Harbor Freight Engine Hoist

I have a 1 Ton Harbor Freight Engine Hoist that I don’t use a lot. However pulled it out to use and found the boom slowly lowers even without any load. It is not leaking externally so assume it may be a internal “O” Ring. Anyone have this problem and if so how did you fix it. Thanks

I have the 2 ton one. I quickly replaced the stock cylinder with the "air over hydraulic" version, so now my air compressor does the work. The original cyl had a bad leak, it would pee all over the place. The air op one has been perfect. 

I have the one ton. Its been abused and neglected. Surprisingly, mine does not have this problem, although I've seen others of various quality levels with it. 

I haven't sprung for the air over cylinder like TJL, but a friend did, and it is the way to go.

TJL (Forum Supporter) said:

I have the 2 ton one. I quickly replaced the stock cylinder with the "air over hydraulic" version, so now my air compressor does the work. The original cyl had a bad leak, it would pee all over the place. The air op one has been perfect. 

This is the correct answer. 

I’ve just fixed the issue by picking up a replacement HF hydraulic cylinder.  I figure as long as they fail slowly, I’ll be safe using them and replacing them as needed.

I have had the 2 ton for about 20 years (most of which it has sat in the corner growing cobwebs & dust) & used it for the first time in probably 10 years on Saturday with no issues.  Apparently the older ones have better seals?

We had an o ring fail on ours about a year ago.  Replaced that and it was good for a while until it did the leak down under load thing.  Last week we replaced the cylinder with a new one for like $60.

I've had the 2-ton for about 6-7 years now. Used it a couple dozen times, and it lives outside under a tarp. Never had any issues with it leaking or losing pressure. YMMV.

It could always be worse - not mine, and this probably didn't end well.