could it again, I would buy a proper, electric caulking gun. Both of my gun handles broke with the concrete epoxy - it's pretty stiff stuff in there!

I bought one of these at Home Depot:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Simpson-Strong-Tie-CDT10S-10-oz-Epoxy-Dispensing-Tool-CDT10S/203084067

Worked great, and not all that expensive in the scheme of things.

 

[JakeKohl]

Thanks Jake I was looking at MSC this morning. I keep finding plugs for pipe threads. Per GES website, the bolts are 5/8-11. I will call them and ask, or do you happen to have a link to the style you referenced?

Yeah, sure. The McMaster site is difficult to link to. If the following link doesn't work, go to mcmaster.com and search for "set screws". On the left, scroll down to material type and select "Nylon". It should be fairly self-explanatory from there.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#set-screws/=odlb63

 

[tomsmith]

thought I'd share some pics of my install.

I started off with my trusty Mastercraft Maximum (Canadian Tire brand) hammer drill with a Bosche 7/8" drill bit. I got around 4" deep when I hit rebar on the first hole. I switched to my cordless drill with a 3/4" cobalt bit and started drilling through the rebar. This was after around 1 minute of drilling:

Here's a pic of the regular hammer drill and the SDS rotary. The SDS drill was on for $99 at RONA and the 7/8" bit was another $70 but it was definitely worth it. There's much less vibration which means you can hold the drill steadier - the long bit also means I could stand up vs. get on my knees for the regular bit. It took me less than 30 seconds to drill 8" with the SDS:

To drill the holes, I positioned the column, and drilled through the hole. This way, I could be sure each hole was exactly positioned. I had drawn a line around the base with permanent marker so I could tell if the column was shifting during drilling. It didn't.

My wife was on shop vac duty and held the nozzle right next to the hole to **** out the dust so I could see the bit clearly at all times. Based on suggestions from folks on this forum, I would drill around 2", pull the bit out, vacuum the hole and then drill another 2" and so on.

Here's the first set of holes. The hole at 12 'o' clock was a mistake. I had hit the rebar on that one and even though I drilled it out with the cobalt bit, the SDS bit wasn't getting through on normal drill mode (non-hammer mode). Rather than ruin my bit, I just moved the column back a few inches. I had given myself enough wiggle room when measuring so I knew it would be OK.

As you can see, I used a nylon brush and a blow gun from my air compressor to thoroughly clean the holes out. I did 6 cycles of brush, blow, vacuum for each hole.

Once I was happy each hole was clean, I used this concrete epoxy to fill them half way.

This stuff is STIFF. I did the first hole with my caulking gun but it broke just after I filled the hole. my second caulking gun didn't last much longer. I did the remaining holes with my caulking gun/clamp contraption.

HINT: Listen to the guys recommending a proper, heavy duty gun if you're gonna use epoxy.

One of the anchors didn't go in all the way. This was the hole I used my regular hammer drill for and I suspect the hole wasn't 'true' and straight because that sucker was vibrating and shaking all over the place. It was 8" deep (measured it with my brush) so depth wasn't an issue but it stuck out a bit.

A few passes with my angle grinder and a 60 grit flap disc and problem solved:

This anchor was epoxied pretty good so I don't think losing a couple of mm's will cause probs.

Here's a pic of the first column positioned over the anchors, just before I bolted it in

And a pic of the final set up

Hmmm .. those pictures turned out a lot smaller than I thought they would be. Please let me know if anyone wants me to resize them .. it's just a matter of pointing to a different URL

 

[Todd.Brock]

Mucho Gracias to Jake Kohl. Ordered at 5:30 yesterday, installed at 10:30 am today!! Must love McMaster Carr! It was about 16 bucks shipped.
For anyone who wants to order ...

 

[avc8130]

Mucho Gracias to Jake Kohl. Ordered at 5:30 yesterday, installed at 10:30 am today!! Must love McMaster Carr! It was about 16 bucks shipped.
For anyone who wants to order ...

Brilliant!

At my old house I had made my own by cutting the head off a bolt and using a Dremel to make a screw driver slot.

What a waste of my time compared to your method!

Great job!

ac

 

[UPSHIFT]

Unfortunately, I don't think there is a way without drilling a hole in the area you want to install the columns. What you could do is drill one hole on the assumption that's where at least one of the anchors will go. That way, if your concrete is fine, you have one less hole to drill

You don't have to do the full 7/8" either .. just use whatever smallish masonry bit you have, drill the hole as deep as you can and then use a metal coat hangar to measure the depth.

tomsmith,

The smaller the drill bit you use to check the thickness of the concrete the better, this will reduce the amount of Spawl or Crater on the base of the hole when you drill through and give you an accurate reading. Good Luck !!

 

[Rodbuilder]

I can't exactly picture what RodBuilder assembled, but the concept is the same.

Yeah, I guess that was clear as mud now that I read it again. Hope these pictures help, they work great just drop them in.

 

[tomsmith]

Hello,

Here's a couple of pics with my lift installed and the car finally off the ground

The columns are 125" apart from the outside edge of each column

 

[Todd.Brock]

So... About that missing bolt ???

 

[tomsmith]

So... About that missing bolt ???

Hah! Good catch That was another hole where I hit rebar and had to drill it out. Because my caulking guns broke from using the epoxy tubes, I had to wait until a few days later before I bought a heavy duty gun and some more epoxy.

That anchor was installed yesterday but I wanted to give it a full 2 days to cure before I installed a bolt in it.

I figured one bolt less won't affect the column especially seeing it's the side one - if it had been a rear bolt, I would have just waited another day but it was Sunday and I was itching to get the car up

In the last picture, you can tell where I had originally marked the column and ended up moving it a couple of inches back to avoid the rebar. Not that it helped much, I still hit rebar

 

[cwraab]

Question for MaxJax owners:

I just bought mine and am going through the install process. The base on one of my posts does not appear to be level such that when I put the post on level ground, it probably has about an 1/8th or 2/8th of an inch of play. The other post is perfectly flat.

Is this considered within the range of normal and the shims will be able to correct the difference? Or should I be contacting Dannmar for a replacement?

 

[skamp]

Question for MaxJax owners:

I just bought mine and am going through the install process. The base on one of my posts does not appear to be level such that when I put the post on level ground, it probably has about an 1/8th or 2/8th of an inch of play. The other post is perfectly flat.

Is this considered within the range of normal and the shims will be able to correct the difference? Or should I be contacting Dannmar for a replacement?

What do you mean by level? Are you saying the baseplate is not flat? If so I would request a new one. The shims are to deal with an unlevel surface, not to correct an issue on the baseplate.

Steve

 

[cwraab]

What do you mean by level? Are you saying the baseplate is not flat? If so I would request a new one. The shims are to deal with an unlevel surface, not to correct an issue on the baseplate.

Steve

Yes it appears like an issue with the base plate. The one post when standing on its own has zero movement and when I put the post in question in the exact same spot, it wobbles slightly. Guess I'll be making a phone call to Dannmar on Monday... sweet...

 

[Todd.Brock]

This is from my post in September.

Mucho Gracias to Jake Kohl. Ordered at 5:30 yesterday, installed at 10:30 am today!! Must love McMaster Carr! It was about 16 bucks shipped.
For anyone who wants to order ...

Sorry, meant to post in a different thread.

 

[Rin Saeki]

Hi,everybody.

I am a Japanese do it yourselfer and bought MaxJax from the US at the end of this October.
In Japan we cannot find stores selling MaxJax because there is few people who actually tune/fix their cars by themselves.The houses are so tiny and most of us cannot afford garage spaces thanks to expensive cost for living and garaging because of our extremely large population density in Japan.

Fortunately I live in Hokkaido at the north end of Japan actually rural district and could buy a house with a small garage.

I like cars,drive cars and fix/tune cars from childhood.


So I decided to buy myself MaxJax this October from a dealer in US.
My one was shipped by sea for a month,and I picked it up at my nearest port driving a rental small truck and going through the customs formalities by myself.

Offloaded my MaxJax with an engine crane,and my son helped me.

I'm going to set it up by myself and use on 200V AC single phase 50Hz.
So I have to modify wiring to motor.

My motor is split-phase induction motor　completely different animal than that of Mr.Dolfan's written in first half of this thread.


At first I connected 2 coils in series according to wiring diagram affixed to the
switch box.

I wonder what it means.

This is a electromagnetic relay.
Can this relay work properly on only 110v?

220v will be applied to this relay,I think.
Is it safe?

Could anyone help me out ?

 

[Denee007]

HI Rin! Congratulations on you MaxJax!! I'm excited for you! The little box says 110v, the entire system is 110v only. You may have to dedicate a plug wired for 110v only for the use on your Maxjax, or use just one leg of the 220v to get the 110v you require.

Do you have a contact for technical help for your Maxjax installation and questions?

This email is to a man that I buy parts from and advertise on my www.classiccarsandtools.com site. Perhaps you can email him and he could direct you to the answers you seek. However, there are some many people here which have installed MaxJax's, the answer is here.
dne'

[email protected] (Trevor at Garage equipment USA). Trevor is a really nice representative for the MaxJax lift.

 

[bazar01]

Rin, if you re-wired the motor for run 200V, the electromagnetic relay will get 200V across the coil and will burn it immediately. You need to replace the relay with a 4-pole relay with 230V coil voltage.

Ask the MaxJax vendor if they can supply you with one or you can get one from the nearest electrical supply store.

 

[Rin Saeki]

HI Rin! Congratulations on you MaxJax!! I'm excited for you! The little box says 110v, the entire system is 110v only. You may have to dedicate a plug wired for 110v only for the use on your Maxjax, or use just one leg of the 220v to get the 110v you require.



Do you have a contact for technical help for your Maxjax installation and questions?



This email is to a man that I buy parts from and advertise on my www.classiccarsandtools.com site. Perhaps you can email him and he could direct you to the answers you seek. However, there are some many people here which have installed MaxJax's, the answer is here.

dne'



[email protected] (Trevor at Garage equipment USA). Trevor is a really nice representative for the MaxJax lift.

Thanks for your message.
I'm going to ask man you introduced to me.
I do want to use this on 220v because it needs lower current than use on 110v.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rin Saeki]

Rin, if you re-wired the motor for run 200V, the electromagnetic relay will get 200V across the coil and will burn it immediately. You need to replace the relay with a 4-pole relay with 230V coil voltage.



Ask the MaxJax vendor if they can supply you with one or you can get one from the nearest electrical supply store.

Hi friend.
Thanks a lot for your useful and practical message.
I'm going to get 4 pole 230V one at nearest shop immediately.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Rin Saeki:

I would be very pleased if you would share more photos of your garage, cars you are working on, and the general car culture of Japan as experienced through your eyes. I think the Garage Journal would love to see a separate topic thread covering some of the interesting domestic vehicles you get to work on that are not available in the US or Europe.

 

[Rin Saeki]

Rin Saeki:

I would be very pleased if you would share more photos of your garage, cars you are working on, and the general car culture of Japan as experienced through your eyes. I think the Garage Journal would love to see a separate topic thread covering some of the interesting domestic vehicles you get to work on that are not available in the US or Europe.

Thanks a lot for your message!
I'll do this in the near future.

At first this is my ALFA driven in one of the mountain roads in my vicinity.

<a href="http://photozou.jp/photo/show/191145/188840942"><img src="http://kura2.photozou.jp/pub/145/191145/photo/188840942.v1383717887.jpg" alt="0348" width="450" height="253"></a>

 

[Rin Saeki]

Rin, if you re-wired the motor for run 200V, the electromagnetic relay will get 200V across the coil and will burn it immediately. You need to replace the relay with a 4-pole relay with 230V coil voltage.

Ask the MaxJax vendor if they can supply you with one or you can get one from the nearest electrical supply store.

Hi,I've got a nice idea.
A friend of mine tell me that I have to ready 2 sets of lead and plug for different 2 types of voltage.One is for 100v outlet and another bit is for 200v outlet,the former supplies　the coil inside of this 4 pole relay with 100v,and the latter do the motor with 200v.

In this way,a new relay with 220v coil is not in need.

The wiring diagram mentioned is not smart,but costs less I'm happy! hahaha

Thanks!

 

[kamesama980]

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here^

The system is perfectly capable of running on 240v as we have in the states (240 hot to hot plus neutral and ground). I have mine rewired to run that way with the original relay. You just have to run the coil hot to neutral instead of the other hot. I don't know if Japanese 240v is hot (240), neutral, ground or hot(+120), hot(-120), neutral, ground. IF you have a neutral that you can get 120v from one leg, it'll work (this might be what your friend is suggesting. Can he/you make a diagram of what he's talking about?). If your power is 240v to neutral or to ground, you'll have to do something else.

 

[bazar01]

Hi,I've got a nice idea.
A friend of mine tell me that I have to ready 2 sets of lead and plug for different 2 types of voltage.One is for 100v outlet and another bit is for 200v outlet,the former supplies　the coil inside of this 4 pole relay with 100v,and the latter do the motor with 200v.

In this way,a new relay with 220v coil is not in need.

The wiring diagram mentioned is not smart,but costs less I'm happy! hahaha

Thanks!

It looks like you have 2 voltages available at your garage, 100V and 200V. If your friend knows what he is doing, yes, you can use the 100V for control voltage for the electromagnetic relay and the 200V to run the motor. That way you can use the relay that came with the equipment and at the same time reduce the current load by using 200V on the motor.

 

[Rin Saeki]

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here^

The system is perfectly capable of running on 240v as we have in the states (240 hot to hot plus neutral and ground). I have mine rewired to run that way with the original relay. You just have to run the coil hot to neutral instead of the other hot. I don't know if Japanese 240v is hot (240), neutral, ground or hot(+120), hot(-120), neutral, ground. IF you have a neutral that you can get 120v from one leg, it'll work (this might be what your friend is suggesting. Can he/you make a diagram of what he's talking about?). If your power is 240v to neutral or to ground, you'll have to do something else.

Thanks!
Unfortunately,we have 200v AC with 3 poles you suggested at first.
My garage is equipped with 100v and 200v outlets,so I decided to wire both,100v for electromagnetic relay and 200v for the motor.

 

[Rin Saeki]

It looks like you have 2 voltages available at your garage, 100V and 200V. If your friend knows what he is doing, yes, you can use the 100V for control voltage for the electromagnetic relay and the 200V to run the motor. That way you can use the relay that came with the equipment and at the same time reduce the current load by using 200V on the motor.

Hi,friend!

That's right!

I can use both voltages and want to reduce the current on the motor to use it as long as possible.

In Japan 100v is mainly available for electric/electronic devices,especially 200v is
supplied to large equipments sort of massive air-cons or electric heaters in cold district.

<a href="http://photozou.jp/photo/show/191145/193963458"><img src="http://kura1.photozou.jp/pub/145/191145/photo/193963458.v1387032422.jpg" alt="IMG_1976" width="450" height="337"></a>


<a href="http://photozou.jp/photo/show/191145/193963473"><img src="http://kura3.photozou.jp/pub/145/191145/photo/193963473.v1387032442.jpg" alt="IMG_1978" width="337" height="450"></a>


<a href="http://photozou.jp/photo/show/191145/193963478"><img src="http://kura3.photozou.jp/pub/145/191145/photo/193963478.v1387032451.jpg" alt="IMG_1979" width="337" height="450"></a>

 

[Jvvmusme]

There is a guy in Japan who made a real video about installing the Maxjax. You can find it in Youtube

 

[Rin Saeki]

There is a guy in Japan who made a real video about installing the Maxjax. You can find it in Youtube

Thanks!
I've watched it ,awesome!