While performing this test did you notice some of the timing of the details you mentioned.
"The car moved a little" and you mentioned the "motor sounded like it was having a really hard time". Did the car stop moving and then the "hard time" noise start then, or did the motor have the "hard time sound from the beginning?
From the very beginning I noticed it was having a hard time, sounded bogged down. One or two seconds later, fuse blown. I replaced the fuse, drove car off lift, and then started it again. I was able to make the lift move without a problem.
Check the service factor rating on the nameplate. If it is 1.15 or greater and/or the temp rise is 40 degrees C or less, then the overcurrent protection device may be 140% of FLA. All other motors would be 130% FLA. (NEC 2011 430.32 (C). So your fuses could be 21 amps, which are not made, so one is allowed to go to the next size up, which is 25 amps. Get a dual element time delay fuse to help with the inrush. Of course the same math applies to a circuit breaker.
The sad part is that there wasn't even a nameplate... just a sticker with spelling mistakes. Perhaps if I disassemble the enclosure ill see if there is one on the motor.
I took some voltage readings of the extension cord which I am using, there is hardly any voltage drop. I am going to try and see if I can take some current readings today once I pickup my current transformer. That motor should be only pulling around 10-15A at full load (according to some CSA tables). So if I take measurements of current, and it's close to that with hardly anything on the lift, then its definitely a mechanical problem, this may already be certain.
The lift is brand new, I just finished installing it. The instruction manual specifies R&O 32 Hydraulic oil, I put AW32 in because I could not find R&O specifically anywhere, (shouldn't make a difference). I greased pretty much everything. I greased the pulleys, the cables, and even the posts/guides aswell.
I am going to check the entire system for the above mentioned. If I can't solve/find a machanical problem I am going to take apart the motor and see what type of shaft it uses and find a stronger one of same frame.
The one leg of 220V wasn't my idea, I got it from talking to the obviously wrong person.
Thanks for the help.