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Near disaster


johnlt

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Richr8 and I we finishing up doing some PM on his bike using my cycle lift and had a near disaster. When we finished, we lowered the lift and he balanced the bike while I released the front wheel clamp. I then moved to the other side to assist in holding the bike while we backed it off the lift. In moving to the other side, I must have touched the air valve without noticing it and while we backed the bike off, it started rising up again. The back wheel came off then the front came off from about 18” and fortunately, Rich was able to hold it up and it didn’t go over. It could have very easily torn up the bike and hurt Rich but as it turned out, no damage to either. Note to self: always disconnect the air supply after lowering or raising the bike. Some lifts have a safety shield over the valve where you have to insert your foot which makes it much less likely to get hit by mistake. Mine does not! DISCONNECT THE AIR SUPPLY STUPID! Wow, were we lucky.

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David, your control switch is definitely a much better and safer design. I may fabricate something similar but still remove the air supply after raising or lowering the lift.

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Yeah, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to remove the air supply. If I inadvertently lower the lift onto something, like a limb or pet or whatever, I'll want to be able to raise it really quickly.

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Lineareagle

Fortunate indeed!

I am surprised the valve would continue to inflate, I would have thought it would be a step and hold system.

The other issue would also be the speed of the lift which can be regulated with a simple flow restriction, I personally do not use the air part of the lift preferring to pump it up hydraulically, for more control.

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FlyingFinn

John, sounds like you guys had scary moment.

 

Is it possible the lift started to rise under a residual pneumatic pressure still left in the work cylinder after most of weight of the bike was removed from the lift?

 

If I understood correctly, you already had the back wheel off the lift when it started to rise. If the air pressure was not all the down to zero, there would be a point where the load is light enough for the lift to rise again.

 

See you in Torrey.

 

--

Mikko

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