Bad motor and solenoid on HWH pump?

[RottenRalph]

Re: HWH 325 series jack

For a year the jacks have worked intermittently. In the past they may or may not extend but will always retract. I always get power to the keypad. I have confirmed that the parking brake switch is working. I have checked all connections and changed all fuses. Now the problem is no longer intermittent but constant.

With the igniton key on or off I get power to both sides of the pump motor solenoid so I think the solenoid is bad. I would think if both sides of the solenoid are hot that the pump would turn but it doesn't. Maybe the motor is bad as well.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[MaverickBBD]

Do you run the engine when you extend your jacks? I read another forum where HWH recommends a full 12+ volts of 'umpf', otherwise the soleniod can 'run up the amps' and eventually go bad. If the pump is actually pumping I would suspect a shuttle valve that is going.

[CoastieSCPO]

I had a similar ongoing problem with my series 325 jacks. We replaced a solenoid and it seemed to solve the problem.

a possible resource is: rvleveling.com

[John Hilley]

It could very well be the pump motor. Another thing to check are all the grounds, especially the ground connection to the pump. The fact that that it has been intermittent kind of points to a poor connection. I have had several friends get the motors repaired at automotive starter rebuilders.

[FleetMan]

With the key on and an assistant holding one of the jack extend buttons on, use a probe and ground out each terminal on the pump solenoids. When the pump motor activates, you have found the culprit. Randy at HWH walked me through that procedure on mine to isolate a failed connection in one of the pump motor solenoids. A replacement solenoid solved my problem.

The HWH system activated by completing the ground circuit, thus the grounding with a probe. Also, for a while in the 2006 timeframe HWH had a batch of bad White Rogers solenoids which have since been replaced with more reliable Trombetta solenoids.

[RottenRalph]

Thanks for the suggestions!! I think the problem has been confirmed thanks to my A and P mechanic nieghbor. We (mostly he) pulled the whole unit out, removed the motor and discovered about 2 onces of sand and rust inside. A bench test confirmed the motor would not spin. He disassembled the motor, cleaned, sanded, greased and re-assembled the motor. Purchased a new soleniod and will let everything dry out before putting it all back tomorrow.

[rjdelapp]

I had the same problem as you but my motor still had water in it when I removed it. I cleaned it up and tried it again but still didn't run. There are two brush holder sets - one for positive that has post for cable to attach to and the other that should be grounded. I didn't have continuity between brush and end cap so I drilled out the rivets that hold the brush assembly to the end cap that goes to ground. Found corrosion between brush holder and cap keeping it from making contact. Cleaned with sandpaper and put back together with screws and nuts, don't need insulators on this set. Also found the spacers between the magnets in the housing had rusted away letting the magnets move. I glued them in place with thin layer of silicone. The insulators on the positive brush set rivets have melted some, but still insulate, so I found replacements on line and will replace them. Works like a champ now. The real problem it the location of mine which is behind the grill and gets wet whenever it rains. I siliconed all the cracks on the motor and cut a piece of tarp and tie wraped in place. Good luck with your unit. New motor (Western W8053) on Ebay for 124 bucks also some snow plow hyd. motors will interchange and they go for around 80 bucks Ebay also. PS. bench test before putting back in!

Jim

[RottenRalph]

Originally Posted by rjdelapp

I had the same problem as you but my motor still had water in it when I removed it. I cleaned it up and tried it again but still didn't run. There are two brush holder sets - one for positive that has post for cable to attach to and the other that should be grounded. I didn't have continuity between brush and end cap so I drilled out the rivets that hold the brush assembly to the end cap that goes to ground. Found corrosion between brush holder and cap keeping it from making contact. Cleaned with sandpaper and put back together with screws and nuts, don't need insulators on this set. Also found the spacers between the magnets in the housing had rusted away letting the magnets move. I glued them in place with thin layer of silicone. The insulators on the positive brush set rivets have melted some, but still insulate, so I found replacements on line and will replace them. Works like a champ now. The real problem it the location of mine which is behind the grill and gets wet whenever it rains. I siliconed all the cracks on the motor and cut a piece of tarp and tie wraped in place. Good luck with your unit. New motor (Western W8053) on Ebay for 124 bucks also some snow plow hyd. motors will interchange and they go for around 80 bucks Ebay also. PS. bench test before putting back in!

Jim

Jim-- I think we had very similar issues. On mine, The screw that held the 2 ground brushes was almost corroded away thus not grounding the brushes. That coupled with the corrosion on the armature, the rust and sand floating in the motor and the bad solenoid all combined for a broken toy. We cleaned sanded and changed the screw to repair. My pump unit is also behind the grill and in front of the drivers side tire so it get full effects of the weather.

Again, thanks to all for the help.

Scott

["007"]

The Workhorse chassis has a ground post on chassis frame for all solenoids for HWH jacks and motor.
There was a TSB a few years back to check the ground post weld.
If anyone following this thread has had intermittent problems it maybe something you may want to check out.