New Guy --- Lift Questions

[EricBish]

Hi all, new guy here. I bought a house with a shop that the previous owner used as the office for his general contracting company. This included a lift. The previous owner told me it had been about 10 years since the lift had been used, as that was when he pulled the compressor out of the shop. He told me the lift was a Rotary 8000. I don't know a thing about these, and my summer project is resurrecting this lift. The shop air needs to be replumbed, and he removed all the air fittings throughout when he pulled the air compressor. I've just got a Harbor Freight 2-stage 165 PSI 60 Gal compressor which I believe should be enough to push the lift. I have to get all the shop piping sorted and get my new compressor plumbed in. I also am not sure what kind of PM the lift needs before starting up. Is there a way to check the hydraulic fluid? What kind of fluid do I add? Is there seals that need to be inspected or replaced?

Any help or tips on this would be much appreciated. If I had to guess, the lift is probably close to 20 years old.

 

[EricBish]

This is a pic of the lift plumbing.....and what I "think" might be the fill point for fluid.

 

[Lucid Moments]

I am not aware of any lifts that are pneumatic. Every lift I am aware of is hydraulic. Maybe it is pneumatic over hydraulic? It doesn't seem a very efficient way to do a lift, but I certainly don't know all that much really.

 

[SJW]

I think you should start by contacting Rotary.

It's not clear to me what's under there or what could have happened under there since it was installed.

 

[stingry]

I am not aware of any lifts that are pneumatic. Every lift I am aware of is hydraulic. Maybe it is pneumatic over hydraulic.

Exactly. Air over hydraulic or I believe maybe water was also used. Common in the service stations back in the day

 

[510ebl]

Many, many, many of the air/hydraulic were removed due to oil leaking into the ground and affecting the ground water. It may be wise to verify that this is not one of the models that caused a risk. Also, if it DID leak, determine now who is responsible for the cleanup.

Somewhere around 1999-2001 my family’s business installed a new air/hydraulic lift that used a vegetable based oil that is ecologically friendly. Make absolutely sure of what you have before adding any fluids to yours.

And good luck, I personally prefer this type lift over most above-ground options.

 

[EricBish]

Rotary isn't "home" right now. Probably won't be able to talk to anybody there until May. Anyway, I found an installer document for it in an old desk in the shop. So all the air plumbing looks like it's there, I just need to cap the fitting the previous owner took with him. It requires a 150 PSI compressor, so I'm good there. Its' a Rotary 8000 lb Model WABU28H. That small screw cap in the pic is the fill point and dip stick. According to the installer guide there is an oil tank under ground between the 2 posts. Jesus, the installer guide says it oil capacity is 62 gallons! Unfortunately the installer guide says "use appropriate oil, but do not use hydraulic fluid". I found one older forum post that referenced using Dex II ****** fluid. Honestly, if the tank isn't at least close to full......I will probably can the project. No desire to buy 60 gallons of ****** fluid to find out it's trashed or needs major work. I'm hoping somebody who's owned or worked on a similar lift will chime in with an oil suggestion. Tomorrow I will pull the cap out and see what the dip stick says. If it looks/smells like ****** fluid and is close to full......I may just plump of the compressor and run 'er. I'm sure there is bleeder screws and other things that need to be adjusted or checked..

 

[EricBish]

Many, many, many of the air/hydraulic were removed due to oil leaking into the ground and affecting the ground water. It may be wise to verify that this is not one of the models that caused a risk. Also, if it DID leak, determine now who is responsible for the cleanup.

Somewhere around 1999-2001 my family’s business installed a new air/hydraulic lift that used a vegetable based oil that is ecologically friendly. Make absolutely sure of what you have before adding any fluids to yours.

And good luck, I personally prefer this type lift over most above-ground options.

Yeah, I am definitely hopeful that there are no leaks. The area around and under the cover looks clean, and there no visible leaks under that cover.

 

[Jagmandave]

They still make these in-ground lifts - now they are made in a "cassette ', completely contained unit that drops in all together, all you do is hook up the plumbing and grout around it.

 

[EricBish]

I'm updating this just in case somebody else comes along looking for the info.

Got in touch with Rotay today, which was awesome. Rotary tech said check oil level first. It is that center cap, with screw. He said if it's low, don't run it. Low oil will result in the lift "launching" by raising too fast, and can damage it. He said use either Dex III or AW32 to top it off. Mixing those isn't an issue. Once the oil level is correct, he said just run it. He personally likes to start with raising it slightly, then lowering, and eventually working up to lockout on lifts that have sat for a while. He told me it's likely fine, they've fired up lifts from the 40's and 50's that ran just fine......but he did suggest I have it inspected. As soon as I get the rest of my air parts I need, and get the air plumbed back together, I will update.

 

[HotrodHR]

What did the rotary tech say about your compressor size choice?

 

[imjustdave]

And good luck, I personally prefer this type lift over most above-ground options.

Why do you prefer this type of lift? I'm in planning stage and have been considering options, Figured I would just end up with a 2 post but I'm open.

 

[CraigStu]

"but he did suggest I have it inspected." I suggest you be very careful who you talk to locally. If that tank is leaking, and word somehow gets out you could be in a world of hurt. I am not sure this is a requirement but I think it is kind of like selling a house and not disclosing a problem. I believe if you have a local lift company inspect, and they find it's leaking, they are required to report it. We had that at a small dealer I worked at long ago. They were required to drain the tank and all the lines and remove all the visible lift arms etc. The tank had to be filled w/ sand or removed. The low spots in the floor were filled w/ concrete. The job was inspected at each step so the gov could be sure it would be impossible to run that lift again. It was more expensive to do all that than it was to have a new above ground 2 post lift installed. And actually they were lucky. Several businesses in a nearby old industrial park type area were required to remove in ground tanks along w/ all the soil that had been contaminated. Not fun.

 

[EricBish]

What did the rotary tech say about your compressor size choice?

Rotary Tech said my compressor would drive it easy, no problem.

 

[EricBish]

"but he did suggest I have it inspected." I suggest you be very careful who you talk to locally. If that tank is leaking, and word somehow gets out you could be in a world of hurt. I am not sure this is a requirement but I think it is kind of like selling a house and not disclosing a problem. I believe if you have a local lift company inspect, and they find it's leaking, they are required to report it. We had that at a small dealer I worked at long ago. They were required to drain the tank and all the lines and remove all the visible lift arms etc. The tank had to be filled w/ sand or removed. The low spots in the floor were filled w/ concrete. The job was inspected at each step so the gov could be sure it would be impossible to run that lift again. It was more expensive to do all that than it was to have a new above ground 2 post lift installed. And actually they were lucky. Several businesses in a nearby old industrial park type area were required to remove in ground tanks along w/ all the soil that had been contaminated. Not fun.

Luckily, after doing some research......auto type lifts are exempt for all the EPA regs. Also, my state and county exempt them, but do require that the "existence" of a lift must be in the property disclosure documents. Which it was. There is no major issue if it is leaking, and I don't become a "superfund site" lol. BTW, the tank isn't leaking.

 

[EricBish]

Update on the Lift Reconstruction. I got the tank cap (in the pic above) off with some heat and a pipe wrench. Tank was almost full. I also talked to one of the former property owners past employees....who said he thought that lift hadn't been used in about 20 years and he remembers when they pulled out the big compressor and main shop air tank. He said at that time, the employees were using the lift for their own vehicles, but the business had grown to the point where vehicle maintenance was contracted out. He told me the previous owner was having some memory issues......which I did notice, so this is not overly surprising to me. It looks like I'll need about 10 gallons of AW-32 hydraulic fluid to get her going. Still have some cleaning up to do on the shop air lines.......they are playing hell to trace and sort out. I'd say he probably has about 500 yards of 1/2 to 2 in schedule 80 black pipe run all over the place with various tie ins and reducers in place. Real mess. May have to start from scratch because without any of the fittings in place, and no caps.....they are fairly rusted. May just remove it all, sell it for scrap....and replace what I actually need ( a helluva lot less than 500 yards) with clean stock and go Aluminum. For myself, I just need to plumb in the lift, and run one into the main shop, and the bay I use for working on stuff, I don't need 25 separate air points like he had.