Newbie Question about 2013 Flagstaff 228D

[stevo62]

Has anyone replace their P55000 powerwinch with the P92001?. I was looking for parts and found out that there was a replacement winch. I read some reviews and 1 guy said it took him about and hour to install. I've been having problems with mine. We just bought a used 13 flagstaff 228D , and I guess the previous owner never did any maintenance on the electric lift P55000 cause now the bearing that's on the worm gear on the 12 tooth gear has popped out. Not sure if there is a washer missing by the bearing #P71607 , The E-ring on there was bent. I replaced it but keeps bending in towards the bearing. when that happens the gears start slipping and skipping. Any help on replacing it with the P92001 would be appreciated, thanks in advance

[jimmoore13]

Since nobody responded, I'll take a shot at helping.
My winch failed due to a bad relay and a loony-tunes limit switch. I did a thread on this recently.

I Googled your winch, and I found a recall. I also found sources that may have a parts list and exploded diagram.
https://www.google.com/search?q=P550...utf-8&oe=utf-8
Unfortunately, the recall has more to do with the cable guide tubes than the winch itself.

As for replacing the winch, having worked on mine, I'd be confident that a swap would be easy enough assuming the physical size of the new winch fit in the space allowed for the old winch. As a hunch, I can't see why it wouldn't. So long as the general dimensions are similar and the physical mount is similar, if it's not a straight bolt in, a drill with a bit large enough for the mounting bolts should be the hard part.

But that still leaves the faulty guide tubes. Did the previous owner submit the trailer for the recall repair?

That was almost no help at all, but out of warranty/recall or not, these guys should be able to help: Camper Lift - Carefree of Colorado

[stevo62]

Thanks jimmoore13, I called Carefree and they said it does fit and no parts are available for the P55000 except for switch's and something else that I don't need. It should be in by Tue of next week, I'll keep you posted on how it goes in, I appreciate your help.

[jimmoore13]

Originally Posted by stevo62

Thanks jimmoore13, I called Carefree and they said it does fit and no parts are available for the P55000 except for switch's and something else that I don't need. It should be in by Tue of next week, I'll keep you posted on how it goes in, I appreciate your help.

Good luck! I imagine the hard part may be reinstalling the existing cable to the hub...and that shouldn't be too difficult. Electrical hookup should be push connectors. The next challenge will be adjusting the limit switches. Not rocket science but depending on how they are setup out of the box, it could be a tedious process of trial and error.

If your limit switch looks like this one, part #2 in the diagram, https://www.tesstools.net/P92001_Pop...rts_s/2463.htm, you'll note that it has a plastic ring gear that spins a sleeve that, in turn, spins a Rube Goldberg gear arrangement. That's what I meant about Loony Tunes.

I disabled mine in a neutral state - always on - because the plastic ring gear cracked, and it sheared off the key and shredded the keyway to drive the sleeve. Ridiculously fragile design, and I'll be damned if I pay them $38 or so a pop to replace it. I'm capable of actually watching the top rise to the point where the little red telltale tether wire snugs up, and then remove my finger from the switch.

But you'll have a nice shiny new one, and you may as well take care of it to make it last. I recommend you try to keep it clean and use a dry lube on it (e.g. graphite) to keep it spinning freely. If you do a lot of driving on dirt roads, you might open the cover and check to make sure there are no pebbles or other grit lurking in the gears. I know for a fact that's what killed mine, because our boondocking adventures take us 20+ miles one way down gravel roads. Check when you arrive, then check it when youo get home....or defeat the dumb thing. (But only if you are confident some dummy won't winch the roof so high it shreds the canvass! The metal gears will crunch up small stuff, but when you see the plastic ring gear, you'll know that it's a problem waiting to happen.

Keep your cordless drill out after you run down the stabilizer jacks, pop out the 4 screws holding the cover, and take a peek.

I'll post the full segment of my "how-to" on this subject next.

[jimmoore13]

This is boilerplate I share on the subject:

VERY IMPORTANT. The winch lift for the camper seems to be trouble-prone. There are two key weaknesses:
1) The relays that supply power to the motor do not seem to be outdoor relays, but they are exposed to lots of dirt and moisture. Replacement relays are readily available. I used silicone to seal the relay cases of my replacements. I don't know if that will improve their life or not, but the cases were not sealed, and both relays failed at the end of last season.
2. All use limit switches to stop the motor at max height and minimum height. (You can, of course, just pay attention, but the limit switch accommodates the inattentive.) Some limit switches are simple. But mine was a bizarrely complex mechanism that only a mad scientist could invent. I spent 22 years in commercial broadcast TV, and all satellite dishes, microwave dishes, and so on have limit switches, but NOTHING like this. My limit switch is depicted in part #2 in this diagram. https://www.tesstools.net/P92001_Pop...rts_s/2463.htm Mine is an orange cylinder, about the diameter of a banana and 6" long. It had an outer plastic gear that engaged with the main, steel lift gear. The plastic gear failed, AND the "key" and "keyway" that allowed the gear to engage the drive drum sheared off, too.
Since I do pay attention when I raise and lower the camper, and since the electric switches in the limit switch are "normally closed" (always on unless a small plunger is depressed), I disabled the limit switch. A straight piece of wire would be the same. I think it is a poor design, and, at $38 a pop to prevent stupidity, I'd no more replace it than shoot myself in the foot. In the harsh environment on the A-frame of a trailer, it's exposed to dust, dirt, pebbles, water and anything else that sprays up off your tow vehicle tires. I disassembled the device, made sure the numerous gears, shafts and so on were "neutralized" so they would not interfere with the winch operation, used a VOM meter to verify "continuity" through the switch - a continuous circuit - and put it back. I'll buy a new one for installation when I sell the camper one day.
3) The manual override works great so long as you have a good cordless drill (and perhaps a spare battery) to drive it. Hand cranking would take forever. It's easy, but way too slow. Lifting the camper roof with the hand crank might take an hour!! A cordless drill will raise or lower the roof about half as fast as the winch motor. All you need is one of these: https://smile.amazon.com/Camco-57363...er+jack+socket And you can use your drill and this socket to raise and retract the stabilizer jacks, too.

[stevo62]

Great advice jimmoore13, I Installed the new Winch today , wasn't too hard the hardest part was installing the cable just like jimmoore13 said ,but still not that hard. I ended up using the old cover , adjusted the high limit switch but not the low limit switch I think I'll just eyeball it coming down.Only electrical connections I had to do was the cables going to the battery, every thing else was prewired. It is a little noisier but also faster. I'm pretty happy with it so far. thanks for all the help jimmoore13.