Hydraulic jacks fail to retract

[mxw1]

Hello,
I have a 34 foot,2004 national sea breeze motorhome on a Ford F-53 gas chassis.
On this latest trip I,ve noticed that the hydraulic jacks have failed to retract twice. I,m afraid to use them anymore, I,m 3000 miles from home.
Both times this has happened, the green power lamp on my controll panel has been illuminated but the red jacks extended lite was off.
I tried releasing the emergency brake, cycled the ignition switch on and off and even shifted the transmission into gear while the engine was running and the jacks would not retract.
I noticed that while I cycled the ignition switch from off to on that the red ( jacks extended ) warning lite would momentarily flash on, then off. I did this several times and got the red lite to stay on. THe jacks would then retract.
The operator manual I have is for Power Gear hydraulic leveler system, manual is part number 82-L-0040-00 Rev.0 May 5, 1999
In the troubleshooting section it states if jacks fail to retract replace the dump valve fuse.
I would like to check the electrical connections at the Control Box but haven,t located it yet.
Does anybody know where it might be mounted? I have found the Manual Touch Pad and followed the wires under the dash and lost track of them.
I have found the pump/ reservoir and solenoid so but not the Control Box.
Secondly, has anyone had this problem and fixed it?
I would be very interested in hearing the solution.
Thanks,
Mike

[GREGORYJ]

I've had some jacks fail to retract, or not fully retract, but not all of them. The solution for me was to spray the hydraulic jacks, while down, with silicon spray. They where sticking to a degree that the springs couldn't pull them back into the cylinder.
It worked and I spray them once during each trip. Just a suggestion, your problem may be different.

[Chuck Q]

Mine failed last year, problem was a faulty Power Gear control panel. Had to take them up manually. Replaced the Panel and all is still well. Controller cost $480. I could not make the fluid dump like was described in the Manual, so I relieved pressure at each Jack by loosening the hose fitting. Messy but worked.

[mxw1]

Thanks for your replies.
I don,t think it,s a sticky jack or jacks, it,s more like The Dump solenoid is not getting energized when I push Retract JAcks button. None of the jacks even retract a bit.

Do you remember if the red lite was coming on when you could not raise your jacks electrically?

Do you remember the location of the Control Box?

Thanks again.
MIke

[mxw1]

Called Power Gear today and talked with someone in customer service, to find info for troubleshooting. She send me a PDF file that will be a big help.
Also found the control box location. It,s behind the speedometer under the plastic dash cover. There is a panel that pops off on the top of the dash, just forward of the speedometer gauge cluster. It,s held in with Velcro on the rear and has 3 molded plastic ears at the front ( windshield ) end. The control box is mounted there. There also some relays and fuses hidden there, looks like some of the original Ford equipment.
I haven,t fixed the problem yet, will share my results with everyone when I do.
Thanks again to everyone,
Mike

[eduyos]

I have non retractable jacks (4) on my 2015 FourWinds Fiesta. Lippert (LCI). The control panel has all the lights flashing. I did noticed the batteries were only 15% charged. So I fully charged them but still no retracting. I followed Thor's instructions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT925EGb8pA

but not only didn't work, I stripped the nut that goes in the motor by counter-clockwise on the 1/2" head nut. Now, don't know the inside diameter of the nut, if it is metric, standard, fine....and my "jacks are down" can get them to retract. Any other way to retract them besides releasing the pressure from the 4 celenoyds? It didn't work. Afraid to loose the 4 hoses. Any direction is welcomed.

[mxw1]

Nice video. I hadn't,t seen that before.

My system is about 10 years older than that, looks similar, but the packaging is different.

I am not using my system until I get home from this trip, I don,t want them to get stuck again.

I called Libbert and asked about my problem, gave her my year and model number of the system and she sent me a PDFs file of the parts and troubleshooting guide.
Since looking it over, I think that my problem is with the fluid level switch on the reservoir , because I believe that,s what gives the signal that the jacks are down. There seems not to be any kind of electrical limit switch on the individual jacks, so I think the level switch in the reservoir is what activates the jack down indicator light on my display panel. If the jack or jacks are down, the fluid level in the reservoir would also go down, tripping the fluid level switch.

My suggestion is to call and get a troubleshooting guide from Libbert first, it might help you find your problem.

My system has a several solenoids, with one shown as the dump solenoid, if mine get stuck again, I,ll try and apply battery voltage to that one to dump the fluid pressure back to the reservoir .

Good luck, let us know if you find something, I,ll do the same.

Mike

[eduyos]

Thanks Mike for getting back. Leave it to Youtube/Google, but the problem was not solved. I did send Lippert and email and an auto reply within 2 business days. I sent them the information and the video as well of my problem, but failed to send them my Lippert LCI model #.

I think there were a couple of things, one I kept the jacks down for about 2 months (not retracting) since I keep the RV at home, the batteries were down to 15% charged, I did fully charged them. And to make it worst...without realizing my drill was in reverse instead of clockwise which is how the video guided me. I ended up stripping the nut (half inch head) and I don't know if it is metric, coarse or fine to replace it. Someone mentioned to loosen the 4 hoses going to the solenoid, but I will wait for Lippert recommendations.

Let's hope Lippert comes back with an answer. I cannot move with the jacks down.

Thanks again and definite keep you posted.

Eddie

[Lakescepter]

Had similar problem on my 04 Scepter. After doing all the usual checks of fuses and controls decided to dismantle valve assy and pump and low and behold found another fuse in wire bundle going to pump and valves. Checked fuse was ok then looked closely at inline fuse holder and was corroded inside so that prongs were not tight on fuse. replaced inline holder and have been trouble free since.

[Kasey]

I had the same problem and found the fuse in the wire bundle under hood to be corroded. I cleaned it up and replaced the fuse and all is well.

[eduyos]

That is something that I have to look at. I am still waiting for Lippert tech support to answer my request from Friday. Hopefully soon. I also have a stripped nut (that I don't know the size but it is 1/2" head) if it is coarse, fine or metric. Meantime I was wonder if loosing the 4 hoses will retract the jacks. I guess no one has that experience to talk about and I sure don't want to find out.

Thanks,

Eddie

[Chuck Q]

That is how I finally got my jacks up. Used the right size wrench, papers Towles and a bucket to catch the fluid in. Not to big a mess, and only about 15 min. Hope this helps
Chuck

[eduyos]

Thanks Chuck! I don't have problem with the mess. Heavy card board and patience. I do need to get them up. Will keep you posted. BTW I just downloaded Lippert Owner's Manual that has my model https://www.lci1.com/assets/content/...ideout-web.pdf
I just got to do some reading tonight, but nevertheless, jacks will go up this weekend. Thanks again, Eddie

[chboone]

Attached are the instructions to override the dump solenoid to retract the jacks.