him five years ago when he first considered his purchase. He said having cables lying on the ground “was my biggest concern that it would be a trip hazard.” But the mobile lift provider came up with a solution. “We created a trolley system, where the cables are hanging
from the ceiling,” said Bryan Montgomery, president of All Au- tomotive Equipment, a distributor of Mohawk cable-connected mobile column lifts. Te trolley system was designed to work with either set of lifts in two of the three bays in Wolk’s garage. Tis system has “worked flawlessly” for Wolk. Because they are
hanging, the cables aren’t damaged and don’t pose a safety haz- ard. “I haven’t had any problems with the cables, they just slide on the track,” he said. Te lifts are Wolk’s go-to for everything from run-of-the mill
oil and filter changes to major jobs. He typically uses them in the two bays, but can move them to a third or outside to wash down vehicles. He purchased an extra longer power cable that allows him to move the lifts beyond the two-bay area. Mobile column lifts were a major factor in designing the
Springville (N.Y.) Griffith School District’s new garage building, said Transportation Director Jay Peplin. “Te old building was fine to fit a 1960s bus, but the newer buses outgrew the facility. Te issue of height and length of the work bays posed challenges for mechanics to service comfortably,” he said. Peplin said the purpose of the new design was to keep wires off the
ground, which is why he chose two sets of wireless mobile lift systems. Te new six-bay bus garage, in use since February 2011, better accom- modates today’s school buses and all of the service equipment. “Tere’s nothing on the ground. If the mobile column lifts fail,
we can just put them in a truck and ship them out for servicing,” he said, noting that this scenario has yet to occur. In addition to routine PM work, Peplin’s lifts also are used to
Mobile Column Lift Roundup:
ARI-HETRA 10AE HYBRID Tis 24-volt system hybrid
battery powered mobile lift uses batteries to raise a vehicle and uses the vehicle’s weight when the lift is lowering to recharge the batteries. Safety features include an emergen- cy stop button and electronic security devices to stop it in case of electrical failure or overload. A sleep mode and a low-energy functioning LED graphic panel are some of its energy-saving features.
For more information: 800-905-2240, ext. 36112 |
www.ari-hetra.com
For more information:
www.grayusa.com
www.stnonline.com 53 GRAY WPLS SERIES Te company’s new wireless mo-
bile column lift line includes three models and all feature a self-con- tained 12/24-volt battery power source, automatic down stops, an on-board charging system and an integral holding valve. Each lift in a set has a control console and is capable of operating the entire lift- ing system. A secure digital wireless system allows all lifts in a set to communicate with each other on a dedicated FCC-compliant wireless communication channel.
HOW WIRELESS MOBILE LIFT SYSTEMS WORK Te FCC is working to increase bandwidth spectrum to make
room for other types of mobile communication. Meanwhile, there could be concern as to how interference might affect wire- less mobile lift systems. A main concern is unreliable wireless technology and interference with other radio-control devices. A separate concern is the batteries used for the lifts not
holding charges long enough, among others. “Interconnecting cables not only deliver consistent power to
all columns, they also provide a secure means of communica- tion to ensure that the vehicle remains at the same level and that any interruption of the safety circuit will stop all columns,” said Allister Collings, president of Sefac. One standard utilized by wireless mobile lifts systems is
ZigBee, which offers a longer range than Bluetooth but lower power consumption than WiFi. Ten there’s Xbee, a wireless communication module built to the ZigBee standard. ZigBee is targeted at RF applications such as 2.4 GHz. Manufacturers offering wireless mobile column lifts are
licensed by the FCC to use a specific band of channels to minimize RF interference. Tey also receive third-party cer- tification by the Automotive Lift Institute to ensure there are no safety hazards. “Part of the certification process was testing the technol-
ogy’s ability to lift safely, no matter the RF interference,” said Todd Michalski of Gray Automotive, which uses Xbee. “Our lifts have been in market since 2003 and Gray has never had a single case of interference causing any lifting issues.” Addressing the battery issue, Stertil-Koni’s Peter Bowers
said the company’s batteries are able to recharge while in use. “Can the batteries go dead in the middle of a shift? Only if
the operator does not recharge the lifts,” he said. He recommended that users plug in the lifts once per week.
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