Hydraulic leveling jacks

[edgewant]

Primarily when there is movement inside the coach. I have however also heard it when opening the personnel door on the garage I store it in or have even leaned against it and have heard it.

[boowho]

Today I was using the EQ Sys PUBLISHED procedure to bleed air from the hydraulic system. After three complete cycles the pump no longer runs when pressing the buttons.

I've tested the voltage downstream from the solenoid and have a good solid 13.5 volts going directly to the motor itself when a button is pressed.

I believe someone else here burned up the pump motor doing this, even though EQ Sys says it's perfectly OK to do it, IF you wait about 20 minutes between each cycle (which I did).

I'm now afraid I may have cooked my pump motor as well. Anyone know of an after market source for JUST the motor. I hear EQ Sys gets around $700 for theirs.

Boowho??

[lbrunning]

Yes there are aftermarket motors and at $700 you are getting taken by at least $300 you do not have to replace the pump and motor you can replace just the motor. there are just a handfull of manufacturers that make the dc power units so look and see if you can get any name and numbers off of the power unit. I will pm you a name and number of a place in Illinois that specializes in replacement motors not sure if they sell direct to the public or not but it is worth a try.

[tmmar]

boo,
I believe that it was Superchief that burned out his pump. Do a search and I sure you will find it.
Tom

[boowho]

Originally Posted by lbrunning

Yes there are aftermarket motors and at $700 you are getting taken by at least $300 you do not have to replace the pump and motor you can replace just the motor. there are just a handfull of manufacturers that make the dc power units so look and see if you can get any name and numbers off of the power unit. I will pm you a name and number of a place in Illinois that specializes in replacement motors not sure if they sell direct to the public or not but it is worth a try.

Thanks guys..... I'll report back what I find. If I AM indeed the second user to burn up a motor using a procedure provided by Eq Sys, then that's a pretty bad situation.

Now I just gotta find the manufacturer info on the motor itself.

And I think it WAS Superchief who mentioned the $700 figure. Obviously, I agree that amount would be a real rip-off. IMHO, $100-200 would be more realistic.

Boowho??

[Flybob]

Check the pump specs to see if it has over temp protection that you may have triggered.

[boowho]

Originally Posted by Flybob

Check the pump specs to see if it has over temp protection that you may have triggered.

Good thought, but it's now been several hours since it quit working so It should have auto-reset, I'd think.

Still, I'll check it. Thanks

Boowho??

[dan-nickie]

I had the popping since new. Usually woke me up during the night.
I added a quart of fluid, ran the jacks up and down, and the slides in an out a couple times. Was early in a 3 month trip during August.
It may still do it occasionally, but I hardly ever notice it since then.

[edgewant]

Dan: Did you add the Cat additive?

[dan-nickie]

Originally Posted by edgewant

Dan: Did you add the Cat additive?

Nothing special, just the specified fluid.
With all the jacks up and slides in, I was able to add one quart to bring it up to the upper full line.

I think it was a little low initially, but not under the 'minimum' line.

THere are 2 molded lines on my tank. I assume the lower one is the minimum. It was just above that line when I started.
I filled it up to the upper line with all the jacks up and slides in.

[edgewant]

Dan. Just curious. I had brought mine to the proper level several months ago and that really did not help my situation. Thanks.

[boowho]

Originally Posted by boowho

Thanks guys..... I'll report back what I find. If I AM indeed the second user to burn up a motor using a procedure provided by Eq Sys, then that's a pretty bad situation.

Now I just gotta find the manufacturer info on the motor itself.

And I think it WAS Superchief who mentioned the $700 figure. Obviously, I agree that amount would be a real rip-off. IMHO, $100-200 would be more realistic.

Boowho??

UPDATE:

Found a number on the motor, but apparently it is a pump manufacturer (MTE Hydraulics) and NOT the manufacturer of the motor itself. Contacted MTE, but they say no parts available. Do not know who manufactured the motor itself.

Anyhow, I disassembled the motor and found that the problem is that one of the brushes got so hot it bonded to the brush holder (some sort of plastic-like material); all I really need is the brush holder and 4 brushes; then I can just repair the motor and save lotsa $$$.

May have found a source of the brushes and holder on EBay; waiting for answer from seller.

Bottom line is do NOT use the EQ Sys published procedure to bleed air from the system. TWO of us now, have ruined the motor by doing it.

Boowho??

[edgewant]

Update:

Went to Gulf Shores over the holidays. Still having some popping but there is a noticeable reduction in the amount. Seems now that after being leveled for a few hours the popping quits. Not declaring victory yet but it sure is alot more tolerable.

[CharlieandDonna]

Can anybody here help? We stopped in Ohio on way to fl due to all the bad weather... We put the jacks down and now when getting ready to head out in the morning ... We started raising the front jacks, the left side came all the way up and the right side only came up 1/4 of way...then the control panel went completely off. We cannot figure out how to turn it back on, everything is dead at the control panel. Ugg!!

[lgray]

Originally Posted by CharlieandDonna

Can anybody here help? We stopped in Ohio on way to fl due to all the bad weather... We put the jacks down and now when getting ready to head out in the morning ... We started raising the front jacks, the left side came all the way up and the right side only came up 1/4 of way...then the control panel went completely off. We cannot figure out how to turn it back on, everything is dead at the control panel. Ugg!!

I am no expert, but had a few issues with mine. It almost sounds like perhaps two issues. Have you checked all breakers and electrical?

Is the system Lippert, if so, their tech support might be avaiable for calls after normal business hours.

[CharlieandDonna]

Yes we have checked breakers and electrical....unless there is another set we don't know where it's at.... Would you know where the reset is for the electronic controller for the jacks . Ours is mounted on the outside of rig on drivers side. My husband says it's and LCI ELECTRONIC LEVELING ??

[lgray]

Sent you a private message

[lgray]

Originally Posted by CharlieandDonna

Yes we have checked breakers and electrical....unless there is another set we don't know where it's at.... Would you know where the reset is for the electronic controller for the jacks . Ours is mounted on the outside of rig on drivers side. My husband says it's and LCI ELECTRONIC LEVELING ??

Here is a post that might help rule out electrical...


At one time Lippert had a LIP Sheet 0058 which described upgrading the mini-circuit breaker from 50 amp to 80 amp. However, that Lip Sheet no longer shows up on the Lippert website, so perhaps they've reconsidered that approach.

If your 50 amp breaker trips and resets repeatedly, it could be caused by several things




A weak mini-circuit breaker.
Low voltage at the battery/buss bar, including loose or corroded battery terminal connections. But you seem to have ruled this out.
Loose wires/poor electrical connections at the hydraulic pump.
Loose 12V ground from the battery negative terminal to the frame.
A bind in one of the slides (if the problem occurs with only one slide, this might be more likely).
Cold weather which affects the viscosity of the hydraulic fluid putting a greater load on the pump. Normally this shouldn't be a problem, but in combination with a marginal condition somewhere else, it could be.

[edgewant]

Not familiar with Lippert. On my Berkshire the two front slides are hydraulic as well as the jacks. If you have hydraulic slides and they are working then the issue is probably a fuse or fusible link for the leveling system control pad. If the you have hydraulic slides and they don't work then it could be a fuse for the hydraulic pump.