garage lift

[BK911]

I have one and LOVE it. Couldn't imagine living without it now. I wired up another plug pig tailed off of my dryer plug. I just can't run both at the same time, but was much easier than adding another circuit.

[brg2290]

Originally Posted by boyt911sc

GaryS (brg2290),

You need a 30 amp. /110V circuit for the lift. A 15 amp. would work but trips the circuit breaker once in a while specially when loaded.

Tony

Hi Tony.
I found this info. on the HF website and manual:

"Electrical Requirements 220 Volt/60 Hz/4 Amps/ 1 HP Motor/Single Phase
Motor RPM: 3,450"

The actual item is linked here: - Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

Gary S.

[wanderer]

Update on lift. The lift is in the garage, currently not operational. The pump does not work.

[billybek]

Nice balance point!
What is going on with the pump?

[wanderer]

No idea. It will not move the fluid. I disconnected the lines and nothing is being discharged into the lines. I do not know what it should sound like, but the motor seems to run fine. Not sure what happens inside the pump which forces the oil into the lines.

[Tom '74 911]

Hi -
When I got my (used) lift, the pump seemed to work fine but would suck air quickly after raising up only 6". I bled the lines a few times and still no joy. It turned out that the extension attached to the suction end of the motor had fallen off in transit and was laying in the bottom of the fluid tank - so the motor was really sucking air, even though the fluid level was high. I fished around in the tank with a coat hanger and felt something on the bottom. The fix did require disassembly of the tank etc... but it wasn't too bad. Once I plugged the extension back in, it worked fine.

It's a bummer when a great new tool doesn't work! Good luck solving the issue.

Tom

[brg2290]

wanderer, hello.
I'm following your experience with great interest. Following your lead, I placed my order with HF yesterday. BTW, thanks for the tip on the coupon, HF gave me the 20% discount as well. I'm sorry to hear you've encountered difficulties. Good luck with correcting the issue. When you have time, here are a few questions for you:

Are you returning the unit for replacement?

It looks like the unit came pretty much fully assembled - is that correct?

Can you verify that the power requirement is 220V, and describe or post a picture of the plug end?

Thanks, Gary S.

[Mikey83835]

I looked at the specs for the unit, and it says it only goes up 39 inches, that is not even high enough to work sitting in a chair is it?

Comments anyone?

[wanderer]

Tom that is interesting, because I looked in the tank and there was what I thought a filter in the bottom of the tank. It was just laying there and I did not think anything of it at the time. Of course now after reading your reply there is no reason for it to have been laying in the bottom of the tank. The tank is black so it is hard to see inside even with a flashlight shining directly in, but I will look again when I get home. By the way the directions seem to contradict themselves, because in one place it states to add 1 gallon of oil, then later it states to fill up to the fill hole. The tank is a 2 gallon tank. How much are you using?

[Jasko]

Guys

For those of you using this model, have you found that you can get access to everything on the bottom of the car? For example, can you get the motor and transmission out with the lift in place? Can you access the transmission tunnel?

From the looks of it, most of those areas are free and open, with only the small cross bar in the way. Is this correct? I'm really looking for something to speed up the motor drop process!

Dave

[nineball]

yes jasko you have access to everything in the middle of the car.

boyt911sc - what lift only requires a 110 line? i don't have the ability to have a 220 in the garage.

Mikey83835 - 3.5 feet is a decent amount of lift but if you want more then you will have to get the more expensive unit from hf. it raises to a maximum of just under 5 foot but costs $450 more, so is it worth the extra cost to pay $300 per foot?

[brg2290]

Originally Posted by Mikey83835

I looked at the specs for the unit, and it says it only goes up 39 inches, that is not even high enough to work sitting in a chair is it?

Comments anyone?

Mikey83835,
I am really glad you asked this question. In my reading here and in several other threads, comparisons were made to the affect that the HF mid-rise and the BendPak MD-6XP were very similar. But as hinted in your question, very similar does not necessarily mean functionally equilavent. The MD-6XP has a lift height of 48 to 53 inches ( I assume the 53 inch is with the truck adapters).

As you correctly pointed out (and I somehow missed, although I don't know how, since it is clearly stated on the HF webpage that I linked earlier in this thread) the HF mid-rise has a lift height of 39 inches. That difference may not mean much for some, but I poured a 6" deep pit in my garage floor like another Pelican here, Thom Fitzpatrick. And at 33 inches actual working height, the HF becomes decidedly less attractive for me. That being the case, I cancelled my HF order today. So Mikey 83835, thanks for asking that question, you saved me a bit of grief.

Gary S.

[Mikey83835]

Glad to be of help BRG

Someone asked about 110 volt, this fellow North Idahoan has this lift in 110 volt;

Another question about V8 conversions

[rfuerst911sc]

My Ammco scissor lift runs on 110 volt and lifts to 48 inches. I recently did the transmission/engine install on my 914 and it was a piece of cake.Probably the best tool I've recently purchased.

[wanderer]

I finally with some assistance from HF tech support got the pump working. The pump was wired to run CW from the factory. It needs to run CCW to pump fluid into the actual lift. After I got the wires switched the lift works. I did not measure the height of it fully extended. I will do that tonight and see how close to the 39 inches it really is. It looked to be higher.

[brg2290]

wanderer, I'm glad to hear you were able to correct the problem with you lift. Please keep us posted on your likes / dislikes.

Originally Posted by antares

Well when the blue helmut Chinese supplied private security forces are patrolling our streets, you will of wished to hell you had bought U.S. made products.

In the Mid-rise lift research I've been doing, Dover Corp. owns a subsidiary call R.L. Consolidated, which has an arm named Vehicle Service Group (homepage linked here) Vehicle Service Group.

On that page you will find Lift brands Rotary, Revolution, and Direct Lift (as well as other auto service companies).

The mid rise lifts made by the three brands cited above are all produced in the Dover Corp. facility in Haimen, China.

Out of curiousity, I called Bend Pak to ask where the MD6 XP is manufactured. The answer - China. Today I used the chat feature on the Bend Pak website to ask where the electric motor and hydraulic unit are manufactured - again, China.

I talked to a Snap-On customer service person today to ask where their mid-rise lift is manufactured. He said their most recent part number - EELR 338A - has been discontinued (which is why I could not find a mid rise lift by searching their website).

Another manufacturer I talked to is Challenger Lifts out of Louisville, KY. They said components are manufactured in China and shipped to the Louisville plant for assembly. The "power unit" (I'm assuming this refers to the electric motor / hydraulic pump combo) is supplied by SPX Hydraulic Technologies - Your Global Force in Hydraulic cylinders, pumps, power packs, and torque wrenches in Rockford IL. I thought to myself, cool, a U.S. supplier! But on the SPX homepage it states "Headquartered in Rockford, Illinois, global sales and manufacturing locations include The Netherlands, Shanghai, Singapore and the United Kingdom." I was too late west coast time today to verify where the power units supplied to Challenger actually come from. And of this bunch, guess which one is consistently more expensive - Challenger - by $300 - $800.

Long story short, at least for these examples it's getting harder, if not darn near impossible, to find a mid-rise lift made even partially in the U.S.

These statements apply only to the respective manufacturers Mid-Rise lifts:
Rotary: Revolution RMR6 Revolution RMR6 - Mid-Rise Lift
Revolution: RMR6 RMR6 - Mid-Rise Lift From Revolution Lift
Direct Lift: Pro 6MR Midrise Lifts
Challenger: MR6 MR6 Mid Rise Lift - Mid Rise Lifts - Challenger Lifts

Gary S.