Hydraulic power question

jwbups · 12-06-2009, 02:52 PM

I had my 2006 elite in for some servicing and repair shop had it for 6 weeks. I dropped it off and did not disconnect the battery power button until 3 weeks later. I picked the trailer up on Thursday and within 1 mile of the trip home the right front leg lowered on its own and again within 1/2 mile on return to the shop. When they checked it out, i pulled the power button out and the tech person said he thought one of the relays was sticking and every thing was okay. I brought trailer home and parked and used the hydraulics to uncouple and level the trailer. I have trailer plugged in on 30 amp power since last Thursday. Today I went out and attempted to open main slide, and it opened very slowly, but like the hydraulics were not at full power. I checked battery level and that showed 100% . I went outside and lifted rear hydraulic levelers and they worked normally. I attempted to lift nose of trailer and the front hydraulic system just buzzed and legs would not go up or down. I am thinking that possibly poor batteries, but not sure. Any ideas, thanks, Jim

RodeWorthy · 12-06-2009, 03:26 PM

Jim,
You did not say what the shop worked on when they had it for 6 weeks. Also, it is likely your batteries discharged if it was sitting for any length of time at the dealer with the switch on.

If the dealer opened the hydraulics for any reason it is possible that there is air in the system that needs to get purged out. But the biggest clue to me is the buzzing noise you hear when trying to extend or retract the landing gear. This to me sounds like low voltage under load. What did you use to determine the battery was 100%? A couple of things you could try if you have the necessary tools. Connecting the truck battery to the Suites battery via jumper cables should provide the necessary voltage provided everything else is in good repair. Leave the truck running after you connect the jumpers. If the pump operates properly under this condition you have an electrical problem that needs to be solved. It could be only bad battery but it is also possible there are problems in the wiring and/or charging circuit. The pump circuit draws a lot of current (around 80A) in both the extend and retract mode on the landing gear so do not excessively run the hydraulics with this setup. It is only a test to determine if the battery circuit is the cause.

A hydrometer test of each battery cell is the best indicator of the charge condition of the battery. It can isolate a defective cell as well as determine the charge state. If you do not have the equipment for this a battery shop can do the test and also put a load test on the battery to test its ability to maintain a charge to power the camper.

Loose connections are also a possibility. But be aware working around batteries with tools can be very dangerous. A short circuit of the positive posts to a ground through a wrench can create an instant welder and could cause the battery to explode. This is particularly true if the battery has recently been charging. The gas given off by a charging battery is explosive.

Hope this helps. Let us know how you make out.

jwbups · 12-06-2009, 08:05 PM

The trailer was at the shop for extensive repair to the center seam area of the roof , the wood under the seam. About 4 feet of wood total had rotted out due to poor idea on the roof area. I had a leak 2 months before warrenty in 2008 came due and had my local dealer check it out, all they did was apply more caulk and did not discover the core of the problem. The fiber glass roof had to be unscrewed and both air conditioners removed and a new piece of wood installed to the metal frame, big bucks. I did have the front slide come open while I was coupling to take in for repair and my repair shop worked on the hydraulics also so I will request that they come out and check the system out for me. I believe its a battery problem. The indicator light shows full charge thats located where the water tank and sewage tanks in the control box area.

**wingnut60** · 12-06-2009, 10:46 PM

I had similar problem with my '05--batteries would charge but not hold--took batts to shop, had them checked. Came back with 2 new 6 volts, no further problem.
Check the batteries under load.
Joe

Motor31 · 12-07-2009, 09:17 AM

The leg dropping in transit is not a battery voltage issue. That's a seal issue on the ram. It will only get worse. I dealt with that for almost a year before I got it taken care of. Lippert warrantys the rams for 5 years and they are not rebuild-able. They do not rebuild them because they are cheap chinese rams to begin with and lack good plating on the internals. I had similar symptoms as what you describe.

Eventually you will go away for a day trip somewhere and then come back to find the nose of the trailer is fully depressed onto the ground. A second indicator of this problem is when you can have someone push the extend button then you push the pin box up and the trailer starts to rise.

Swapping the ram is not a hard or complicated job but it will require that you have the nose fully up and a hole under the leaking ram so that you can drop it out of the housing. Then you need to bleed it to get rid of the air. That takes a bit of time. The ram that drops first is likely to be the leaker.

Key item here, the rams often leak internally, that means no fluid on the ground. It just leaks to the non pressurized side of the seal.

sje · 12-09-2009, 09:47 AM

winter has arrived. sunday i went out to put my slide outs in and I kind of had the same problem. I am hooked up to 30 amp temporaily as we load the suite to leave for the rgv on xmas day hopefully. the slides made a funny noise as I couldnt get any of the three to move in. after about 10 seconds on the bedroom slide it started to move in, and repeated the step on remaining slides. At the time the temperature was about 15 degrees, so i thought maybe the system was just cold. the system worked perfectly when the weather was warm and I had it stored in my building, I realize that the cold weather will take the battery power down. I thought if I was hooked up to 110 or 30 amp power there would be plenty of power to keep batteries up, suite is 2007 select 36tk3. Since sunday we have had 12'' of snow, minus 1 this morning probably -15 tomorrow morn. If xmas was in july we could have left by now! and yes the wind is blowing 30 to 40mph! sje

**wingnut60** · 12-09-2009, 12:20 PM

There is also the 'gelling' tendency of some hydraulic fluids at low temps.
Maybe you could try a synthetic fluid--they have much better flow characteristics at low temps.
Joe

Huck · 12-10-2009, 05:11 PM

Check to see if the battery switch is in the on position.
The hyds. are wired directly to the battery.
If the battery is too low the converter should be able to run the hydraulics with the switch on.

I hope this helps.

jwbups · 12-16-2009, 03:57 PM

New batteries installed this morning by my dealer and hydraulics and slides worked great. They did get a circuit board from lippert under warranty that was not producing enough amps at the shop when he tested it. Thanks for the replys to the original message, Jim