Rotary Lift introduces LockLight, a lift accessory that shows technicians, shop managers and health/safety inspectors at a glance if a vehicle lift is resting on its locks.
Every time a technician raises a vehicle for service on a lift, standard industry safety practices require that the lift be “lowered to locks” before starting work. To do this, the vehicle is raised to slightly above working height, and then lowered a bit until the lift locks engage. This process relieves the lift’s hydraulic pressure and places the load of the vehicle securely on mechanical safety latches. Doing so reduces the chance of the vehicle freefalling if the lift system fails.
Prior to the introduction of LockLight, the only way to tell if a lift was on its locks was to press the “down” button — if the lift moved, its locks were not engaged.
“Anytime a vehicle is in the air, the lift should be on its locks,” says Ron Lainhart, parts and service manager for Rotary Lift. “This practice is outlined in the Automotive Lift Institute (ALI) Lifting It Right vehicle lift safety manual and training course. Recently, occupational safety and health inspectors have been citing dealerships for each lift they find that is not on its locks with a vehicle in the air. LockLight is the only product on the market that gives a visual indicator of whether or not a lift is resting on its load-holding device. With LockLight, shop managers can tell at a glance whether or not all the lifts in use at any given time are on their locks as they should be, making it a pretty effective insurance policy against citations, employee injury and property damage caused by improper lift use.”
The LockLight device is approximately 4" square with a large light in the center. It is mounted to the lift or the control console (for light-duty inground lifts) and connected to the lift’s hydraulic system. When LockLight detects that the lift’s hydraulic pressure has been relieved, the light in the center turns green, indicating that the lift is on its locks and work can begin.
LockLight (No. FA834 for 110V and No. FA835 for 220V) can be installed on any Rotary Lift two-post or four-post surface lift, or SmartLift inground lift. It is also compatible with other brands of hydraulic lifts.
For a live LockLight demonstration, stop by the Rotary Lift booth (#2519S) at the NADA Expo in the Moscone Center, San Francisco, Jan. 23 to 25. To learn more, contact your local Rotary Lift distributor, visit www.rotarylift.com or call 800-640-5438.
