Community Forums

laplatarosa · 01-20-2019, 11:40 AM

We have a 2013 Providence 42P with power gear hydraulic jacks.

I was exercising the engine today so I thought I might as well re-level the coach. The driver side rear jack only came up about 1.375 inches. I tried a couple of times, each with the same result. That jack extends and the coach seems to level OK. The remote control panel shows no lights; so the control panel thinks that jack has fully retracted. I tried prying that jack up while the hydraulic pump was running, but could not move the jack pad at all. The hydraulic fluid reservoir seems to have plenty of fluid.

Any ideas?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Laplatarosa

ga traveler · 01-20-2019, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laplatarosa

We have a 2013 Providence 42P with power gear hydraulic jacks.

I was exercising the engine today so I thought I might as well re-level the coach. The driver side rear jack only came up about 1.375 inches. I tried a couple of times, each with the same result. That jack extends and the coach seems to level OK. The remote control panel shows no lights; so the control panel thinks that jack has fully retracted. I tried prying that jack up while the hydraulic pump was running, but could not move the jack pad at all. The hydraulic fluid reservoir seems to have plenty of fluid.

Any ideas?

Thank you in advance for your help.

You canNOT retract the jack unless the retract solenoid is open. You are pushing against a solid fluid block. Have someone hold the retract button while you are prying the jack back up. If the solenoid is bad, You must loosen the line at the solenoid or jack so the fliud can be pushed out of the jack.

alank · 01-20-2019, 05:39 PM

Do you have spring return jacks? If you do, you need better lubrication on the rams or you may have a weak spring. The fact that the control unit allows it to retract at all, indicates it's OK.

If you have hydraulic retract, then two valves for that jack must be open at the same time. The retract valve must remain open until the jack is pushed all the way up. At the same time, the return valve for the oil being pushed out of the top of the jack must remain open so that oil can return to the supply tank. That could be done by two separate valves, or by a single solenoid operating two valve seats.

In either case if you want to retract it by hand, some valves need to be manually opened.

laplatarosa · 01-22-2019, 06:53 AM

How do I determine which type of jacks I have?

I do not see any springs. I do see two hydraulic lines going to each jack.

Where will I find instructions for bleeding air from the system? Where will I find which model pump/motor I have?

On the pump, I have a couple of solenoids that seem to have a push button on their ends, but not all of the solenoids. The pump does not seem to have any label identifying which solenoid is for which jack.

Thanks,

Laplatarosa

ga traveler · 01-22-2019, 08:15 AM

Your jacks are powered up and down. No springs. It sounds like your solenoid is bad or the signal to it is bad. Get online to the power gear site and find your system and it will help you trouble shoot the system. You can call them at 1-800-334-4712.

ga traveler · 01-23-2019, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laplatarosa

How do I determine which type of jacks I have?

I do not see any springs. I do see two hydraulic lines going to each jack.

Where will I find instructions for bleeding air from the system? Where will I find which model pump/motor I have?

On the pump, I have a couple of solenoids that seem to have a push button on their ends, but not all of the solenoids. The pump does not seem to have any label identifying which solenoid is for which jack.

Thanks,

Laplatarosa

You determine the jack type by comparing the picture of the control panel. You will find the pictures on the Power Gear literature. Bleeding the power gear jacks is just running them up and down a couple of times.

laplatarosa · 01-23-2019, 01:56 PM

Thanks all for your help. I was able to get the offending jack to finally retract. It turns out I was a little low on fluid, and I pushed the button on the end of the solenoid that released some pressure in the offending jack.

How are the buttons on the end of the solenoid intended to be used?

Thanks again for all your help.

Laplatarosa

KF5UMC · 01-23-2019, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laplatarosa

How do I determine which type of jacks I have?

I do not see any springs. I do see two hydraulic lines going to each jack.

Where will I find instructions for bleeding air from the system? Where will I find which model pump/motor I have?

On the pump, I have a couple of solenoids that seem to have a push button on their ends, but not all of the solenoids. The pump does not seem to have any label identifying which solenoid is for which jack.

Thanks,

Laplatarosa

Hydro jacks- above the jack pad, are shinny electric jacks are not.

z3406 · 01-24-2019, 08:19 AM

While on the subject of jacks not retracting. If you do have the spring return jacks there may be a grease fitting at the bottom of each hydraulic cylinder. Hitting that with grease once in awhile really helped the retract time on my 2016 Bounder.

zorro2kita · 01-24-2019, 07:14 PM

On my Pace Arrow, only the rear jacks had zerk fittings - found them by accident - My routine was to spray silicone on the 4 rods prior to retracting jacks - never had a jack not retract going forward.