Need a quick-ish decision on a scissor lift/floor loading/repair

Found THIS scissor lift for $800.

Batteries toast.  The one I could reach tested 2.4v after being on the charger all night.  So I know it needs $800 worth of batteries or $500 worth of refurbishing batteries.... or $400 worth of two AGM deep cycle 12v car batteries that I hack install since I would only ever use it for a few hours at a time.

But the machine itself should be stoopid simple, right?  Wiring through all the safety stuff could be a headache, but isn't it going to be a pretty simple setup of switches, motors, pumps, and cylinders?  Should be a mostly straight forward thing to fix if anything is wrong?

I also have a question about floor loading.  I called the engineers who built the floor in my shop back in the late 90s, and he confirmed that my floor is rated for 125 psi.  How does that translate to PSF?  I'm sure it's not just 125 x 144sq in.  That would mean I could put 18,000 lbs psf.

Lift says it needs 186psi/213psf (which my floor doesn't appear to handle)  Might need a lighter lift?

They are probably easier than what they actually are with safety  Our JLG likes to fry the circuit board that works the hand controls on the platform that it the communication cable gets pinched and needs replacing. Overall in the 10 years we have had one I think it's only needed service 3-4 times. Quarterly inspections are "required." 
 

edit: I recommend talking to a service person at a place that sells the equipment. The salesmen will sell you the world on industrial equipment. 

Ok, thanks.  I did some more research on my floor, and it looks like this particular lift is a no-go.  Too heavy.  A more modern JLG or Genie 1930 weighs around 2500, while this one clocks in at a hefty 3750.

I'd still like to keep the conversation going so I can use my superpowers of repair to score a cheap lift.  If anyone has repair experience with them, I'd love to hear about it.

Hmmm, how far does it need to travel? Slap two car battery chargers on it and get an extension cord?

Good idea, but after researching the weight and psf requirements of this lift, the furthest it would travel is from the floor to the basement directly under it via a large, gravity-induced portal of death.

I really think that two H8 batteries would get me three or four hours of operation and that would be OK with me.  That is also a $300 option instead of $800.  Extension cord won't do it... if for no other reason, we're talking hundreds of amps plus the problem of running over cords, pulling them out leaving me stranded 18' in the air.  I could see that being possible if I converted to 120v to cut down on the amperage, but still.... stranded.

Curtis said:

Good idea, but after researching the weight and psf requirements of this lift, the furthest it would travel is from the floor to the basement directly under it via a large, gravity-induced portal of death.

I really think that two H8 batteries would get me three or four hours of operation and that would be OK with me.  That is also a $300 option instead of $800.  Extension cord won't do it... if for no other reason, we're talking hundreds of amps plus the problem of running over cords, pulling them out leaving me stranded 18' in the air.  I could see that being possible if I converted to 120v to cut down on the amperage, but still.... stranded.

Don't forget practical joker co-workers:

In reply to slefain :

There is usually a kill switch on the base for stuff like that. 

That seller really comes off like a shiny happy person.   If you can't/won't help extract it from your garage.  And don't know anything about it.   You'd GD well better be negotiable on you price.

Those things are heavy.

I am assuming you are saying you have a wood floor rated for 125 lb/sf.  A 2000 lb lift is not distributed evenly over the square footage.  It is 4 separate point loads of 500 lbs each bearing on approximately 1 square foot.

Those things don't work on most wood floors.

SVreX said:

Those things are heavy.

I am assuming you are saying you have a wood floor rated for 125 lb/sf.  A 2000 lb lift is not distributed evenly over the square footage.  It is 4 separate point loads of 500 lbs each bearing on approximately 1 square foot.

Those things don't work on most wood floors.

125 lbs/square foot sounds awfully low -- the area of my shoes put together is maybe 2/3 of a square foot, and I weigh a lot more than the 80-ish pounds that would support.  OTOH, 125 psi is too low for a concrete floor, which I think are usually at least 10x that?

In reply to codrus :

That’s not quite right. 

125 lbs/ SF is a pretty strong floor. It’s about 4X the typical residential floor load capacity. 

But it’s not enough for a scissor lift. 

...and concrete floors start at about 2500 psi. Commercial floors could be anywhere from 3500 to 6000 psi

KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:

That seller really comes off like a shiny happy person.   If you can't/won't help extract it from your garage.  And don't know anything about it.   You'd GD well better be negotiable on you price.

Nah.  He was a nice guy, just clueless.  He was straight up honest about what he knew and didn't know.

SVreX said:

In reply to codrus :

That’s not quite right. 

125 lbs/ SF is a pretty strong floor. It’s about 4X the typical residential floor load capacity. 

But it’s not enough for a scissor lift. 

I don't know which one it is actually.  It's a 42" crawlspace with 2x4 studwalls every 12'.  I forget the floor joist spacing, but they're 1.5" engineered commercial beams.  I've had a borrowed 1930 in there before and noticed a little bit of flex as I drove across the floor... like maybe 1" of left-right in the basket when it was 15' up.  That particular lift required 109 pounds per something.... probably psi.  I didn't die.

do you really need a driving genie or just a pencil lift you can have pushed around? 

I can't help but think that there's got to be a better way for you to get high in your garage.

SVreX said:

125 lbs/ SF is a pretty strong floor. It’s about 4X the typical residential floor load capacity. 

Then how does a 220 pound guy stand on it without breaking through?

125 psi is 18,000 psf, but I would check the number they told you.

A mezzanine to hold people and store equipment is normally designed @ 125 psf live load. 125 psi is substantial and WAY more than I think you have.

In reply to codrus :

It's a floor load rating, not a point load rating.

It assumes a uniform average weight evenly distributed over the entire area and span of the floor joists. So, a 10' wide area of flooring on joists that span 10' could support a total weight of 12,500 lbs distributed evenly, but not as a point load.  It assumes a certain percentage of empty space (like hallways, etc.

Here's an article that may help:

High density floor loads vs. design floor loads

A point load would have to concentrate the load and compare it to the rated span capacity of the DECKING (Plywood, etc), and look at the maximum deflection of the joists at the point they are trying to support the point load.