50 ton harbor freight

[mirage100]

I bought this new 10 years ago. The ram is very slow to return and about half the time it will not return all the way. just wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions on how to fix this. it has got very annoying . I have oiled the out side of the ram with oil. Still won't return all the way.. Thanks for any help.

 

[dlane]

I’ll guess a press, got oil in it, seal leaking ,

 

[john.k]

Traditional method is to apply extra return springs .....its possible your piston packings have swelled ,or its also possible there is rust in the cylinder,especially if only ocassional use......A 50 ton is unlikely to be overloaded like the smaller ones ,where seal extrusion rears its ugly head.

 

[SLK001]

50 ton? When did HF sell a 50 ton press? Show us a picture.

 

[mirage100]

Yes has oil .No leaks. Yes this is a press. If you really want a picture of my press let me know. I got some cool stickers on it. I hope this picture will do.

 

[SLK001]

Okay, I stand corrected! I don't ever remember seeing a HF 50 ton job in their catalog. And I even recently purchased one of their 20 ton units!

 

[mirage100]

Is there any way to turn a single action press into a duel action press?.Sure would make it easier to use.

 

[Winegrower]

Ouch. That seems like a terrific premium to pay for a 2.5X rating.

 

[Joe in Oz]

I haven't done it, but the hydraulic cylinder I got recently to build my 50ton press has a hydraulic return/retraction.
It is effectively a small separate hydraulic circuit with its own hand pump. The outside space between ram and cylinder is quite narrow on mine - maybe 1/4" or less, so it can;t contain much oil at all. They put a small hose fitting just at the end of the stroke and connected that to a 1" cylinder with a lever. Returning the ram only takes 1 stroke of this lever. There is no reservoir as such, I just filled the cylinder with ram fully retracted and the small cylinder fully pushed in (retracted) and connected the hose to it. There will be a few bubbles in the oil now, but that doesn't matter really. Seems to work well.