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02-13-2020, 02:17 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 821
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Calling all ELECTRIC Power Gear Leveler Experts
Ok I have read so many comments to so many threads on this topic but still have a problem...I also read and followed the latest Power Gear Error Over Ride document dated 11/12. Which helped some. I downloaded ALL documentation from Lippert too. Loads of info.
I had the jacks down and level. I then raised the front about 1 inch in order to get under the coach. None of the jacks were extended more than half way and all wheels on the ground. As the front started to come up, the operator panel went nuts, lots of lights flashing, alarm sounding.
Use the above procedure, I stopped the audible alarm by turning off power button then back on. Alarm stopped. Next I pushed 4 diamond jack buttons at the same time and the system then went into Error Over ride Mode. Ok.
At this point I decided to retract all the jacks and re-level the coach. I was able to get 3 out of 4 jacks completely retracted AFTER several Alarms/ pushing 4 diamonds in over and over as the thing keep going into alarm mode. The 4th jack had to manually cranked up. Lots of extensions and cranking- I have a power supply on order to run the jacks next time!
So now the Jacks will not come down in Auto or manual mode! The operator panel now shows ALL Jacks Down and the center Green indicator shows the coach is LEVEL even though all jacks are all the way up. According to Power Gear manuals, this indicates a SENSOR Problem.
So today I re-seated all connectors at the control box, measured 13.4 vdc at the power terminals.
Anybody with this ALL ELECTRIC leveling system Please help / comment.
Thanks John
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John & Debbie
2008 Fleetwood Discovery 40X
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02-13-2020, 03:59 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,080
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I have that system on my 2008 Bounder. I have had little trouble with it in 10 years. First off if you can't get a jack to retract remove the connector at the jack, the one with the large wires. Then jump any 12 vdc source on the pins. Run the jack up until the weld on the bottom almost contacts the sleeve. If it runs in the wrong direction reverse the wires. Power Gear told me to put a 10 amp fuse inline. Second try disconnecting the control panel for a minute then plug it back in. Check the magnets on the jack legs and clean the legs. My problems were a broken lock in a connector, repaired with super glue 10 years ago. Second was a bad brake. I bought 2 spares when I bought the coach and shear pins.
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02-14-2020, 03:08 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 821
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redcolorado,
Okay on the power hook up with another power supply. I also disconnected the remote operator panel from the control box at connection Item 4 marked on the control box, along with the rest of the connections then inserted them. No joy. I plan next to remove power to the control box, wait a minute then reconnect power. If no joy I will perform the sensor tests. I did find out these hall effect sensors are replaceable but not sure how to get them out of the long channel along side the jack...
How did you determine you had a bad brake?
Thanks for your suggestions.
__________________
John & Debbie
2008 Fleetwood Discovery 40X
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02-14-2020, 06:24 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Huntingtown, MD
Posts: 834
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A gummed up brake won't let the leg move.
There is a procedure to reset the control panel. I did it a few years ago.
I unplugged all the levelers one at a time, hooked up power from a battery charger and lowered all legs about 8". Plug power connections back on each leg. I then powered up the control panel and hit raise all jacks. This procedure allowed the control panel to figure out the position of the jacks.
This procedure should be in one of the power gear documents you downloaded.
Good luck
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Earl & Sharon, 2008 Fleetwood Expedition, ISB 6.7
1995 Jeep YJ/2013 Chevy Sonic
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02-14-2020, 04:14 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 821
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Okay hayward3411,
This morning I took off the main 12 vdc power connectors to the control box and cleaned minor corrosion off these battery leads to the control box. I will reinstall them in the morning.
I now have a 12 vdc power supply and a drill adapter for the manual 16mm bolt to move the jacks up and down. I will manually lower all the jacks 5-8 inches down from the current retract position soon.
Then I plan to connect the power supply to each of the four motors one at a time through the wiring harness that plugs in to the control box. This way I can check out the wiring and motors from the control box to each of the jacks one at a time.
Afterwards, I will try the operator panel and update the group. Thanks much for your input!
John
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John & Debbie
2008 Fleetwood Discovery 40X
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02-14-2020, 07:46 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,080
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KF5UMC
redcolorado,
How did you determine you had a bad brake?
Thanks for your suggestions.
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Last year my left rear jack would not retract from the control panel. I released the brake on the jack manually and it started to retract from the weight of the coach. I jumped 12 vdc to it and retracted it. I reset the jack brake and extended the jacks, the left rear failed to extend. I took the brake apart, it looked new, no corrosion. Replaced the brake per Power Gear instructions and all is good.
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02-15-2020, 12:00 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 821
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redcolorado
Last year my left rear jack would not retract from the control panel. I released the brake on the jack manually and it started to retract from the weight of the coach. I jumped 12 vdc to it and retracted it. I reset the jack brake and extended the jacks, the left rear failed to extend. I took the brake apart, it looked new, no corrosion. Replaced the brake per Power Gear instructions and all is good.
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First good for you in fixing the problem yourself. I guess you needed to remove the jack from the coach and have a strap tool to take off the metal strap and once the new brake was installed use the tool to put the strap on. I will need to buy that tool.
Did your panel error when the left rear jack failed to extend? My right rear jack failed to retract until I manually cranked it up just above the lower magnet, then it went up and stopped. Thankfully I'm in South Florida till April so I have time and warm weather to repair the problem. My coach is also a 2008 and I think I will order some spare jack parts too!
Again thanks!
John
__________________
John & Debbie
2008 Fleetwood Discovery 40X
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02-15-2020, 07:01 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Hickory, NC
Posts: 874
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My lessons learned with these jacks is to treat them like kryptonite. When it comes time to lower or raise I demand silence. No one touches anything in the coach. No touching anything electrical. Engine running. A little prayer. Gentle touch of the button. Before I learned this I made mistakes like accidently shutting off the engine while jacks in operation.
In 24 hours I have to raise mine. Time to get in a Zen mode.
(Serious summary: engine running; don't do anything else; have manual and supplements handy)
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Hickory, NC. 2007 Fleetwood Discovery 40X
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02-16-2020, 10:37 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 821
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Update...the right rear jack is gummy-ed up bad. I image the other 3 are also. First I used a cordless drill and got a few turns out of it on the jack nut, then I tried my 3 amp 120 volt drill and it started SMOKING!
I then used good ol' elbow grease and hand cranked that jack down a bit and stopped. I had the power supply ready but started to rain. I plan to order a more heavy duty hand drill at least 8 amps...saga continues.
__________________
John & Debbie
2008 Fleetwood Discovery 40X
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02-16-2020, 02:35 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,080
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KF5UMC
First good for you in fixing the problem yourself. I guess you needed to remove the jack from the coach and have a strap tool to take off the metal strap and once the new brake was installed use the tool to put the strap on. I will need to buy that tool.
Did your panel error when the left rear jack failed to extend? My right rear jack failed to retract until I manually cranked it up just above the lower magnet, then it went up and stopped. Thankfully I'm in South Florida till April so I have time and warm weather to repair the problem. My coach is also a 2008 and I think I will order some spare jack parts too!
Again thanks!
John
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You do not need to remove the jack to change the brake. Remove the black rubber cover being careful not to damage it. With the cover removed there are 2 or 3 screw, don"t remember which, that hold the brake on to the motor.
I did get a panel error when the jack failed to retract. Mine would not retract from the panel no matter what I did. With the brake manually released it would extend and retract from the panel. But of course it would not hold level with the brake disengaged.
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02-18-2020, 03:34 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 821
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Resolved!!
Today with my new DeWalt 10 Amp drill I was able to get one of 4 jacks down when this new drill started SMOKING!
I did not use the power supply to move the jacks as I didn't know what polarity combination lowered the jack and did not want to jam the jack inside the outer jack and break the shear pin...
So after a good amount of time using the ratchet, extensions and a 16mm socket I got all 4 jacks down about 5-6 inches. I then cleaned the inter jacks with de-greaser and a lot of elbow grease got all of the gunk off and the magnets clean.
I then started up the coach, dumped the air bags waited a few minutes then turned on the controller. The controller still indicated ALL JACKS down... I pressed the retract all button and the wait LED was flashing telling me the jacks were in motion and I heard the motors/ jacks come up. The all jacks down LED was off. GOOD. Next I pushed the AUTO button and again the wait LED started flashing and the jacks went down and leveled. GREAT all good now.
I found a great video from Power Gear on this subject and other troubleshooting information.
https://vimeo.com/45602901
But the best info I got was from the folks from this GROUP that provided me much needed insight.
All the best
John
__________________
John & Debbie
2008 Fleetwood Discovery 40X
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07-23-2021, 07:07 PM
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#12
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Member
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Georgia
Posts: 67
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I have this exact system. Techs try to help and sent plenty of info. None of it helped. They had recommended changing out the control panel and the controller i the luggage compartment. Neither of those were the problem. It was a magnet on the left rear leg that had come off. It’s about the size of a dime and is located at the bottom of the leg. If it comes out, the limit switch does NOT see that the leg is in retracted position and gives error signals and locks the system up. I just had to research.
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07-24-2021, 03:41 AM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 821
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marty G.
I have this exact system. Techs try to help and sent plenty of info. None of it helped. They had recommended changing out the control panel and the controller i the luggage compartment. Neither of those were the problem. It was a magnet on the left rear leg that had come off. It’s about the size of a dime and is located at the bottom of the leg. If it comes out, the limit switch does NOT see that the leg is in retracted position and gives error signals and locks the system up. I just had to research.
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Good info to know and thanks for your resolution. Yes the limit switch relies on the magnet to sense the location of the leveling leg. Was the magnet glued on to the leg or pressed on?
John
__________________
John & Debbie
2008 Fleetwood Discovery 40X
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07-24-2021, 07:22 AM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: FL
Posts: 11,441
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Another thing that will make the jack panel go nutso is a bad ECM on the transmission..
Mine got wet and the jack pad went beserk. So did the electronic shift lights.
These things get inputs from many places and one wrong input can make them act crazy.
This is why I almost scream at people to use jack stands when under their Rv's..
If the control pad decides to go into the emergency retract mode the coach can drop like a rock, especially if it is not aired up.
I can run my jacks with the engine off and the key on. If the engine is running and I decide to shift it out of neutral for example, the thing goes nuts and flashes as it retracts all jacks as fast as possible.
So if someone is having issues with them retracting, you might try airing things up and putting it in gear, or let the weight of the house get the jacks started retracting.
__________________
Certified Senior Electronic Technician, Telecommunications Engineer, Telecommunications repair Service Center Owner, Original owner HR 2008
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