Hydraulic Front Jacks

surreyboy · 01-25-2017, 11:33 AM

so not sure if this is the right place to post this but i couldnt find anything that fit....

OK , i have a 09 Heartland Cyclone 3950 & shes a heavy pig ! the previous owner put a set of hydraulic jacks up front to help out the electric jacks. The hydraulic jacks worked great about 20 times last summer & started to not work so great . they would sound like they were working but the pump wouldn't pressurize , a couple flicks of the switch on & off & then it would finally pressurize , this went on for a few times & seemed to get worse & just wouldn't pressure up at all , no matter how many times i hit the switch on/off. I can hear the pump run when i hit the switch , it just doesn't seem to want to pressure up....i have never had to mess around with hydraulics before but i did check the reservoir & it had lots of fluid. just thought there might be some well knowledge people out there that would have some good suggestions or ideas for me to check.....

thanks for any help or suggestions

**wingnut60** · 01-25-2017, 04:44 PM

Are the jacks a commercial unit for fifth wheels or some sort of one-off install?
Not a hydraulics expert, but you seem to be working in the right direction.
If the pump is working, but the jacks not--fluid is not being moved or is being bypassed somewhere. And, you hear the pump running, but maybe not pumping?
Have heard of valves sticking open, air in system, solenoids not working--could be any of those.
After market brands I have heard of are Big Foot and Rieco-Titan--either of these what you have?
Hope you get it figured out.

surreyboy · 01-25-2017, 08:13 PM

Hey , thanks.
So there crappy princess auto/power fist hydraulics/system. The previous owner put them in....when they worked , they worked excellent .
Yes , I can hear the pump running when I flick the switch.
It's not pressuring up though...the pump made a higher pitch sound once it pressured up....
Valves sticking open ? Can you actually hear that ?
Air....that could be.....
Solenoid....how would I tell ?

Thanks for the suggestions !
.

**wingnut60** · 01-26-2017, 01:45 AM

Not understanding the brand--princess? auto/power fist hydraulics? Guess you could loosen the connection at the jack and see if any fluid tries to leak when you try to operate them...but don't take the connection loose or you WILL have air in the system.
Certainly don't know enough to help you, but hydraulic fluid is just like water--its in a closed system; the pump turns and moves the fluid; the solenoids determine which way the fluid moves. If pump motor runs, but no fluid moves, then the pump is bad--sometimes they can be separate or have to be replaced as a unit--pump and motor.
You might need to locate mobile tech to help you with diagnosing the problem.
Good luck.
Joe

porkchop · 01-26-2017, 06:08 PM

Check the fluid level. sounds low.

Bill

**wingnut60** · 01-26-2017, 06:20 PM

Believe he said it had 'plenty of fluid.'

porkchop · 01-27-2017, 02:37 PM

Don't know what brand you have, but if it's Lippert or Bigfoot it needs to be within 1/2" of the top to be considered full. "Lots" or "plenty" are hard to measure.

Bill

surreyboy · 01-27-2017, 06:40 PM

Update

so , its just a cheep system from princess auto which sells lower end tools & what not.

they are aftermarket hydraulics the previous owner had installed himself.

was just out messing around with them & since i parked it last fall , now the solenoid just "clicks" & nothing happens. i went & replaced the solenoid & still just clicks. i can also see that when i press the "retract" direction the little LED on the directional switch comes on & stays on for the duration i hold it in. the "extend" directional switch , i have to press it a few times for the LED to light up....not sure what the LED indicates.

totally stumped here.....if i pull the pump & motor off , hook it directly to a 12 source , it should theoretically run if theirs nothing wrong with the motor right ?

a
thanks guys for the help & suggestions so far

**wingnut60** · 01-27-2017, 07:29 PM

Here is something I would try: get a couple of bottle jacks and raise the trailer by the frame rails to get the jacks off the ground. Then see if they will go down/up without any weight on them. If they still don't move, then I don't think your pump is moving oil, or it is being bypassed back to the pump.
You need to figure out if any fluid is being moved by the pump--you know the motor is running, but is the pump moving any fluid? And if fluid is moving, where is it going?
This is getting past my ability to suggest anything else.
I looked at the Princess website, but did not find any obvious jacks, just cylinders. Do you have actual jacks or just cylinders attached to the frame?

richard717 · 01-27-2017, 10:10 PM

Try pulling the panel off of the 5er, look behind the switches for corrioson on the connectors, test with volt meter for power on both sides of switches when you go up or down, should be 12v, then test volts at pump solenoids. Check the grounds to the frame also.

stanleyz · 03-05-2017, 10:24 PM

resovoir should be completly full with jacks retracted and no weight on them. If not add fluid. use bottle jacks as suggested or hook to truck to do this,.

are you sure you have full 12 volts, clicking seloniod sounds like low battery or low dc current. check with voltage meter at pump. you should have well over 12 volts at full charge. if less charge or replace battery.

the legs have two way flow, controlled by some kind of flow controller. if you open the top fitting into the leg and push the up button you should get no fluid out the top fitting. if you are then the internal seals are bad and can be rebuilt by most any hydraulic shop. also if you loosen the bottom fitting and push the down button you should get no fluid out the bottom fitting. if you do same deal internal seals are bad.

i think all this is correct, i just did a set last year and once i had them rebuilt and installed them they worked great. they were lipperts however but a hydraulic ram is a hydraulic ram, i think. hope this helps.

bob1 · 03-23-2017, 09:09 PM

hello new here got 2010 wildcat with hydraulic landing gear and one slid out fire burnt my hoses not sure which lines go where anybody got pictures or diagram how hoses run and what oil my lippert pump runs

stanleyz · 03-23-2017, 10:23 PM

The oil should be tranny fluid, DEXTRON I think but check with the lippert web site. What do you have 3 slides and landing gear, how about rear stabilizers? Mine has all that and I think I have some pictures. Are the hoses burned completely off? Is the valve body and the tank and pump ok? Let me know more and maybe I can find some pics to help.

bob1 · 03-24-2017, 03:17 AM

one slide and landing gear

stanleyz · 03-27-2017, 09:40 PM

If it's a Lippert system I think then you should have two valves at the pump, one for each circut. 4 hoses, one from pump to slide and from slide back to pump. Likewise for the jacks. If the wiring is in tact you can probably figure it out without too much trouble. Fill the tank push (or have somebody push) the slide button and see where the fluid exits the pump manifold, that will be the slide hose. Then there will be a hose from the slide back to the other side of the manifold. Mine are orange and black but I can't remember which goes which way. I'm gonna try to post some pics from my system to see if they will help us. OK, the left is my tank and manifold. I have 3 slides and 2 sets of jacks but I only have 3 valves. I was hoping the pics would help me remember which color went which way but I'm having a senior moment. OK the bottom right is a stabilizer, the black hoses are coming from the pump and they push the ram up and hold. When that is happening the valves open so that the orange hoses will move the fluid from the top of the ram and let the ram go up. When the down button is pushed it goes the other way. Your's should be similar. Hope this helps, digest this and if you have other questions Ill try to help.