Bottle Jacks suck

I have a shelf full of 12ton and 20ton bottle jacks; some alleged US that I've had for 20 years.... some are brand new Horrible Freight / Summit Tool. None of them work, most were marginal on their best day...... most suck air at the high pressure piston.

Are their any hydraulic bottle jacks out there that you would actually bet your life on? Or do I just junk them all and go to mechanical screw jacks?????

Cyclotronguy

I use the Norco brand when I need a good one, at least the last time I got some (around a year ago) they were still really nicely made (in Japan, I don't think there are any US manufacturers of bottle jacks left).

Paul T.
Power Technology

I have a blackhawk bottle jack that I got for free. It does nothing when I pump it. I filled it with oil and still nothing. It looks to be good quality It probably needs a pump rebuild. I think they are part of Stanley/Proto.
Bill D.

I use bottle jacks in some equipment that I make and they are the bane of my existance they suck. Norco and simplex are both made in japan and are great US jack is made in michigan and they are great but these jacks cost 5 times as much as a harbor fright jack but are worth it if you want it to actually work. I stopped including jacks with my product and made my tool fit all jacks so that the customer can decide what to buy plus it costs less to ship and I dont have to warranty crap.

We use 12 ton US Jack bottle jacks here at work, 10 of them under pretty constant load, with no failures no leaks, no problems at all. they are made in Michigan I believe, they were the only US made jacks that I could find, kind of pricey, but it beats rebuilding 3 of 4 of the other brands we were using once a week.

The black hawk jack that you have is it a center pump model? painted red? I used them they are the worst I went through 20 of them there are metal chips in the jack and they get stuck in the passages and the jack wont hold pressure plus the seals are not compatable with the oil they fall apart I rebuilt the 20 and have never bought another. Shin Fu America makes them take them back to the service center in your area and they will fix it for free.

Enerpac were good, but new (smaller ones at least) come from Mexico. Enerpac Saf-T-Lite are absolute tops in my book if you can afford them.

i have found that if i have a jack that sucks air, all i have to do is
pull the pump plunger from the bore, replace the oring on the plunger, oil and reinstall it,, and make sure the jack is full of oil.

then they keep working.

btw, there are "no" hydraulic jacks i would trust my life with, nothing
beats a jack stand when it comes to safety.

or blocks, cribbing or anything strong enough to hold the load up high enough for me to scoot out should the jack fail.

and i use a 12 ton several times a week, as well as a long reach 8 ton
which in my opinion is the best thing since sliced bread for truck and trailer work, and yes with a suitable jack stand.

bob g

I have an old engine hoist. It's the type with removeable legs that store upright. It's Taiwan, not H.F. It had a leak earlier in this year in the relief valve. I replaced the rubber ring and stopped the leak but the ram would no longer move up when I operated the pump.

I checked around and after reading on the subject on the internet, I discovered how to get it working again.

After pulling the ram out by hand, I made sure that it was chock full of oil up to the filler cap (I know, that's not how you fill one.....more on this in below).

Then I removed the ram and took it outside and put papers down on the ground to catch the oil. Then, with the unit full, the piston all the way out and the unit laid horizontal with the relief valve facing up, I unthreaded the relief valve from the base and set it aside.

Then I slowly pushed the ram into the body. I got some oil out, but more importantly, I got a blast of air and oil that apparently purged the air that was stuck inside. After pushing a little more to be sure that there was no more air, I threaded the relief valve back in, wiped up the mess and reinstalled the ram in the vertical position on the hoist.

I then opened the relief valve and lowered the ram all of the way. I then filled the ram with oil to the level of the filler cap. It now works perfectly.

Since then, I had the exact same issue with my 20 ton Taiwanese hydraulic bottle jack press. Once bled with a new O-ring on the relief valve, it now works as well.

The trick is to get the ram horizontal first so that the air can rise and then purge it out through the relief valve opening.

It works for me.

I have a love-hate relationship with these jacks. I have many, and most are in some way or other not quite good enough. I have had a couple of older Watco jacks hat performed beautifully, even above capacity. I used an 8 ton one of these as a foundation jack when larger and supposedly better ones couldn't do the job. I seem to recall that they were made in Sweden. Unfortunately I lent my best one out, and the person using it accidentally burned it up in a demolition fire. I've never found one as good as that one. Recent ones are absolutely dreadful. They leak, suck air, and generally suck, as everyone notes here. Among other things, the recent vintage ones use a plain rubber grommet for the release valve, rather than adjustable packing. The only good thing about this is that it got me a very cheap deal on an arbor press a few years ago, because the owner was so frustrated by the leaking jack.

I have had very good service from Hein-Werner jacks and Milwaukee jacks. I think they are both still made in the USA. I have never used US-Jacks brand of jacks.

-DU-

Jacks

Thanks guys..... just said "To hell with it" and ordered 4 20 ton Simplex screw jacks...... they never leak down.

Hm. Air in the pump. I wonder why? I have the usual collection of bottle jacks and they all work (after a bunch of work years sgo). Have you tried to bleed them? The old jack the ram up and push down doesn't always work. There's a number of ways to do this. A buddy of mine used to fix them. Lessee if I can remember how to bleed them.

If the jack is older (10 years or more) first clean it up and remove the check valves and let-down valve. Clean the parts and replace O-rings 'n' stuff. Fill the valve ports solid with oil as you reassemble. I like to bleed the pump first. Air can get into a pump and hide in the pump's clearance volumes. Bleeding the pump gives a crisp positive action so he slightest movement of the pump causes the ram to extend with no squishiness.

To bleed the pump: fill the reservoir, dismantle the pump linkage, dissassemble the pump gland place the jack in a shallow pan, withdraw the pump plunger enough to allow oil to flow, apply momentary air pressure to the reservoir through the fill plug (a coupel of pounds only). Oil will want to well up around the pump plunger bringing entraned aair with it. When the flow is solid relieve the air pressure, insert the plunger and reassemble.

To bleed the ram: close the let-down valve, pump up the ram unloaded with the (no bled) pump, invert the jack base up and open the valve while pushing in the ram. Have a helper tap on the casting to dislodge bubbles. Close the valve place the jack upright and push the ram all the way down. Fill the reservoir if necessary with jack oil.

And NEVER EVER try to jack anything with the pump suction above the oil level. Air doesn't get into hydraulics accidently. You caan jack horizontlly but you have to have the pump suction (and ususally the pump) under the barrel of the jack. Awkward to operate but that's what you have to do. Always store the jack upright. When jacks are hauled around in loot boxes it's common for jacks to wind up laying down. Don't allow this to happen.

There's some do's and don'ts about bottle jacks in a website somewhere.

When I was searching about the bottle jack I find this old thread. After registration, I am realizing that it is the wrong forum to ask this question.
However, I am willing to buy a quality bottle jack. I am not getting a clear idea which brand bottle jack should buy. Any type suggestion will be appreciated.

For everyday use i much prefer a knock of enpac cylinder, a 6' hose and separate hand pump, so much nice, so much more reliable and your not under what your lifting pumping the handle. Above set-up’s can be had for less than £200 and are reliable + can be used in any damn orientation.

mobile_bob said:

i have found that if i have a jack that sucks air, all i have to do is
pull the pump plunger from the bore, replace the oring on the plunger, oil and reinstall it,, and make sure the jack is full of oil.

then they keep working.

btw, there are "no" hydraulic jacks i would trust my life with, nothing
beats a jack stand when it comes to safety.

or blocks, cribbing or anything strong enough to hold the load up high enough for me to scoot out should the jack fail.

and i use a 12 ton several times a week, as well as a long reach 8 ton
which in my opinion is the best thing since sliced bread for truck and trailer work, and yes with a suitable jack stand.

bob g

Click to expand...

+1 on never-trust, and pump-repair only, rest ain't worth the time if it goes.

Old, cheap, made G'knows where, blue one with raggedy castings on the outside, must have had the right stuff on the seal, pump and bore inside. Dead-slow leak-back, but hasn't even needed oil since I bought it fall of 1966 to replace whatever DIDN'T come with a used $600 1959 Triumph TR3.

I use it a lot if only because it is the easiest to carry of my many, too. Prolly only one-ton, if even, though.

Much of the problems spoken of in this thread especially with Chinese jacks is debris and corrosion throughout the jack. This is caused by careless assembly at the factory. Disassembly and cleaning will normally resolve the issues.