Here we encourage your community contribution by submitting your own hydraulic elevator technical tips. Ever get stuck in a difficult situation? Want to share some of your expertise? Go ahead and submit your tip with the form below and we will add them to our wiki!

A common mistake mechanics make when adjusting Maxton valves is to loosen the Hex “seal nuts” on the control plate (UC4/4M) or control block (UC1/1A/UC2/2A) adjusters. These nuts are often misconstrued as being “lock nuts”, which is not the case. The only time the Hex “seal nuts” should be adjusted is to maintain a proper friction seal for the adjuster.  When the Hex “seal nut” is loosened or tightened, that action relates to several turns on the adjuster. Therefore, you must compensate with opposing turns on the adjuster to regain optimal ride and performance from the valve. So the rule is…don’t adjust the Hex “seal nuts” unless absolutely necessary. Billy Shrum Technical Manager

A common misconception of a down leak comes from…you guessed it, oil shrinkage. For every 50°F (10°C) of cooling will result in an approximate 2% shrinkage of oil per volume. Therefore, a 6 inch piston would equal ¼ inch of oil shrinkage per foot of travel. So in 50 feet of travel the car would drop 1 foot during this drop in temperature. Next time you have a customer complaining about the elevator re-leveling during the night this example might be the culprit not a down leak. Billy Shrum Technical Manager

Absolutely! Wait how will I see the car move or not? No worries. All you need is a pressure gauge, optimally two gauges. Connect gauges to A and B ports. When the pump pressure (A port) is 25 psi less than the system (static) pressure (B port) you have set the BPS. You’re the one man show. Billy Shrum Technical Manager

Here is a rule of thumb to measure slower speeds: Use your handy tape measure to determine how many inches the car travels in 5 seconds. For example 10 inches in 5 seconds equates to 10 ft/min of car speed. This will get you close however we recommend you use a tachometer for accuracy…preferably a SafeTach. Billy Shrum Technical Manager