I’ve got the 12 ton dab press with 4 x 7 plates.
Cylinder has been leaking so I pulled it out, contacted dab press and they were no help.
Not much of a mechanic myself but I’d go with new myself unless they are expensive.
Can you show a picture of the bottom of it? I’m not familiar with that cylinder, it’s not like a conventional porta power or bottle jack. It looks like the black ring is a gland nut. You could use a small punch and hammer to tap against the holes to it open, nail with a flattened tip or find a properly sized gland nut wrench (buy a cheap one, you’ll never need it again if you don’t already have one. a punch and hammer will work fine).
The gland nut itself may be a bit loose. A few taps in the clockwise direction (assuming it’s right hand thread) and if it moves without much effort, that could be the cause of the leak. There may/should be an o-ring around the outside top lip of the nut. You’ll need a way to secure it, vice would be nice. Friend with strong hands might work. If it was loose and you were able to tighten it, it’s worth a try to hook it back up and see if that fixed it.
If it’s leaking around the shaft, it’s probably the seal though. It’s probably a standard sized seal you can get a replacement for at your local/favorite auto parts store, if you find the right part number. Take the whole thing in with you and you might find a one that’ll be happy to help you or at least get you on track. Or measure it yourself (be precise, use a caliper, get metric and sae dimensions. You’ll need ID, OD and thickness). There are replacement kits available for various tonnage jacks and you might get lucky and it be the same/similar enough to a 12 ton rebuild kit.
Thinking about it, whether that gland nut itself is the seal or it’s sitting on top of a seal, I really don’t know. Could be either. Does the manufacturer offer replacement parts?
There answer was essentially “nope sorry” ,not too impressed with dab press customer service.
@Hidden thank you so much for taking the time for such a complete answer. I’ll update when I’ve had a chance to try your tips.
This is all excellent advice. I would add that if you can’t find the seal you need at a good parts store, try McMaster. You’ll need dimensions, but they have tons of stuff like that.
Can’t say I blame you there.
Realistically, if you find yourself getting more than 20-30 bucks into this and it’s attached to a manual pump, I would just replace it with a cheap low profile bottle jack. I imagine this unit comes in a generic ~$150 porta power kit if you want to try and replace it. Branded ones are quite pricey.
If your in a city there are usually shops that specialize in repairing hydraulics. I used to take floor jacks and shop presses to a place in Oklahoma City when I was living there. They were reasonably priced and great at finding replacement parts for anything I brought them.
Looks like you’ve got it handled though, hopefully you’re back pressing soon!
Sweet. Setup is a bit different than what I was imagining. I think the white rings are referred to as “packing.” In the old days they were made of leather or fabric that was packed to the tightness of a frog’s rectum. Look to see their splits aren’t aligned, ideally they’ll opposite sides of each other to prevent a direct path for blow by. **Looking back at the gland nut, they could just be wear/guide rings and the O rings are the only sealing material.
@pharmerfil’s suggestion of taking it by a hydraulics shop is good. Good chance they have what you need on hand and you don’t have to play the friendly parts guy lotto. Plus finding those rings are going to be exponentially harder to find than the more traditional looking wiper type seal I had originally envisioned, for the average parts guy.**
Inspect the rod for burrs. I noticed all the divots in it and have to say the finish on that is quite poor. It should be polished chrome like a mirror. There’s a chance the seals are fine and the oil is slipping by defects in the finish of the rod, just to reiterate not to get to financially invested in it.
I think you are totally correct, the o rings look in really good shape and I’ve just now noticed how imperfect the surface of that cylinder is. New O rings will be cheap and will tell the story I guess.
I Mc Master doesn’t have them, Here’s another place for o rings.
You got an account with McMaster Carr?
I didn’t think they talked to any entity that doesn’t have a Dunn & Bradstreet rating!.. (or is it just me?.. 
)
Cheers
G
They’ve sold to me, and I’m on SS, lol!
I’m impressed! Maybe it’s because I’m in Canada.
I dealt with them for decades before I retired; they have the best run website I’ve seen.
They are a private corporation so they have some ‘latitude’.
Cheers
G
