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Old 02-07-2008, 03:02 PM   #1
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Never had a problem till today...returned from having a new slide awning put on the bedroom slide, backed into my RV position, into Park, applied parking brake, turned the jack panel on, pushed Auto...they started to go down, then retracted and green and red lights flashed next to the On button, along with an audible alarm.

Tried to turn them off and on, still two lights flashing...tried to retract, they clunk and stop...lights still flash. Tried Auto button, nothing.

Tiurned system off, took off parking brake, drove around the block, came back to parking spot...turned on system, green light on...pushed Auto button...four lights came on, jacks went down till touching ground, then alarm sounds and two lights by On button flash.
Now they won't retract no matter what I do.

Called 800 number on the Atwood paperwork, tell them the story, told to unplug wiring harness from control panel, re-attach and see if they will work properly...they do not. Told I would have to retract them manually and go for service. I've retracted them manually.

Anybody have anything like this happen?
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Old 02-07-2008, 03:48 PM   #2
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We had the same problems with our Power Gear level jacks. At first, they had to replace the control board. That worked for awhile, then they had to cut small slits in the rubber boots that cover the jacks to drain water. We haven't had a problem since. Good Luck!
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Old 02-07-2008, 04:30 PM   #3
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that is why I went with the fully automatic QUADRA BIG FOOT , each jack has their own motor and lines and all are hydraulic. Hydraulic to lower and also hydraulic to raised them . each jack has their own pump.with lifting capacity of 17,000 lbs per corner on 21 inch legs and each pad is 14 inch wide can also do manual of each jack if needed for hard to level sites. On 2006 THOR see pic below

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Old 02-07-2008, 05:15 PM   #4
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I do believe this is a control board problem/malfunction, not an actual jack problem.

They have been problem free since we took possession in August 2007, and previous owners claimed never a problem.
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Old 02-08-2008, 06:57 AM   #5
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Well, all operations are now normal, since I followed this troubleshooting process:

1. Disconnect power to one jack by unplugging jack quick connect at jack motor.
2. Turn power on at keyboard.
3. Press "RET"ť and "ALL"ť buttons together to put system in error.
4. The buzzer should sound on the keypad and the jack lights should be blinking red and green.
5. Turn keypad off by pressing the ON button.
6. Reconnect power to disconnected jack.
7. Turn keypad on by pressing ON button.
8. Hold down the EXT button and the DRIVER and REAR buttons together for 10 seconds to run the passenger rear jack down.
9. Hold down the EXT button and the PASS and REAR buttons together for 10 seconds to run the passenger rear jack down.
10. Hold down the EXT button and the DRIVER and FRONT buttons together for 10 seconds to run the passenger front jack down.
11. Hold down the EXT button and the PASS and FRONT buttons together for 10 seconds to run the passenger front jack down.
12. Visually inspect to see that all jacks moved and went down a few inches.
13. Press release the RET and ALL buttons together to bring the jacks up.
14. All jacks will come up to full retraction and stop after a few clutches of the motor.

This sequence is really the only one available on the Atwood website, and seems to apply for most problems.

I've run them through the "retract all" and "auto" extend process two or three times this morning without a problem.

Thanks all for your help.
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Old 03-01-2008, 09:03 AM   #6
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Well, took a little exercise trip today, tried to run levelers out at a rest area, same error message that started this topic... front passenger leveler errors.

Tried my previous solution sequence posted above, this time no good...never could get them reset, and right front would not even operate manually as the others did during the sequence.

Disconnected the control panel and came back home...during the trip the driver front driver jack would cycle up, ratcheting noise, then it finally stopped.

When I got back in my parking spot, plugged control panel back in, tried the AUTO LEVEL button, and everything worked properly.

Ran the system thru three or four retractions and auto levelings, all okay...hmmm...

I'm wondering about a possible electrical connection issue on the front passenger jack (the one that occasionally errors). I found the electrical connector near the jack, unplugged and plugged back in, everything looks okay...I'm still concerned...trip coming soon in April...any ideas?
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Old 03-01-2008, 07:46 PM   #7
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Gerry, as you have probably seen while researching this one of the potential problem areas is in the rubber boot covering at the top of the jack unit. These boots can let water in somehow (sometimes) and don't let things drain and dry out. The technical fix is to cut an opening in the bottom for better drainage. Only you can assess the potential for this in your specific case, but moisture can cause problems that are intermittent and very difficult to diagnose. In any case you can consider this possibility.
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Old 03-02-2008, 03:25 AM   #8
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These are Atwood electric levelegs, and they don't appear to have any rubber boots covering them...I think that fix only applies to their hydraulic jacks.

There is a hard shell plastic cover on the top of the jack, but nothing else resembling rubber. I'll look closely at them again, though.
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Old 03-02-2008, 06:59 AM   #9
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Well, got back out today to put the Atwood Levelegs jacks through their paces again...ran them up and down two or three times, drove the RV to two different locations and activated the AUTO function, worked fine every time, retracted, came back home, all fine.

Not sure if it could have been just a poor/weak electrical connection to the front passenger jack itself, seems to have stopped since I pulled the electrical connector apart at this jack and reconnected...hard to tell if it's cured yet, I'll keep you posted.
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Old 03-25-2008, 11:42 AM   #10
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Still having intermittent problem with passenger front jack erroring on AUTO EXTRACT...jack goes into failure mode immediately, no real easy way to diagnose the problem...still think it's a connection issue.

After getting the system reset, everything works fine.

You can run them up and down a dozen times, never a problem.

Take the RV out on the road, return and try to extract jacks, sometimes everything works fine, sometimes the passenger side errors.

From what I can pull from the manual, the four jacks are wired back to a control panel somewhere, then from the control panel to the operator control board in the dash.

If I could find this panel, I think I can find the connection problem, but where is it? Anybody know?
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Old 05-14-2008, 02:14 PM   #11
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Spoke to my neighbor (professional mechanic) and my friend the electrician, both feel the problem is most likely with that particular motor, and specifically the brushes.

The electrician said to pay attention if it happens after a lot of rain/moisture...we went to Florida and back and never had a problem once, just today (after a rainy weekend) took it out for fuel, came back home and it errored immediately.

Another suggestion to confirm it's the motor/brushes was to spin the nut on the bottom of the motor (the nut that slowly moves the leveler if the leveler fails to go up electrically)...the thought was this will move the brushes on the motor as well, and then maybe continuity will be maintained...tried it today after the failure, spun it a half dozen times, went back in and tried the "AUTO" procedure again, worked immediately.

Guess I need to remove the entire leveler unit (looks easy) and get it to an electrical motor rebuild company...got to be cheaper than the $900 they want to replace the entire assembly.
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Old 02-11-2009, 03:52 AM   #12
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Just a follow up on this problem:

I really don't want to pay over $1000 for a complete jack/motor assembly when I can "fix" the once a month issue of the jack erroring.

The fix that works every time is listed below:

Quote:
Another suggestion to confirm it's the motor/brushes was to spin the nut on the bottom of the motor (the nut that slowly moves the leveler if the leveler fails to go up electrically)...the thought was this will move the brushes on the motor as well, and then maybe continuity will be maintained...tried it today after the failure, spun it a half dozen times, went back in and tried the "AUTO" procedure again, worked immediately.
Works EVERY time. Thought this might help someone with jack in error code and nothing moves for them.
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Old 04-29-2009, 07:29 PM   #13
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Hello GerryB54

I hope this thread rises to the top of the thread list so you will see it. If your problem is what I think it is, its fixable for no cost if you can do it yourself.

I had the same problem for months, jack wouldn't work after sitting around, but OK after jouncing along the road for awhile, then stopping and trying it. Thought it was connectors, etc, maybe even the controller. First a little lesson on how the system work. You may have noticed the jacks have only two wires. They change direction by changing the polarity. The controller does that. The controller also knows what the normal current draw is. If the controller notices a motor that is drawing way less than normal, it calls an error, which is what you are seeing. When the current goes way above normal, such as clutching at full retract, then it shuts off that motor.

I got the normal BS from Atwood Levelegs people, "if it doesn't run when you put juice to the motor directly, then its shot and non-repairable". Since the round jacks are no longer made and out of stock, you have to buy the newer square one and modify the mounting bracket. $hundreds. Check the impedance across the leads while disconnected. Should be down around 1 ohm or so. I had 75 ohms.

I took the motor apart, and found the commutator so gunked up with carbon and oil, polished and hard, I could not even see copper. Cleaned with mineral spirits, polished with very fine paper, reseated the brushes, reinstalled, wala, good for go.


The screws holding the top cover are phillips head, the screws holding the plastic motor shield are 6 point socket head (Allen), and the long screws that hold the motor together and also hold it to the gear casing are phillips. The bottom end bell, the armature, and the motor shell and the magnets come down as a unit, don't let it come apart yet, don't let the shaft move upward into the bell as you remove the assembly, and as you remove the motor shell and magnets from around the armature. Not a big deal but the brushes will pop inward under spring pressure. Remove the brush springs (remember how they attach), lift the brushes, fully exposing the commutator. You will not be able to fully remove the shaft because of the hex, but thats OK. Use a course rag with mineral spirits to keep liquids from running down into the bushing. Same thing with sanding. Carefully clean the grooves with a thin blade.

Alternative is to take the assembly to someone capable (small motor repair shop.

Replacement is reverse, but getting the long screws alligned with the top bell is a ***** because of the magnets, perseverance pays off. When removing the motor, look for the several thin flat fiber washers/spacers that go on the shaft between the motor and the top bell.

Took me about 2 hours on the first one because I was flying blind, and I had dropped a couple of the washers and had to remove the motor again to install them. Removing the wheel, and a good foam knee pad is worth a million.

I was not intimidated to try the work, as I have repaired motors, boiler, steam turbines, gas turbines, pumps, etc on ships. I've also overhauled
Ferraris, Astons, Jags, transmissions, brakes, yadda, yadda.

Good luck.. Larry Carr
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Old 05-01-2009, 06:14 AM   #14
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I have a 2007 Bounder with the square legs on the leveler. I am having the same problem. I will try your fixes and let you know how I made out. I did have a recall on the levelers last year. I wonder if there is a connection.
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