Fixing a Down-A-Vator

Unsticking and, general fixing of a not-working Rokenbok Down-a-vator.

I recently purchased a lot of Rokenbok which came with a Down-a-vator, the problem was the piston was very sticky.

First guess was the rubber seal had broken down over time. I added a few drops of olive oil which helped but it still didn’t work properly. Here is a quick video clip.

I took the piston out of the down-a-vator and, using a razor knife I slowly worked around the top seam of the piston. Be sure to push the piston shaft all the way in to prevent any possible damage to the seal on the inside.

After a bit of playing I learned that the direction of the rubber seal matters. Somehow the seal had gotten flipped around by the previous owner, possibly by moving the down-a-vator platform around with too much force.

The following image shows the proper seal orientation. The image makes it look tighter than it actually was.

Once the seal had been flipped around and re-installed in the piston casing the down-a-vator works like new! A quick video clip showing the repaired down-a-vator.

Hopefully that helps other fix their vintage Rokenbok Down-A-Vators.

Additional photos

Written by: Techplex (Blake)