HWH Leveling System

[Bilito]

I have the unit with the integrated controls, Is anyone familiar with this one?

All the springs on the legs are shot, they are rusted and broken and most legs are held up retracted with a rope.

When I turn the level switch on one of the leveling little white lights comes on and that is all it does

This system sat inop for 4-5 years along with the RV, as you can see by all my posts I am slowely reactivating the whole RV

Can I jump the solonoid on the pump motor just to see if the pump runs?
Will I damage anything doing that?

I know the springs do one thing, they fold the legs back for retraction during the retraction process. I should be able to extend them, even with broken springs. My understanding is that hydraulic pressure locks them in the verticle position against the spring pressure

My brother who lives miles away and is not mechanically inclined says on his he can raise the tires off the ground

[4Knights]

Have you contacted HWH tech support? www.hwh.com

[Winnebeater]

You should be able to jump the solenoid with no issues. The solenoid is simply a electric switch. As for the springs, you are right they simply retract the hydraulic jack and depending on the style system that you have they may cause the jack to fold up against the frame. As for lifting the wheels off the ground, that depends on the system installed as well. My system will lift my front tires about 6" off the ground. The rear however will not lift the tires off the ground.

[Bilito]

Originally Posted by 4Knights

Have you contacted HWH tech support? www.hwh.com

I did and they suggested that I buy this part or that part, I am sure that many parts can be serviced and made well rather then just replacing them.
It seems to me I should beable get the pump running and raise and lower the jacks, all the leveling stuff I can work on once I get the basic system working. I know I will eventually have to buy all new springs but like most of us vintage folk I can not afford to just throw money at something until it works

[jmerritt]

Which HWH system do you have? Sounds similar to my A&E system which was purchased by HWH and is now listed as their HWH 400 system. Not being familiar with yours but you should be able to activate the pump motor relay to see if the pump will run. Also, if it is like mine there are two relays, one for powering the leveling system hydraulic valves and control and the other one for powering the pump motor. Also, you can download from the HWH site the service manual for their leveling systems, I did for my A&E system. Very helpful in trying to troubleshoot problems with the system.

John

[Bilito]

Originally Posted by jmerritt

Which HWH system do you have? Sounds similar to my A&E system which was purchased by HWH and is now listed as their HWH 400 system. Not being familiar with yours but you should be able to activate the pump motor relay to see if the pump will run. Also, if it is like mine there are two relays, one for powering the leveling system hydraulic valves and control and the other one for powering the pump motor. Also, you can download from the HWH site the service manual for their leveling systems, I did for my A&E system. Very helpful in trying to troubleshoot problems with the system.

John

I have what I think is the HWH integrated lever controlled leveling system series 110. It is floor mounted to the left of the driver seat with one lever for each jack. there are white leveling lights for each jack and red warning lights for each jack it has an on off switch and a fuse. my fuse holder is loose and no matter what I do I cannot get the cap off to look at the fuse.
I have an operator manual with lots of drawings and schematics, one shows an inline fuse between the battery pos cable and the pump solonoid but I cannot find it.
I did find what I think is a sensing unit under the middle of the RV
+

[jmerritt]

That sensing unit that you found under the RV might be the leveling sensor for the system. Does it have adjusting screws/springs? Also, the leveling system probably is powered by the chassis battery(s) and not the engine battery so keep that in mind when looking for that inline fuse. I looked on the HWH site for your 110 system and it doesn't look like they have anything for it. What do you have that id's it as the 110 system? Also, be careful when working with the hydraulic jacks with the system on. A jack can swing down under hydraulic pressure and cause some serious injury, so keep your hands clear. On my system the pump and fluid reservoir is mounted down in front of the MH behind the grill. There is a heavy cable from the chassis battery positive to one of the two relays. These relays look like starter relays with two big lugs and two small ones. The large ones are for the heavy battery connection cables to each relay and to the pump motor, the smaller connections are for the control of the relays. So each relay has two large cables and two smaller wires connected to it. That inline fuse on mine is a fuse block of three fuses that receives its power from the first relay of the two I mentioned earlier. Since the light goes on in the control panle it sounds like the fuse in the bad fuse holder is OK. Find out for sure which system you have and we should be able to get you the service manual with all of the info you will need for that system.

John

[jmerritt]

OK, went back and did find the HWH 110 system wiring schematic. Looks like your systerm is an all manual one in that you have to activate each jack to level the coach. White lights are probably the ones that indicate which area of the coach is low. My guess is that sensor you found is the leveling sensor. Looking at the wiring diagram you should be able to power the pump to test to make sure it is OK. Looks like you only have one relay. It may be bad or the connections could just be corroded. If you jumper from the battery to the positive control lug of the relay that should activate the pump. Meter both of the relay large lugs, one of them should have 12v the other one should go to the pump and have 0 volts. The one opposite the pump lug is the 12v power source for the pump. If it doesn't have 12v you need to trace back that heavy cable to find out why.

John

[Bilito]

Originally Posted by jmerritt

OK, went back and did find the HWH 110 system wiring schematic. Looks like your systerm is an all manual one in that you have to activate each jack to level the coach. White lights are probably the ones that indicate which area of the coach is low. My guess is that sensor you found is the leveling sensor. Looking at the wiring diagram you should be able to power the pump to test to make sure it is OK. Looks like you only have one relay. It may be bad or the connections could just be corroded. If you jumper from the battery to the positive control lug of the relay that should activate the pump. Meter both of the relay large lugs, one of them should have 12v the other one should go to the pump and have 0 volts. The one opposite the pump lug is the 12v power source for the pump. If it doesn't have 12v you need to trace back that heavy cable to find out why.

John

Got power to one side of the solonoid, jumped from that lug to the little lug that activates the solonoid, nothing, might be bad ground, the solonoid is attached with a big hose clamp to the pump

[Bilito]

I want to be sure I understnd how my system works or is supposed to work
the instruction manual says
Place gear selector in park
turn ignition switch to on or acc.
turn the rocker switch to level, what happens when you do that, should the pump start?
swing each jack and adjust to level
turn off rocker switch, does that turn off the pump or is it a demand pump that only works when you move a lever

My levers have basically three positions
store, extend and a neutral position, (I think)
in the store position they lock back in a detent
In extend they are pushing against spring pressure, if you stop pushing they go to a sort of neutral

I don't know how it all works because right now it is not working

[Winnebeater]

Mine is slightly different, but has the same basic principle. On mine I have to have the key in the ON or ACC position. Once the key in on then the red jack LED's will light up if any of the jack are not fully stowed even if the power switch on the HWH unit is off. Once the power switch is on then one of four yellow LED's will light up to indicate the lowest side of the motor home. At that point I can use the hydraulic levers to extend the jacks and level the motor home.

[jmerritt]

OK looking at your wiring diagram for the pump realy, one of the smaller control connections goes to ground. The other small control connection should be a blue wire that runs from the master control. That is the wire that activates the solenoid which in turn activates the pump. I'm not sure what you mean by the solenoid is connected by a big hose clamp to the pump. The large lug on the solenoid should be connected to the pump by a large battery type cable. The other large lug of the solenoid should be connected to a 12v power source. That cable should also be fairly large since it has to carry a lot of amps when the pump runs. It looks like from the instructions that the pump will only run when you push a jack control lever to extend. First cycle for each jack is to extend the jack down. Then after all jacks are down, extend each jack separately to level the coach. When any jack control lever is pushed to extend there should be 12v at that blue connection at the solenoid.

John

[jmerritt]

I had to think about what you said about the relay being connected to the pump by a big hose clamp and then I realized what you meant. Both of my relays are mounted on an aluminum tray that is mounted on the pump with a large hose clamp as well. The ground for that relay could be corroded and creating a problem, or maybe just the connection. I would disconnect each connection from the solenoid and clean and then apply some dielectric grease to prevent future corrosion. See if that helps. Also, make sure you have a strong 12v of power going to the relay.

John

[Bilito]

Originally Posted by jmerritt

I had to think about what you said about the relay being connected to the pump by a big hose clamp and then I realized what you meant. Both of my relays are mounted on an aluminum tray that is mounted on the pump with a large hose clamp as well. The ground for that relay could be corroded and creating a problem, or maybe just the connection. I would disconnect each connection from the solenoid and clean and then apply some dielectric grease to prevent future corrosion. See if that helps. Also, make sure you have a strong 12v of power going to the relay.

John

I have removed most wires and cleaned then and smeared dielectric grease on them, here are some pics of what I have, Confirm the pump only runs when Lever is moved to extend of retract, if that is true there must be a pressure switch somewhere

I am dividing my time between messing with the level system, setting vinyl tile in rebuilt bath floor, replacing some rotted flooring near the entry door, and back and forth to the cabinet shop approving this and that for the custom vanity and not kicking over my beer, it's a tough job