Hydraulic Jacks and Low Battery

[clarkchriston]

Thsi is a bit long winded but I wanted to give as much info as possible for those who can help or suggest alternatives.


2015 XLR 380 AMP

I've been having some issues with my Lippert 6 point hydraulic leveling system. It's been working great for the first 6-8 months with trips from Washington State to Arizona. We have some riverfront property that's gated with a shared use dump facility and well. We leave the 5'r parked when not in use, plugged in, with the jacks extended on a gravel pad. We are usually there every other weekend. A few weeks back I took it to dump and fill with water my auto level jacks would retract very slowly and I got a "low voltage" error. They retracted, but very slowly and did not make the same sound as the higher pitch hydraulic sound. I drove to the dump station and well to fill with water and noticed my generator would not start and none of the interior lights would work (I usually run the generator when filling with water to get time on the generator. I also unplug from the truck when running the generator). Yep...dead battery. Checked fluid (good) and tightened down the ground cable which was a little loose. Plugged back into truck and ran generator for about 30 minutes while dumping and filling with water, towed back to site, plugged into power and only put down front jacks (again went down very slowly and had a weird sound to them). Later in the evening tried the auto level and got same "low voltage" error. I then ran jumper cables from my truck (2 batteries) to the 5'r battery and still got the "low voltage" error and would not work. Lippert said that should have been enough juice to make the system work and said to take it in and have the dealer look for possible grounding issue. Got a call today from the dealer and they said it was due to the batter not being fully charged, and that I really should be using 2 batteries instead of 1. Is anyone else with a single battery having issues. I really like my dealer and have had good experience from sales to service but this sounds like more than a dead battery. Any help / suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[18CrewDually]

Being you leave it plugged in, the battery voltage should be maintained by the panel. I'd start there and make sure you have voltage coming out of the panel to the battery. It is possible too that the battery has an internal short and can't be fully charged. I'd also get the battery load tested.

[clarkchriston]

Ill check with the dealer to see if they can do that...thanks

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by clarkchriston

Ill check with the dealer to see if they can do that...thanks

You might not be able to do this now, but have you ever plugged in and tried it to see if it still say's low voltage? May be I missed that part. Even with two batteries I plug in before I use the system. Also you might have a corroded connection at the pump Or something loose at the battery where it supplies the pump.... Also check your ground. When it happens go into manual mode and check what the read out is in dcv there is a screen that you can get to and read by pushing the up button. It will show you what the voltage is.

[18CrewDually]

Originally Posted by gljurczyk

..............When it happens go into manual mode and check what the read out is in dcv there is a screen that you can get to and read by pushing the up button. It will show you what the voltage is.

This is very good info and I'd keep this in the back of my mind in case it happens again.

[clarkchriston]

gljurczyk


Yes I always have it plugged into power when operating.

[Witch Doctor]

I'm sure you guys probably have this but I'll attach it anyway. This will read your voltage and how to get there to the right screen. Also make sure you hit enter to clear the error code or it will come back.

[VinceU]

Originally Posted by clarkchriston

Thsi is a bit long winded but I wanted to give as much info as possible for those who can help or suggest alternatives.


2015 XLR 380 AMP

I've been having some issues with my Lippert 6 point hydraulic leveling system. It's been working great for the first 6-8 months with trips from Washington State to Arizona. We have some riverfront property that's gated with a shared use dump facility and well. We leave the 5'r parked when not in use, plugged in, with the jacks extended on a gravel pad. We are usually there every other weekend. A few weeks back I took it to dump and fill with water my auto level jacks would retract very slowly and I got a "low voltage" error. They retracted, but very slowly and did not make the same sound as the higher pitch hydraulic sound. I drove to the dump station and well to fill with water and noticed my generator would not start and none of the interior lights would work (I usually run the generator when filling with water to get time on the generator. I also unplug from the truck when running the generator). Yep...dead battery. Checked fluid (good) and tightened down the ground cable which was a little loose. Plugged back into truck and ran generator for about 30 minutes while dumping and filling with water, towed back to site, plugged into power and only put down front jacks (again went down very slowly and had a weird sound to them). Later in the evening tried the auto level and got same "low voltage" error. I then ran jumper cables from my truck (2 batteries) to the 5'r battery and still got the "low voltage" error and would not work. Lippert said that should have been enough juice to make the system work and said to take it in and have the dealer look for possible grounding issue. Got a call today from the dealer and they said it was due to the batter not being fully charged, and that I really should be using 2 batteries instead of 1. Is anyone else with a single battery having issues. I really like my dealer and have had good experience from sales to service but this sounds like more than a dead battery. Any help / suggestions would be greatly appreciated

It would seem if you had 3 batteries in parallel to the level system (the coach) your voltage drop is caused by a very poor connection. Start at the battery and remove and clean terminals and cables. Proceed to the inline resetable fuse and then the pump solenoid (this could be bad also). Finally the pump connection and ground connection frame and pump skid. It will only take 30 minutes if you can find all points easily.
Next you may also have a bad battery beyond repair. If the dealer found it low after all your charging, it's probably shot.

Most importantly you should never operate the hyd pump with low voltage! Many have burned the motor or ruined the main seal from excess heat. Replacement cost last time I checked- $1300+ installation. The alarm is not info but a warning.

[clarkchriston]

Thanks everyone for your responses. Here is what I heard from Lipepert and Forest River.
Load test the battery to make sure its not bad.
Check the battery voltage to make sure it is at least 12.5 volts.
Check to see if there is a charge coming from the converter that is charging the battery.
Check battery connections and grounds.


I asked Lippert about an in-line fuse / breaker that some of the original leveling systems had. He said the newer ones do not have re-setable fuse/breakers, and any error codes will automatically reset with the press of the enter button or after 20 seconds if you do not touch anything. He also stated that there really should be 2 batteries for optimal use of the system. "They take a lot of power to run. The Hydraulic Pump Motor is rated at 100 AMPS."
I'll update the thread when I hear about a resolution.

[Harkerr]

Sounds like a converter charging problem. Plugged in to shore power the battery voltage should be about 13.6 volts.

[Alsh]

Check your master 12 volt switch. Mine got bumped and was "sorta on" and had the same problem. Turned it fully on and all was well.

[silverback 35ts]

Originally Posted by clarkchriston

Thsi is a bit long winded but I wanted to give as much info as possible for those who can help or suggest alternatives.


2015 XLR 380 AMP

I've been having some issues with my Lippert 6 point hydraulic leveling system. It's been working great for the first 6-8 months with trips from Washington State to Arizona. We have some riverfront property that's gated with a shared use dump facility and well. We leave the 5'r parked when not in use, plugged in, with the jacks extended on a gravel pad. We are usually there every other weekend. A few weeks back I took it to dump and fill with water my auto level jacks would retract very slowly and I got a "low voltage" error. They retracted, but very slowly and did not make the same sound as the higher pitch hydraulic sound. I drove to the dump station and well to fill with water and noticed my generator would not start and none of the interior lights would work (I usually run the generator when filling with water to get time on the generator. I also unplug from the truck when running the generator). Yep...dead battery. Checked fluid (good) and tightened down the ground cable which was a little loose. Plugged back into truck and ran generator for about 30 minutes while dumping and filling with water, towed back to site, plugged into power and only put down front jacks (again went down very slowly and had a weird sound to them). Later in the evening tried the auto level and got same "low voltage" error. I then ran jumper cables from my truck (2 batteries) to the 5'r battery and still got the "low voltage" error and would not work. Lippert said that should have been enough juice to make the system work and said to take it in and have the dealer look for possible grounding issue. Got a call today from the dealer and they said it was due to the batter not being fully charged, and that I really should be using 2 batteries instead of 1. Is anyone else with a single battery having issues. I really like my dealer and have had good experience from sales to service but this sounds like more than a dead battery. Any help / suggestions would be greatly appreciated

It sounds like your battery has gone bad, since you use it twice per month you should have noticed some other issue before this, so i would also have your converter checked as it sounds like it over cooked the battery (since a jump from your truck did not help) and since it is a 2015 model it should have a 3 or 4 stage charger built in. So when you take it to the dealer they also need to verify the charger is working properly. As for needing 2 battery's yes it is always better, but no it is not needed to my knowledge to run the lippert system, as most systems like this are made to run on a single battery for a short amount of time. Now if you use the 6 point system a lot, then yes it might be in your best interest to upgrade to save you troubles in future like this.

[clarkchriston]

Alsh, My rig is in the shop now. I will have them check the 12V switch.


silverback 35ts - I thought I would have noticed the battery going bad too, but I am always plugged into power so the first time I noticed it was dead was when I unhooked it. I was told its possible to be plugged in with a dead battery and still have everything working because the converter is converting the power to 12V. I think I may have a lack of charging to the battery from the converter, or a bad battery. One last thing is I was told having the trailer plugged in all the time was actually good for the batteries because if working properly it would be trickle charging the batter prolonging the life. Just make sure I was checking fluid levels. I have had and ran multiple trailers this way for many years and never had a problem with being plugged in to power ruining a battery.

[TexasFamily]

Late to the party and I need to make a full trailer write-up within the next few days.

But, I may be able to help you.

Our new unit has 2 batt disconnects. The driver side batt box ground wire was reversed with the second batt disc switch. The black wire leading to nowhere was bolted to the trailer. But, the primary trailer ground from underbelly was taped up and zip tied with the other loose conx.

In other words, everything downstream of the bat disc switch 2 (inverter for fridge, battery charger, etc) was not powered by the vehicle or ship battery. Only time (residential all electric fridge) worked was on shore power.

Solution: Opened driver battery door and bolted both ground wires to the frame. Like magic, everything came to life.

[clarkchriston]

Thanks Texas Family. I'm waiting on a return call back from the dealer now. I'll have them check the disconnect switch to make sure it's properly installed and grounded.

[Deniso]

I have a 2015 Forest River 415 amp and have a similar problem. With the front jacks down and the other 4 up I hit auto level. The front retract and the system makes some noise and system states low voltage error. Took batteries to a battery place, they said the voltage and amps were good. Called Lippert they suggested Check voltage at solenoid and controller, reads 12.7. I’m stumped. Only thing I can think of is load test the battery place did wasn’t long enough. The leveling system has a pretty long draw when leveling jacks.

[LegacyFB38]

Originally Posted by Deniso

I have a 2015 Forest River 415 amp and have a similar problem. With the front jacks down and the other 4 up I hit auto level. The front retract and the system makes some noise and system states low voltage error. Took batteries to a battery place, they said the voltage and amps were good. Called Lippert they suggested Check voltage at solenoid and controller, reads 12.7. I’m stumped. Only thing I can think of is load test the battery place did wasn’t long enough. The leveling system has a pretty long draw when leveling jacks.

Were the voltage readings taken while the system was operating? If not, try that while measuring the voltage the several places such as at the controller , pump solenoid....looking for an abnormally high voltage drop when under load.

[formerFR]

try doing it without using AutoLevel, but in Manual mode instead - this bypasses the automated 'stop' for the system when it sees less than 'xyz' voltage from the batteries, as autolevel won't work under that number.