Roof problems for a newb - Page 2

f5moab · 07-13-2016, 07:41 AM

Did the dealer install the winch or was it factory installed?

f5moab · 07-13-2016, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trevor43

The maker of the lift motor is Carefree of Colorado........the newer ones are beefier and more of a direct drive setup. Sure it's a 2014? Your drive now should have a sheet metal box around the worm drive to pack full of grease. This camper you have....were you there when the previous raised the roof before you looked at it? Last thing, box below will hold about one full tube of grease......it will begin to come out of the end when full.

Yes...here's an illustration of how it should look....and where the grease should be packed

My opinion is go with a new motor or with a manual winch. I threw my power winch away last year and installed a manual and never been happier. It was constantly breaking or getting our of adjustment. New motors are supposed to be stronger and I believe don't require the yearly packing of grease.

michaelbenner · 07-13-2016, 10:39 AM

An unfortunate rookie mistake, no, I did not see him put it up. He offered, but my wife and I declined because everything was in such pristine condition, and it went down just fine. In his defense, he has since offered to buy it back from me, no questions asked. He has been very responsive, and has been adequately horrified over this situation.

The winch appears to be a factory install. It did have the grease cover, but I took it off to take the picture. When it's on, it makes a horrible rattling noise when operating the winch, as it appears to just kinda sit there unattached to anything. If that's how it is supposed to be, yet another engineering fail on the part of the manufacturer.

This problem, and the fact that the "manual override" of the winch is a complete joke, has made me think that replacing with a manual winch is the way to go. The only thing that *has* to work on a camping trip is this piece of equipment. If the fridge, water pump, AC, stove, battery, etc... fails, your trip is not a "pack-up and go home" situation. However, if you can't get the top up, you are screwed. And with the way the manual override is designed on this winch, there is no coming back from this failure if the motor seizes up, or a gear shatters. And to top it all off, the power winch is so freaking loud! Even when the PO was lowering the top, I was amazed at how loud the bugger was. I don't want to be *that* guy who wakes up a campground should I pull in to the place late.

f5moab, where did you get your manual winch, and was it a direct bolt-on replacement? My trailer has an AC unit on top, will it be too heavy for a manual winch?

Trevor43 · 07-13-2016, 10:44 AM

Get your money and move on to the next one.......

f5moab · 07-13-2016, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelbenner

An unfortunate rookie mistake, no, I did not see him put it up. He offered, but my wife and I declined because everything was in such pristine condition, and it went down just fine. In his defense, he has since offered to buy it back from me, no questions asked. He has been very responsive, and has been adequately horrified over this situation.

The winch appears to be a factory install. It did have the grease cover, but I took it off to take the picture. When it's on, it makes a horrible rattling noise when operating the winch, as it appears to just kinda sit there unattached to anything. If that's how it is supposed to be, yet another engineering fail on the part of the manufacturer.

This problem, and the fact that the "manual override" of the winch is a complete joke, has made me think that replacing with a manual winch is the way to go. The only thing that *has* to work on a camping trip is this piece of equipment. If the fridge, water pump, AC, stove, battery, etc... fails, your trip is not a "pack-up and go home" situation. However, if you can't get the top up, you are screwed. And with the way the manual override is designed on this winch, there is no coming back from this failure if the motor seizes up, or a gear shatters. And to top it all off, the power winch is so freaking loud! Even when the PO was lowering the top, I was amazed at how loud the bugger was. I don't want to be *that* guy who wakes up a campground should I pull in to the place late.

f5moab, where did you get your manual winch, and was it a direct bolt-on replacement? My trailer has an AC unit on top, will it be too heavy for a manual winch?

Purchased the manual winch and the crank directly from Goshen Manufacturing in IN. Price last year, with shipping was around $82.00.
It was a direct install.
Rotate the winch drum to get to the set screw on the drum shaft to remove so cable will come out. Then....
Just take off the plastic cover, disconnect the wiring (make sure to disconnect from the battery first), then remove three bolts and lift the power winch out, and position new manual winch to the bracket and install.

The three bolts circled are all that hold the winch in place.

Now, when I did mine, I ran into a problem. It seems that since the cable goes through the drum shaft on a power winch, they cut it rather short. When I went to install the manual winch, the cable was not long enough to anchor to the manual winch. So I had to replace the cable. Not hard, just messy.
Here's a photo of a manual winch cable anchoring and you can see why it requires a longer length of cable.

And this is where that photo comes from with some great info on how to attach cables....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czzSN1c17FI

The winch is a DLB 1200A (I believe).

I rate the winch replacement on my trailer right up there with the lift, heavier springs, auto adjusting brakes, bigger tires and rim. And like you stated, if other items don't work, you can at least camp, if the roof does not go up or down, you have a major problem.

Now, the winch is not totally quiet, there is a ratcheting sound; nothing like the power winch.

As for A/C on top, hopefully someone will answer that. I don't have AC, but the 12 ft top is no problem to lift. And no more worrying about the upper limit or lower limit switches needed adjustment (which mine always did).

michaelbenner · 07-13-2016, 01:21 PM

Just called Goshen, and they were extremely helpful. I loooove midwestern customer service! Between them and Weber grills' CSRs, I gotta say there is no comparison to it out here in California.

This has to be the cheapest of any fix for any RV repair. $137+shipping for all new springs, a new cable, a manual winch, and a handle. I couldn't believe it!

If this doesn't work, then I obviously have a kink in the telescoping poles, or the roof is hung up somewhere. I will keep y'all posted. Thanks again for all your help!

MtBiker · 07-13-2016, 01:39 PM

Stabilizer jacks cannot be down when you open the trailer. Putting load on the trailer will twist things and bind it up.
Pull in and level side to side with blocks under the wheels only. Level front to back with the front jack only. Lift the top into position completely and only then lower the stabilizers.

f5moab · 07-13-2016, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MtBiker

Stabilizer jacks cannot be down when you open the trailer. Putting load on the trailer will twist things and bind it up.
Pull in and level side to side with blocks under the wheels only. Level front to back with the front jack only. Lift the top into position completely and only then lower the stabilizers.

Really? I have never lifted the roof witout the stabiizers down, and it has been over three years and NO damage to the trailer! Page 49 of my owner's manual states to lower the stabilizers prior to lifting the roof.
Also, I do not level with blocks under the wheels. Did it a few times, but easier to use a BAL leveler.

MiCamper6 · 07-14-2016, 07:08 AM

If you have the 4 latches unhooked there should be no obvious reason for the roof to not lift unless there is an issue with the lift system. If your winch is the same as the unit that came with my Starcraft, it has been discintinued in favor of a completely new design. It apoears you may have a defective winch. If you have a Goshen lift system it may be advisable to replace the cable as well, especially if it is damaged. Not a difficult job to do. Good luck.

MiCamper6 · 07-14-2016, 08:00 AM

Oops... Sorry. Didn't realize that there were 3 pages of responses when I made the prior response. BTW... The new electric winch worked great when I installed it.

JPBar · 07-14-2016, 05:32 PM

X2
f5moab, in all 3 pop ups I have had I have always put the stabilizers down before I raised the roof.

MiCamper6 · 07-14-2016, 06:12 PM

Different story with my PUP's, especially my Starcraft. Stabs go down after the roof.

f5moab · 07-14-2016, 07:12 PM

I'm not too sure if it makes a big difference. I know this subject has been beaten to death on this site

before with people doing it both ways.
I only lower the stabs before raising the roof cause the dealer stressed that point to me, said it helps for the roof to go up evenly, and it is in my owner's manual, laterally on page 49.

Dealer, Roberts Sales in Denver, rents popups and also gave me a nice laminated instruction sheet, that they give to renters, and that info is on this page.
Flagstaff Camping Trailer Set Up Instructions | Roberts Sales - Denver, Colorado

MiCamper6 · 07-14-2016, 07:40 PM

Honestly, unless you are a total gorilla and tweak the frame by cranking the he!! out of the stabilizers it shouldn't make a difference. I had forgotten on several occasions to raise the stabilizers while lowering and also put them down and raised the roof and never had a problem.

michaelbenner · 07-16-2016, 06:21 PM

So, in prep for the new winch, I removed the old winch and its associated wiring harness. Take a look at this pic. This is Just. For. The. Winch. Anybody care to count the potential failure points?

f5moab · 07-18-2016, 09:10 AM

Looks sloppy, and the electrical tape should have been replaced with heat shrink or something that is not affected by heat. But the winch has a lot of separate circuits due to the two limit switches.
Mine looked about the same....

Just a note.
If you keep the cover that goes over the power winch, you will have to make an opening for the manual winch's crank handle, and the round plug on top that was used to lube and to use the power winch manual crank, I glued that to the cover.

michaelbenner · 07-29-2016, 06:34 PM

It lives! Thanks to everyone for your help.

JPBar · 07-29-2016, 06:35 PM

Yea, glad you got it fixed

f5moab · 07-29-2016, 07:03 PM

Cool....

GalsofEscape · 07-30-2016, 07:57 AM

wonderful and looking good.....
btw, the awning is not set up quite right. the roof poles that are on the camper wall should be attached on the roof. look under the awning bag and you should see the attachment points for the roof poles. those lower wall attachment points are for the leg poles which can be set up in carport position (to the ground as you have it) or to the wall of the camper. The leg poles have caps on them that can be removed to expose the ball feet that fit into the wall attachment points. Hope you have many happy camping trips (and always tie the awning down - I had the awning flip up onto the roof damaging the awning legs in a mild wind.....)

Have many happy camping trips!!

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