Ole "Fred" to the Rescue Again!!

[1693TA]

My lift at work:



Far cry from this where it had been setting a few years derelict when the prior owner's grandson started playing with the wiring and achieved to make nothing work other than the engine run. Birds, and/or field mice made a mess of the wiring which took quite a spell to sort out. I pay homage to "Off" for the assistance with this as I've never worked on one prior:

 

[1693TA]

Built up the telescoping boom this afternoon after replacing a frantic daughter's home air conditioner condensing unit contactor that was incinerated. Just happened to have one from many years ago when I carried spares with me.

No involved photos but reinstalled the cylinder internal to the boom, then all eight wear pads for the sliding boom, and pushed it all together closed. Pin bore in the cylinder base is just a bit tighter than I'd like for the new pin so going to open it up a bit with a flap wheel tomorrow after I find my drill extension. After I get that pin installed, then I'll remount the basket and run full testing.

Hopefully call it done tomorrow, and color it gone.

 

[1693TA]

Didn't take my phone with me this morning but reattached the basket and a couple of hydraulic lines and ran the lift through it's paces. All was going well and I was exercising the basket level function and when driving it back level from a nose down attitude, a hose blew, (suspected) internal to the boom. I think I can extract the cylinder by laying/rotating the basket back on it's mounting pin and extract the basket level cylinder to get at the "whip" hoses which are at it's rear. Hoses are routed through bulkhead fittings in the sides of the telescoping fly boom. Hoses are a mess on the machine as can be seen in several prior photos but he won't allow it to be rehosed? Much of this goes on and he may change his mindset.

I'll post more photos shortly as going back out to the shop to ascertain failure. Needs a cup of coffee as morning comes at 4:30am for me everyday it seems.....

 

[1693TA]

Yep, hose blown at a connection. Not really hard to tell they need replaced. Camera didn't focus well on this one but you can see oil streaming as the side is pressurized:



Little more oil slick in the drive. Ain't no Exxon Valdez but still:



Crusty hoses. One on the top is the leaker, but I think I'll replace both:



I think I have these 90 degree fittings but it's getting hot out so will wait till later in the day to make up new hoses. For now my safety strap will have to do for support:



Lift is now movable under it's own power with those lines plugged. I'll probably clean up a bit and run it inside to avoid the direct sunlight.

 

[1693TA]

Inside the telescoping boom tube. You can see how the fittings penetrate the boom:



Kinda oily inside here:



This is taken about twenty minutes after the hose blew out and I rode the basket down floor level. This level cylinder does not have a counterbalance valve built into it but rather a piloted double check valve so once the pressure bled off through the compromised hose:



Blurry photo of the cylinder with the hoses attached just after sliding it out of the telescoping boom:

 

[cfherrman]

The oil will help your road out

 

[1693TA]

Dust control at it's finest.

 

[1693TA]

Built up new hoses as had the fittings and reinstalled the cylinder. All functions now work apparently leak free.

Snap gauge and micrometer reveal cylinder base bore and second hole for retention pin pass through are .010 smaller than the entrance hole for the pin. The area I had to cut through for the cylinder removal is right where this transition took place. Being old I didn't see the .010 difference in bore diameters. I dropped the new pin at the machinist's house and he'll get it addressed tomorrow morning.

Rode it up a ways to exercise the circuit without problems.





Done for now

 

[1693TA]

Usual suspects around here:

 

[1693TA]

Reclaiming the oil from my man left when it blew the hose. So far I've recaptured almost 8 gallons. The funnel has a very fine screen in the bottom of it so it plugs easily, what is in the 5 gallon buckets will be run through my filter cart before it goes back in the machine.

 

[1693TA]

The machinist friend found a stainless shaft so remade same to correct dimensions and it slipped right into the bores with light tapping from a 1.5# hammer. To the end I welded the original retainer strap and reused the original countersink retention fastener. Sprayed the area with "Rust Oleum" brand meadow green paint and covered it back up.

Lift is now done and owner in in route to pick it up.

 

[1693TA]

Two shades of green. Done, and Gone! Probably shouldn't discount the third shade of green either; cash.

 

[1693TA]

Finally found an air compressor gasket kit for old Fred's Midland El-740 compressor and ordered the same today. The set has been on national back order for many suppliers for well over a month. Haven't been able to put the air compressor back together, or have service brakes after getting it freed up.

 

[1693TA]

Popped another hose on my lift yesterday and promptly evacuated about 20 gallons onto the ground. Was up in the basket at the very peak of my shop roof when wanting to extend the basket out just a bit for access. Hearing a slight "pop" down low and within the engine enclosure I knew what happened. As I rotated the boom away from the building so I could lower to the ground I started seeing a deluge of hydraulic oil dumping out. Getting to the ground I shut the engine down and sure enough the hose feeding the solenoid valve bank, (JLG calls these "Bang Bang" valves) has blown a healthy hole through itself. This is just a 1/2" hose and I have some of that and fittings in the shop, but I'm tiring of replacing hose and fluid so ordered a 328' roll of 3/8" R-16 hose and will take an inventory of the machine to ensure I have enough of the type(s) fittings needed. Most of the hose on the machine is 3/8" and I believe original so going to replace all of it with this go round. Most of the 1/2", 5/8", 3/4", and the 1" I have on hand in enough quantity to do this job, but the 3/8" feeds the telescoping boom and basket hydraulics so quite lengthy.

 

[davejo]

Finally found an air compressor gasket kit for old Fred's Midland El-740 compressor and ordered the same today. The set has been on national back order for many suppliers for well over a month. Haven't been able to put the air compressor back together, or have service brakes after getting it freed up.

Where did you find your gasket kit and what is your filter cart setup?

 

[1693TA]

Finally got around to replacing the blown hose today. I had the hose, and correct fittings so really wasn't too dramatic. Now snaking that stiff sumbitch over and around along with through it's original routing took some time with not much to show for it. When I rehose the machine complete, I'll probably incorporate a 45* fitting where the original is straight to lessen the radius this hose goes through. Both ends are swivel but 1/2" hose is still stiff to bend and contort when it's cold.

I started the machine and cycled the functions that ceased operation when the hose burst. All back to normal now but down about 15 gallons or so in the reservoir. Have replenishment fluid available so may top it back up tomorrow.

Called for a 200gl red, off road fuel drop for the first of the week, so need to get a move on with finishing this tank.

 

[1693TA]

Where did you find your gasket kit and what is your filter cart setup?

The gasket set came from www.finditparts.com as they were OEM Midland parts, and the filter cart I have is a "Schroeder Brothers" in it's beginning(s). I've modified this a bit to filter other fluids with a filter change.

 

[davejo]

The gasket set came from www.finditparts.com as they were OEM Midland parts, and the filter cart I have is a "Schroeder Brothers" in it's beginning(s). I've modified this a bit to filter other fluids with a filter change.

I got the kit from them and got air blowing out of my el740 haldex now, thanks! Mine isn't plumbed into the intake air filter system but has a small cavity for a "screen" filter. Do you happen to know what sort of filter is supposed to go in there? steel wool, brillo pad, scotchbrite sponge, oiled foam etc?