Community Forums

capt Frank · 08-08-2011, 10:37 AM

I seem to have a leveler that doesn't want to fully retract. It is far enough retracted that I could travel if the stupid buzzer could be shut off. Does anyone know where the fuse for the buzzer is or is there a better way to disarm it? This is a freightliner chassis, newmar Dutch Star, 1999.

Thanks in advance for help.

codgerbill · 08-08-2011, 10:55 AM

I had the same problem. What I have done is use some silicone spray on the jacks. I wipe the stuff off and then push the button to retract. If they still don't go up all the way I get an 8' 2"X4" and put a gentle pressure to push them up. I talked with the HWH technician in Elkhart Indiana and he indicated that the problem is that they don't get used enough. He said to deploy and retract them occasionally. That has not seemed to work for me but the silicon spray and on occasion the 2"X4" does the trick. The HWH technician also said the seals may be bad too.

srydve · 08-08-2011, 11:36 AM

I developed the same problem and used the 2x4 method to get the difficult one retracted. Calling HWH for support is useless but they do have a ton of information on their site, both general and specific to the various systems. Here is a link to a good explanation of the jack system. http://www.hwhcorp.com/HydraulicsandHWHSystems.pdf If you poke around under the dash I'm sure you can find the buzzer and disconnect it, but it would worry me to drive knowing a jack was not properly retracting, even if it was highly unlikely to come all the way down. In my own case I decided to replace the springs before trying more expensive parts and the new springs fixed my problem.

62Morgan · 08-08-2011, 03:09 PM

I had similar issue. New Springs solved my slow-to-retract one. Since you have a '99 model, check the appearance of the springs to see if they are oem style. Do the ending coils decrease in diameter? The newer ones have a tapering spring as opposed to older[and weaker] barrel or square ended springs. I think it's $25 per jack from HWH. A DIY'er job if you are handyman.

Another tip [as above mentioned] is to wipe-down the ram's shiny portion on a regular basis. Sometimes rainfall and dusty site conditions cause grit to adhere to them & get caught by the seals as the ram retracts. Twisted seals usually reveal a jabbing [vibrating] sound as the unit retracts.

fordcougar · 08-08-2011, 10:58 PM

Mine did the same thing, I know some folks have replaced the springs(probably the best bet) I used a 2x4 and a floor jack(slowly) to press it back up, make sure the controller is in the "retract mode" so the valves are open when you are pushing the jacks back in.

Turferrw · 08-30-2011, 09:26 AM

HWH recommends driving with store mode on if jacks seep down while driving. This cured our warning buzzer issues while driving. Ditto on wiping shiny part of jacks off and using wd40 or silicone. We did this and jacks retract much faster and completely. HWH says it is not required but it made a big difference for us. We have to repeat the cleaning process every few months. Good luck!