Community Forums

joeman3035 · 04-18-2011, 10:12 PM

Hello once again! This weekend was the first time we took our new, to us, 2007 Fleetwood Bounder DP out. Low and behold...problems, who would have guessed it! We had parked for the night outside the racetrack and leveled the coach, next morning woke up hit the retract all button on the PowerGear automatic system and for the next 30 minutes while parking had to put up with beeping! Supposedly the right front jack wasnt up all the way, although it was? The right, front, auto, and manual lights were flashing in sync. We manually put jacks down (using control board) in order to put the slides out. Raced all weekend and hoped problem was a fluke...it wasnt. Then had to manually (using control board again) retract all jacks, except right front. Right front jack we had to crawl under coach and use a wrench and socket MANUALLY turn the nut and retract. Even then the board still had the same lights flashing and beeping noise. If anyone has any suggestions or something we should try it would be awesome to save yet another trip the shop? ???

RickO · 04-18-2011, 10:20 PM

I feel your pain but don't get discouraged. It takes a year or so to get the bugs worked out and the get everything the way you like it so try to roll with it and learn.

I don't know about Powergear but my HWH jacks are known to do the same thing... except I can get my alarm to shut off by just pushing slightly upward on the jacks. The springs can't quite do the job when the jacks get dirty and dry. Did you try just pushing the jack back up into the retracted position? At least with HWH this is a source of frustration for a lot of owners. They came out with stronger retract springs which help but it's still an ongoing maintenance issue to clean and lube the jacks.

good luck...

Rick

joeman3035 · 04-18-2011, 10:32 PM

i will agree with the year or so to get the bugs worked out! haha it is one thing after another so far so pretty soon it should be perfect! lol when you lube the jacks do you just extend them all the way and spray the arm with WD or is there a zert on it somewhere? The more i read about all this stuff im thinking that just take it to a shop and have them do it and try and have them show me would be a better option....

DAN L · 04-19-2011, 12:31 AM

joeman,
i have hwh hydraulic jacks. before i replaced my aft jack springs, sometimes i had to help one or both rear jacks to retract completely.

i carry a 8' long 2x4 to lever the jacks up.

this is very easy to do but should not be necessary.

sometimes spraying the hydraulic cylinder with silicone lube helped.

the 2x4 always worked.

**CLIFFTALL** · 04-19-2011, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeman3035

Hello once again! This weekend was the first time we took our new, to us, 2007 Fleetwood Bounder DP out. Low and behold...problems, who would have guessed it! We had parked for the night outside the racetrack and leveled the coach, next morning woke up hit the retract all button on the PowerGear automatic system and for the next 30 minutes while parking had to put up with beeping! Supposedly the right front jack wasnt up all the way, although it was? The right, front, auto, and manual lights were flashing in sync. We manually put jacks down (using control board) in order to put the slides out. Raced all weekend and hoped problem was a fluke...it wasnt. Then had to manually (using control board again) retract all jacks, except right front. Right front jack we had to crawl under coach and use a wrench and socket MANUALLY turn the nut and retract. Even then the board still had the same lights flashing and beeping noise. If anyone has any suggestions or something we should try it would be awesome to save yet another trip the shop? ???

I'm guessing you have the power gear electric jacks. They're not so bad ,but you do need to know a few particulars about them in order to keep your hair in you head. Here is a long thread that will help you http://www.irv2.com/forums/f107/powe...lem-53137.html .

Post there anytime you need help and there are a few of us that will jump in and try to assist. In the meantime , I think you'll find your answers somewhere in this thread. You'll need to know what control board and wiring harness you have as they both have been updated since 2007.

AFChap · 04-19-2011, 08:10 AM

I've never "lubed", wiped down, or touched my HWH jacks or had any reason to ...maybe because they get regular exercise with at least one or more full cycle a month? If you do choose to lube them etc, you need to know the recommendations of your specific mfg'er, and you need to be sure what you use and how you use it won't make the problem worse and/or cause other problems.

**CLIFFTALL** · 04-19-2011, 08:25 AM

In 07,08 and some 09's, Bounder used Elec jacks.

jim.smithjr · 04-19-2011, 08:48 AM

Try removing the fuse, wait a few seconds and put it back in. Often rebooting the system will correct these problems. I confused them on mine once, and that worked for me.

az bound · 04-19-2011, 09:15 AM

Some Power Gear jacks have a grease zerk at the top of the jack that needs an ocasional lubing.

**CLIFFTALL** · 04-19-2011, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by az bound

Some Power Gear jacks have a grease zerk at the top of the jack that needs an ocasional lubing.

I still think he has the Elec jacks and they don't need or should you grease them per Power Gear. Let's wait till the OP returns for clarification as all the advice so far has been for hydraulic jacks and that will do him no good if he does in fact have Elec. Just my opinion.

joeman3035 · 04-19-2011, 12:41 PM

Sorry it took so long to get back on here but to clarify they are the electric jacks. We had to remove the little rubber bootie and release the brake and turn the nut to bring the jack up. Off hand i don't know the exact control board? But I did find some resetting information on PowerGear's website I might try that tonite but I still would like to know why this happened? If something needs replaced, like everyone says, I will just take it to the shop instead of having the headache of doing this all the time. Does anyone know of any problems that would cause this to happen? Thanks guys you are all helpful!!!! Keep up the good work! Il keep you all updated on the resettting tonite! Might even try calling PG to see if they know of any causes. (fingers crossed!)

**CLIFFTALL** · 04-19-2011, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeman3035

Sorry it took so long to get back on here but to clarify they are the electric jacks. We had to remove the little rubber bootie and release the brake and turn the nut to bring the jack up. Off hand i don't know the exact control board? But I did find some resetting information on PowerGear's website I might try that tonite but I still would like to know why this happened? If something needs replaced, like everyone says, I will just take it to the shop instead of having the headache of doing this all the time. Does anyone know of any problems that would cause this to happen? Thanks guys you are all helpful!!!! Keep up the good work! Il keep you all updated on the resettting tonite! Might even try calling PG to see if they know of any causes. (fingers crossed!)

Was there water in the boot? The most common problem has been water getting into the top part of the boot and corroding the brake. This is talked about extensively in the link I posted for you. Basically what we did was remove the plastic wire tie and replaced it with a metal hose clamp and then siliconed the top of boot. Those of us that have done that have been trouble free.

The revised control board is 140-1226 REV OK. The wiring harness attached to it should have multi-colored wires. The old one was all black. If you don't have these two revisions , you will be subject to other issues. There are magnets on each jack . They are silver in color about the size of a dime and need to be wiped down if they become dirty or greasy .These are sensors and will tell the control board when the jack is fully extended or retracted. If they are dirty, you run the risk of breaking a shear pin. DON"t EVER GREASE THE JACK LEGS.

All of this with links to PG tech docs. and photos are on that link .

Good luck

Elkhartjim · 04-19-2011, 07:27 PM

As politely as I can be, please don't try the suggestions given from those that have hydraulic jacks or you will make things worse.

The jack that failed failed due to the magnet being dirty. The jack could not sense the position so it went into alarm.

As Cliff stated, go to the thread he posted and do some reading as all the problems and solutions have been discussed in detail. You need to identify the wiring harness and control module you have and also whether the boots have the hose clamp installed.

I would also suggest you post on that thread if you have other Power Gear questions as there are several readers subscribed that will be able to give information also.

You'll get through this, its just another learning curve. BTW, I would call Norcold to make sure the recall has been done on your refer.

joeman3035 · 04-19-2011, 11:47 PM

No water in anything and the brake lever that you have to turn didn't even look corroded? But tonite did end up attempting to reset the system...reset and the right front lights went off BUT instantly went back into error mode and kicked the left rear lights! Reset again and back up to the front right....it's going to the shop tomorrow and we are hoping that the bill isn't too high :/ thank you for everyones help!!!!! Don't know what I would do if I wasn't a member on here! Best thing I have ever done was join here!!!