Forum Discussion

Dave_Pete's avatar
Dave_Pete
Explorer II
Sep 01, 2017

One Control Box for Hydraulic Jacks?

For those of us who may want to re-use perfectly good condition hydraulic jacks, with the ease of an electric jack style system - has anybody ever thought about, or built and used, a system that plumbs the four corner jacks to a central control with an ability to open/close hydraulic valves from one control box?

Perhaps with a power drill style valve that pumps up all/individual jacks based on need in the moment of lifting and lowering?

I'm not a hydraulic specialist, but it seems to me, that would be a cool system, designed or built by somebody who "gets hydraulic plumbing and valving".
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  • Dave_Pete's avatar
    Dave_Pete
    Explorer II
    Sep 04, 2017
    burningman wrote:
    I've had this same thought before.
    Anything can be done but by the time you engineered it and plumbed lines to all four corners I'm pretty sure you could have just picked up a decent set of electric jacks.
    I've got a friend who tried hard to get a hot tub to raise up through the roof of his bus and back down on four hydraulic cylinders and could never get it to work evenly enough to prevent binding up.


    Now that's just about the best answer I've ever heard!
  • burningman's avatar
    burningman
    Explorer II
    Sep 04, 2017
    I've had this same thought before.
    Anything can be done but by the time you engineered it and plumbed lines to all four corners I'm pretty sure you could have just picked up a decent set of electric jacks.
    I've got a friend who tried hard to get a hot tub to raise up through the roof of his bus and back down on four hydraulic cylinders and could never get it to work evenly enough to prevent binding up.
  • mkirsch's avatar
    mkirsch
    Nomad II
    Sep 01, 2017
    My understanding is that the hydraulic camper jacks are similar in design to hydraulic bottle. If this is the case you can't just connect a hose from a central valve/pump and jack them all up at once anyway.
  • Kayteg1's avatar
    Kayteg1
    Explorer II
    Sep 01, 2017
    Bare in mind there is big difference in load between front and rear, when possible side to side as well.
    Meaning each jack will need different pressure and hooking them up to the same pressure will end in disaster.
  • 1995brave's avatar
    1995brave
    Nomad
    Sep 01, 2017
    Early HWH jacks used a joystick. Can't remember the model number, but my 95 Winnebago Brave had one.

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