Motorhome Step

[mant]

Yes! Thanks for all the help, these forums are great! I do like taking care of things myself if I can. I do lose patience working in tight quarters though but I seem to push through.

Fire Up, I see retired from San Diego Fire? I retired from Burlington Fire in Vermont a couple of years ago, we had a guy leave us and was hired by San Diego, his first name was Vern, I can't remember his last name.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by mant

Yes! Thanks for all the help, these forums are great! I do like taking care of things myself if I can. I do lose patience working in tight quarters though but I seem to push through.

Fire Up, I see retired from San Diego Fire? I retired from Burlington Fire in Vermont a couple of years ago, we had a guy leave us and was hired by San Diego, his first name was Vern, I can't remember his last name.

Mant,
Glad to see you finished a great career. I enjoyed it immensely but, when it came time to leave, I never looked back. As far as anyone hired there in SD anytime in the last 6 years, I wouldn't have a clue as, that's how long I've been gone. Good luck on your retirement and, surely happy RVing.
Scott

[rgmiller32]

Lippert now owns Kwikee steps. Just had my Lippert steps replaced with Kwikee steps at the FROG Rally in Goshen, IN. They were always needing lubrication and cleaning to work properly.

[OldTimer]

If your Coach Step is the same as the Lippert, SCS Frigette & Stromberg Carlson, you may get some help in this post from 2013. In post #10 I listed a part number from Advance Auto for a power window motor & gearbox that is the same as the motor & gearbox in the steps. I replaced my motor & gearbox and it bolted right in. You would need to cut the plug off your old motor and splice it in place of the plug that comes on the new motor. It costs a lot less than a motor & gearbox from the step manufacturer. There is no limit switch on the steps. When the steps reach their full extension or full retraction, the current drawn by the motor spikes. The control box senses the spike in the current and cuts off the electric going to the motor. http://www.irv2.com/forums/f84/steps...er-169608.html

[cimplexsound]

The motorized RV steps are an absolute pain. They are notorious for jam ups. They have a sensor in the drive mechanism that tells the motor to shut off when the step is retracted. In the process of taking it apart you may have lost the sensor switch on the ground, or got the sensor switch out of alignment. Unfortunately the only way to fix this is to take it apart again, and try to figure out what went wrong or just use the power switch to shut it off manually.


1979 Dodge Tioga Class C 24 foot. 1987 Fleetwood Bounder 34 Foot.

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by cimplexsound

The motorized RV steps are an absolute pain. They are notorious for jam ups. They have a sensor in the drive mechanism that tells the motor to shut off when the step is retracted. In the process of taking it apart you may have lost the sensor switch on the ground, or got the sensor switch out of alignment. Unfortunately the only way to fix this is to take it apart again, and try to figure out what went wrong or just use the power switch to shut it off manually.

It's already been determined that the steps in question in this case have NO limit switch or sensor. They stop when the motor gets to the end of it's travel and the amperage goes up, which is detected by the circuit board and power is cut off. It's the same mechanism as a car electric window, load on the motor causes the window to stop (or reverse direction) It prevents amputation of body parts.

[mel s]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

It's already been determined that the steps in question in this case have NO limit switch or sensor. They stop when the motor gets to the end of it's travel and the amperage goes up, which is detected by the circuit board and power is cut off. It's the same mechanism as a car electric window, load on the motor causes the window to stop (or reverse direction) It prevents amputation of body parts.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by cimplexsound

The motorized RV steps are an absolute pain. They are notorious for jam ups. They have a sensor in the drive mechanism that tells the motor to shut off when the step is retracted. In the process of taking it apart you may have lost the sensor switch on the ground, or got the sensor switch out of alignment. Unfortunately the only way to fix this is to take it apart again, and try to figure out what went wrong or just use the power switch to shut it off manually.


1979 Dodge Tioga Class C 24 foot. 1987 Fleetwood Bounder 34 Foot.

cimplexsound,
While yes, it has been stated, several times that, there is NO sensor that stops the travel of these steps, if you have information in either print or, from a "reliable" source, I'd be happy to read or hear it that CONFIRMS there is a sensor that stops travel, in either direction.
Scott

[lass]

FIRE UP, this link may help with the discussion.

Testing a PDF file for the Coach Step manual.

Note that the switch is located at the entry door, and the "step detects obstacles by sensing excessive amperage".

[BFlinn181]

The switch at the door, a magnetic reed switch, senses when the door is opened to extend the steps or when the door closes, to retract the steps. This only happens when the steps power switch is on the proper setting.The ignition key can also retract the steps for travel. It really doesn't have anything to do with the discussion in this thread. We have already described the motor's control is determined by amperage draw, not a limit sensor.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

The switch at the door, a magnetic reed switch, senses when the door is opened to extend the steps or when the door closes, to retract the steps. This only happens when the steps power switch is on the proper setting.The ignition key can also retract the steps for travel. It really doesn't have anything to do with the discussion in this thread. We have already described the motor's control is determined by amperage draw, not a limit sensor.

Yiiiiiiiiipppppp!
Scott

[abarkl]

Originally Posted by lass

FIRE UP, this link may help with the discussion.

Testing a PDF file for the Coach Step manual.

Note that the switch is located at the entry door, and the "step detects obstacles by sensing excessive amperage".

Thanks for the manual!

I have the same steps in my 2003 I bought last October and found just like the 2001 Kwikee steps I had for 10 years, that they don't like to remain in an extended position for long periods of time, such as while in storage.
My new policy is to leave them retracted while in storage.

My 2003 Coach Steps did act up a few months ago prior to my new policy and I did as the OP, disassembling, cleaning the ground, and suspecting the motor, but it turned out just to be a simple binding issue and they are working fine now, knock on wood.

[BBDogHouse]

1. Originally Posted by FIRE UP

   mant,
   I'm not all that familiar with Lippert components and step mechanisms but, have had Kwikee units apart quite a few times. If you take a look at the link below, you'll see a replacement motor-drive and, some wiring etc. for a Lippert unit. Anyone who's done any form of work on a Kwikee unit will see that, that unit is dangerously close to a Kwikee motor drive and gear box.
   
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Lippert-Compon...s=Lippert+step
   
   Now, all of the Kiwkee units I've dealt with have no "limiters" that would regulate the stopping in each operation, extend and retract. The motor is designed to feel resistance of the stop, in each direction so, when it senses that, it stops, just like a power window in any auto. Now, based on the fact that, that Lippert unit looks almost identical to a Kwikee unit, does it have the same design characteristics as the Kwikee, not a clue. Again, I'm not familiar with your unit so, operational characteristics could certainly be different and, there may in fact, be limiters that do stop the motor, for extend and retract. A little more investigation would certainly be warranted.
   Scott
   
   
   
   Mel,
   I've never had to deal with a Lippert step so, I'm not familiar with them at all, not even the looks of one. But, as I stated above, I looked them up and, based on what I found on Amazon, the motor drive and gear box look seriously close to a Kwikee product. So, if the two gear boxes, Kwikee and Lippert are closely designed, there is no "aligning" of the gears. Kwikee's main driven gear, the 3" one, has a rectangular hole in the center of it, to accept the mounting shaft, also rectangular. There are, basically two ways to install that driven gear, normally or, 180 degrees out.
   
   Other than that, the driven gear is the same, no matter which way it's placed on the rectangular shaft. Now, is Lippert the same exact scenario inside the gear box,??? Not a clue. I've never had one apart. So, in that, there actually is no timing or, re-aligning of the gears, other than installing the driven gear 180 out. It will work fine, either way. But, I'd have to see the inside of the gear box of a Lippert, to be sure, it's assembled the same way.
   Scott
   
   
   
   BFlinn,
   I've had a few Kwikee step gear boxes apart but, never had a Lippert unit apart. But, based on the link I posted for the OP, the Lippert unit looks outstandingly close to a Kwikee unit. And, all the Kwikee gear boxes I've had apart have "pot metal or, aluminum" gears. I have not seen any with "Plastic" gears, YET! Now, does that mean they don't make any with plastic gears, heck, I don't know. All I know is, I've never seen any with plastic ones.
   
   And, just for information here, you can get brand new replacement motors for Kwikee units, on Amazon, for $67.00, the last time I checked. I didn't check on just a motor replacement for a Lippert. I'll dig around and see what I can find on that. I had the almost same exact issue the OP is having with out Kwikee two-step unit. It would try and continue to retract, even when the step was all the way in. But, with ours, you'd hear the gears grinding for a few seconds. So, I performed surgery on it and, below is what you'll see that I found.
   Scott
   
   
   
   
   

   I'm facing the same problem with worn out teeth on my Kwikee step motor. Can anyone help me find a replacement gear, which has a cast number of 150200. Thanks for any info or help.

[BBDogHouse]

From my questionable memory, I opened up the Kwikee step motor and was able to reposition the gear such that the several bad teeth were not in the quarter turn cycle. I also found that for some reason there wasn't an axle in the center of the gear. Maybe it fell out during the disassembly, but in any case I found a suitable stainless steel replacement (roll pin?) at the local hardware store in one of those trays of misc stuff and things. It cost all of 67 cents. I lubed everything back up, reassembled the motor and reinstalled it.
It's been working great ever since.
The sad part was I paid a local rv shop $300 the previous year to fix the step which had stopped working while it was extended.