Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[frankmcalpine]

has anyone practical info on the portable carlift as advertised in the pract. class.eg have you bought one and what is it like? and if anyone in central Scotland has one I can view.

[ukdave2002]

Do you mean the small hydraulic ones that be opertated either by mains voltage or air? they raise the whole car by about 1M, if it is these I saw a review in PC, they are good as long as you don't need to work in the centre of the car, I suppose in this case you could use them to lift and then put some big stands in to support the car.

They are also quite heavy, not the sort to just sling in the boot and take round to a mates!

Dave

[frankmcalpine]

dave thanks for the reply
The one I saw was a single phase eletriclhydrauli one that is made in holland and the lifting height is 1.9 meters.
thanks frankmac

[ukdave2002]

1.9m is a fair old hight for a portable lift, you are almost into the 2 & 4 post garage lifts spec's, which you can get single phase in the UK for under £2K, ok if you have the hight!
Not seen the one you are after, but would be interested in it as well.

Dave

[Uncle Joe]

I'm not sure how the photo will show, but could this be the one that is mentioned? Retails here for the equivalent of £1279 excluding VAT.

[buzzy bee]

Hi

Is that single phase UJ?

If you have 3 phase, you can get a lift really cheap!

Also get a four poster, not two in my opinion.

Cheers

Dave

[Uncle Joe]

I would assume that it is single phase. To be absolutely certain, I would have to check with the company that sells them when they are open. Same people sell a two pillar for well under a grand as well...

To drift a little, the one thing that always amazes me is that EVERY private house here has both single and three phase electricity. So for us, it doesnt really matter. Why cant it be that way in the UK?

[ukdave2002]

Hi UJ, what does your average household use 3ph for in Sweden?

[Uncle Joe]

We use it mainly for electric cookers and central heating.

One of the reasons behind 3-phase is that a lot of houses, mine for example, are a long way from an electricity supply, and the way its done tends to be more reliable. Dont ask me why though, I havent a clue.

Does make life easy though when I'm looking to buy things such as welders, compressors...

[ukdave2002]

In the UK we often have 3ph in the "street", its common for every 3rd house to be supplied with 1 of the 3 phases, so if you get on with the two house's next door it possible to get yourself a 3ph supply quite simply! (don't try this at home )

Regarding the distance you will have 415 rather than 220 , less current so on a long run less voltage drop.

[Uncle Joe]

There could be another reason as well. The maximum we can take here from a 220V socket is 2.2kw. During winter, its easy for electric boilers to demand more than 4kw...

[woljags]

I'm looking at getting one of these 240 volt lifts myself,around £1600 + vat and delivery

[frankmcalpine]

[magic9r]

I have this Italian model, single phase, 2Hp hydrailic unit -



It only brings the sills to chest height (on me) but that's all I need and I don't have space for a fixed lift.
Because the top section is H shaped you could lift the car off an engine/box/suspension assembly, get at propshafts, exhausts and back axles etc.
It has the 4 arms which can swing out & have adjustable height rubber supports for body and suspension lift points.
Alternatively you can just line the main rails of the lift up with the car's main members, throw on some rubber mats and get to the full sills and outer floors.
Easy enough to move up the drive or round the yard, a pig to transport 300miles, don't ask me how I know
The power pack can aparrently be used for 2 or 3 lifts which got me thinking about building a hydraulic press maybe,
Nick