Car lift

Thanks guys, what would be possible causes for the lift not going down when the release handle is depressed? Is there something somewhere in the hydraulic system that can be by-passed to make the cylinders piston retract?

I would have though that when I was disassembling it once that I removed the hydraulic hose that the release of pressure would have automatically caused the piston to collapse?

There is a possibility that because the wire was snapped for the safety release that the lift was being caught up within that system but I am not sure at this point.