BigFoot Auto Level

[touringmn]

My new to us 5er is no longer auto-leveling?

Any suggestions; I can not even manually get the rear legs to extend.

Perhaps it is a hydraulic fluid level problem. I do not know where to start to assess and resolve my problem.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Itinerant1]

Is there power to the display for starters? Each leg has it's own hyd reservoir so its unlikly the problem. It sounds like no power problem with little info given.

[Duoglide1]

I don't have my book with me now but they are still in business and you should be able to contact the manufacturer for tech help. I'll check my manual tonight when I get back to the trailer. Good luck.

[touringmn]

No plenty of power to the system. All unit lights are displaying. And we are on shoreline power, or still hooked to the truck.

[jpharley]

Maybe contaminated fluid in the reservoirs. We had that happen to one of our levelers. Once we replaced the fluid, it worked fine.

[Half Dimes]

Here's the link to the Big Foot website. There are phone numbers for 24/7 help as well as an email contact on that site. They're generally a very responsive and helpful company. Good luck.

[AtomicRT]

I can't explain this technically, but this is what happened when we picked up our used trailer from the dealer. Shore power plugged in but Big Foot system suddenly not working. Techs tried a bunch of re-sets, etc. Nothing. As sort of a last resort, they put a brand new 12 volt battery in. Bingo. It's been working good ever since.

[Half Dimes]

And check the two circuit breakers on the inside wall of the battery compartment. They're on the right hand side on our rig, very hard to see them.

[Half Dimes]

Originally Posted by AtomicRT

I can't explain this technically, but this is what happened when we picked up our used trailer from the dealer. Shore power plugged in but Big Foot system suddenly not working. Techs tried a bunch of re-sets, etc. Nothing. As sort of a last resort, they put a brand new 12 volt battery in. Bingo. It's been working good ever since.

Good point! We had a similar problem a couple of years ago where the hydraulic slides wouldn't retract. Found a slightly loose cable and some corrosion on one of the battery terminals. There was still enough power to other battery dependent items, just not enough for the hydraulics. Cleaned, tightened the terminals and cables and everything worked.
The reason the cable was loose (about 1/8th turn) was that when the battery tray was pushed back in, the cable would rub against the side of the compartment just enough to loosen it.

[Itinerant1]

From the trouble shooting guide

[Panel won’t turn on, system won’t run, clicking noise, FRONT & REAR lights flash…
Battery low, panel won’t turn on = coach battery, the system relies on the house battery. The battery needs to be nearly 100% charged for the system to work, it doesn’t make a difference if the coach is new, that doesn’t mean the battery is fully charged or even good. Battery’s don’t charge instantaneously, so one can’t just expect to hook it up to a charger and the system will work immediately, if the battery is good, then the unit might have a ground issue.
Must un-plug/re-plug the interface cable to clear code on panel regardless.

[Half Dimes]

Hopefully the OP will get back to us and let us know what the problem was.

[bddadles]

The first thing I would check if Auto level doesn't work is if the rear jacks are fully retracted. If they are not Auto level will not work. I also believe that in order to use the jacks individually you have to put the system into Manual mode.

Brad

[touringmn]

As suggested by DuoGlide and HalfDime;

I did get ahold of the manufacturer, tech support called me back in less than 30 minutes and talked me through the issues.

1. Raise the front jacks a little bit - hold the Front for 3 secs.
2. Hold the Emergency Retract for an equivalent 3 secs.

That did it, it raised the one rear leg that was not fully retracted.
Then the auto level worked as designed.

He then identified that the cause is generally the limiter switch. He talked me through the necessary steps to replace them. Both of them as it can not be determined the true cause of the problem. He also assured me that there is no need for a "for Dummies" instruction manual to manage this repair.
So for a simple phone call and 2 x $36 I should have a fully operational system next week when the parts are received.

[Half Dimes]

touringmn,
Thanks for getting back to us. I plan on printing your response and keeping it with my BigFoot info. Never know when it might come in handy!