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Old 07-16-2014, 11:33 AM   #1
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Slide out works Jack Do not

I have the Lippert hydraulic system that runs the slide room and jacks on my '05 Gerogetown. The Slide room works and the jacks only retract with emergency retract. Jacks do not operate up or down with any of the toggle switches. There is a light that indicates whether the parking brake is applied or not. That light is not lighting whether the parking brake is applied or not. Lippert suggested that this could be happening due to a bad relay somewhere on the chassis. The Ford manual shows multiple relays but no indications which might be the one that tells the controller the status of the parking brake. Does anyone have any idea which relay might be the one to check? The jack controller gets it's power from fuse #16 of the fuse block under the dash. That fuse and the in line 6A fuse are good so the power light is on. Seems like that not recognizing that the parking brake is applied could be keeping power from getting to the other side of the controller.
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Old 07-16-2014, 12:02 PM   #2
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I have a totally different RV but I just came across a similar issue the other day. I found out that some systems are interconnected, I extended both awnings using the switches on the control panel simultaneously and then couldn't retract them in the evening using the same switches but it did work with the wireless remote and then the next day I had the opposite happening with my slideouts where the hardwired switches worked but not the remote. Turned out I had blown a 15 Amp fuse on the Lippert control panel probably when I operated both awnings at the same time.
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Old 09-24-2014, 10:36 AM   #3
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Solution Needed

How did you resolve the original issue? Was it a relay? If so, which one? Where is it located. I have the same rig with the exact same symptoms. If it was not a relay problem, what is the fix? I have examined all of the fuses I could find, and they seem fine. Fluid level is good too.
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Old 09-24-2014, 12:12 PM   #4
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Hi and thanks for the comment. Honestly, I haven't messed with it in a couple months as the rig was sitting idle at the lake so extended the jacks using a drill and am planning to get back at it soon. Just moved it last weekend and everything working the same, emergency retract and slide room are no problem. I had called LCI a while back and they thought either a relay or a new controller. Then they said the controller is obsolete so would need an entire new $3,500 system! Not. As said, will play around with it more and if I don't find a fix plan to take it to Camping World to see if they find anything. If it is a controller and can't find one, well, the drill works pretty good or I may buy four rocker switches to make my own as that's all the slide room is using.
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Old 09-29-2014, 08:31 PM   #5
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Angry

I also called LCI prior to posting my inquiry. The tech helpline was of no help whatsoever. After explaining what I had done to troubleshoot, he offered no additional suggestions. When I probed about other possible problem areas, the most he could say was "that could be it too." He then indicated that the control panel itself could be bad. When I asked how much those cost, he informed me that LCI does not sell replacements, as they are "so old." Six years, really? He suggested that I might have to buy "a whole new jack system." I assured him that if I purchased a new system, it would not be from LCI. Any other thoughts would be appreciated.
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Old 09-30-2014, 08:41 PM   #6
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I'm going to dig around more for fuses.

Found the following at another post in the Lippert Jacks section of the forum. Can't figure out how to drag it over here so copying it into this thread
"In addition to the circuit breaker, (referring to the system breaker, 80 amp resettable on mine), there is usually a fuse located near the hydraulic pump in the wiring harness. There are also two fuses used by the slide outs and jacks that are inside the black metal solenoid box near the house batteries."

With those clues i'll dig deeper.
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Old 10-01-2014, 07:17 AM   #7
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Thanks for your most recent post. I have a 100 amp circuit/system breaker located to the upper left of the control center under the stairs. It automatically resets and seems to be ok. I believe I have pulled and inspected every fuse in the control center of the stairs, and they were not blown. While at my local, dependable RV shop yesterday for another reason, I had a short discussion with a tech about the situation. He said he has seen jacks fail to work when there was low voltage coming out of the house batteries. He was nice enough to clean all the house battery cables, but the jack situation did not change. Like you, other persons online have alluded to a fuse in the hydraulic bay near the pump, but I have been unable to find one. Since the pump runs when the "emergency retract" switch is depressed and because the three slides operate, the pump does not seem to be the issue. At some point, the tech is going to use his meter at very points to check continuity. We also talked about examining the Ford relays to determine if any tie into the jack control center in the dash and/or the brake pedal. We also speculated that it could be just one bad connection almost anywhere. Which leads me to this question: when I pulled the jack control center from the dash, I there were two wire bundles that connected to it with plastic pigtail connectors. From the smaller connector attach to the dash side, there was a blue wire that is not connected to anything. It looks like it was neatly cut and I cannot find the other end of a blue wire under the dash. I suspect that it was never used in the installation. Is that similar to your set up? I will not have access to the RV until next week, so will not be looking at it until then.
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Old 10-02-2014, 05:50 PM   #8
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I've looked for fuses but not finding anything new. I do have a document from Lippert that came with the MH when I bought it used. It refers to a Suppressor Module and says that all but the slide rooms are activated through the suppressor module. BTW, on my MH the rear slide rooms are run by an electric motor under the bed so only the living room slide is hydraulic. The suppressor module is the black block next to the hydraulic motor that has all the wires running to it that run to the valve coils. I can scan this manual if you'd like There are about 5 pages that might give some clues where to look. I do believe that this situation occurred when the house batteries went dead and I too suspect something like the park brake ground which is marked as a Wh/Or wire on the power connector, that's the 6 pin connector. That blue wire is for an air dump valve and says it is not used.
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Old 10-05-2014, 08:54 PM   #9
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Thank you very much. If it is not too inconvenient and you can post them, I would be very interested to see those pages from the manual. Also, thank you for the info re the blue wire. That is one more thing I can rule out. I hope to have some time this week to do troubleshooting. I spoke with a friend who is a bit of an automobile tech, and he suggested a relay could be the issue too, but he said that not having access to the RV.
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Old 10-07-2014, 01:08 AM   #10
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Here is the wiring diagram from Forest River and the manual from LCI.Forest River Hydraulic Wiring.pdf
LCI Jacks Manual_00000.pdf
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Old 10-13-2014, 09:51 AM   #11
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Problem solved

Thank you so much for posting those documents. I really appreciate your taking the time to do so. With the wiring diagram in hand, I once again remove the dash face plate to compare the wires to the diagram. As I did before, I also unplugged the two plastic pigtail connectors that connect the wire to the controller. I examined the wiring for any problems but did not find any. I then plugged the two connectors back together -- AND ALL OF THE JACKS AND LEDs ON THE PANEL ARE WORKING PROPERLY AGAIN! Apparently, there was a bad connection somewhere right behind the controller in the dash, perhaps in one of the plugs themselves? I examined and re-examined every wire in the area, but could not identify or isolate the problem wire(s) or connection(s). I wish I could identify the problem area more specifically for you, but at least in my case I have been able to determine that the problem was somewhere in the wiring in the dash, immediately behind the control panel. Given that your system and symptoms appear to be identical to mine, you may want to focus your troubleshooting to that immediate area, rather than somewhere else in the system. Good luck, and again, thank you for your assistance.
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Old 10-13-2014, 05:41 PM   #12
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That's great! I've thought many times that the issue is something simple like a bad ground or poor connection. I had taken the controller out completely in the past so have unplugged and replugged those a few times but haven't had that kind of luck with it. Will have to look at it more sometime soon though getting ready to winterize. Enjoy!
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