Community Forums

bandmbrown · 10-15-2011, 06:02 PM

38 foot diesel class a pusher....power gear electric jacks with auto leveling.
problem initiated when i tried to retract yesterday. pushed retract all jacks.
got a slight retraction then blinking lights. tried several more times with the same results. then went into manual retraction. all worked but the rear passenger side. got an immediate blinking failure. went back to the auto retract to try and inch them up a bit. then started the engine and it went into a forced retraction.
any suggestions on why the rear jack just inched up during auto retract and went into immediate failure during manuel retract.
thanks

Alan24601 · 10-16-2011, 02:46 PM

Most likely that jack has a failed motor. Just had the same experience.. I did find new motor on eBay so if they have the one you need it might save some money. You can put an ammeter on the motor and check the current draw. Power gear has on line resources to help.

Midniteoyl · 10-16-2011, 02:49 PM

Has anyone ever pulled these motors apart? If they have brushes, it would be an easy fix to get them running again, more than likely...

slammer · 10-16-2011, 03:10 PM

Go to the "Fleetwood Products Owners Forum" on this site and do a search for "powergear electric jacks". These problems and some solutions have been discussed and discussed and cussed for many, many pages. Good luck.

**CLIFFTALL** · 10-16-2011, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bandmbrown

38 foot diesel class a pusher....power gear electric jacks with auto leveling.
problem initiated when i tried to retract yesterday. pushed retract all jacks.
got a slight retraction then blinking lights. tried several more times with the same results. then went into manual retraction. all worked but the rear passenger side. got an immediate blinking failure. went back to the auto retract to try and inch them up a bit. then started the engine and it went into a forced retraction.
any suggestions on why the rear jack just inched up during auto retract and went into immediate failure during manuel retract.
thanks

Sounds to me like you have a brake issue. There is a rubber boot on the bottom of the motor that covers this brake. A lot of us have found that this boot needs to be sealed to the motor with silicone to prevent water intrusion which corrodes the brake. There is a ton of info in this thread http://www.irv2.com/forums/f107/powe...lem-53137.html .

Also the techs at Power Gear are very helpful and respond to emails quickly. You can email them at info@powergearus.com .They will walk you through some diagnostic steps. If you send an email now, you will hear from them as soon as they get in tomorrow. Good luck and please update us when you can.

**CLIFFTALL** · 10-18-2011, 10:44 AM

Any update yet??

bandmbrown · 10-18-2011, 02:57 PM

Got to the new camp site. Jacks went down with no problem. Ended up with a plumbing problem not related..so jacks are on hold for a few days.

**CLIFFTALL** · 10-18-2011, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bandmbrown

Got to the new camp site. Jacks went down with no problem. Ended up with a plumbing problem not related..so jacks are on hold for a few days.

My jack that got water intrusion worked a few times and then locked up. If you read the thread I linked for you, you'll see how some have dealt with the corrosion in the early stages and were able to get it working again. Good luck.

TAZ · 10-18-2011, 08:54 PM

Not sure if this helps but my atwood jacks need sufficient current to work and require the motor to be running. Could it be the battery was low when retracting. My left rear is the longest run from the control module and would draw the most current. Just a thought.

Dave78Chief · 10-19-2011, 01:14 PM

For reference, there are several documents at PowerGear related to Brake replacement kit due to corrosion, seal kit to prevent corrosion, installation, operation, emergency operation, Motor replacement, and Troubleshooting the electric leveler system.
Technical Documents - Power Gear

Dave

Alan24601 · 10-19-2011, 08:57 PM

The premise that the jack furthest from the control module will draw the most current is not exactly correct. THe wires to that jack are longest so they will have the most resistance. Those wires will have the largest voltage drop so the motor will actually have a lower voltage so it will not have as much power available, this motor will probably run slower and retain more heat which eventually will cause it to fail. Power = I (current) X E (voltage) or I squared X Resistance. Some motor control circuits have sense lines back to the control module voltage regulator and it increases the voltage to compensate for line loss. My Power Gear slides and jacks do not have this feature as near as I can tell so they always say run the engine so you have maximum possible voltage and therefore power at each motor.