We went glamping 2 weekends ago. Loaded our stuff. Brought in our bedroom schwintek slide out, then the remaining 2 slide outs. Raised rear jacks, returned Redwood to truck unhitch height. Hooked to truck. Retracted front jacks. Turned off leveling control panel and drove less than an hour to our campground. Filled with filtered water. Drove to our campsite.
Opened control panel for leveling, pushed 'front' to lower the front jacks and hydraulic pump didn't run. Only clicking could be heard from inside front storage/ battery area. Plugged RW into shore power thinking that possibly batteries were low/ truck not charging but this made no difference. No matter what I tried the hydraulic pump wasn't turning on or pumping. Our unit is a 2012 36RL. We purchased in April of 2014. I check water in batteries twice per year. Make sure all connections are tight and secure. I work with RV's everyday. Have for over 13 years.
Our Tow Vehicle is a 2008 F250 Long bed. With the RW being on the hitch I couldn't open the front compartment door all the way. Maybe half way until it hit the bumper. I am not a little guy. About 6' 1" and 250 lbs, it was not an easy fit to get inside to do some trouble shooting. I carry quite a few spare parts, and tools. Used the meter to check voltage at various places. Removed battery box covers, removed cables and checked batteries independently. I have MyLCI1 app on my iPhone too. I also have pages for most components in the Redwood in a 3 ring binder. Even Lippert sheets. Followed some of their testing procedures. Made a wire jumper to test Trombetta functions. Trombetta is the 12v reversing polarity solenoid that powers the electric motor and ultimately the hydraulic pump. Removed leveling panel, unplugged for 10 minutes or so. Plugged back in and display showed 'error'. But not any specific error, so it didn't help to find a cause of the problem. Being that it was after 7:00 I wasn't able to get any help that evening. Opened the bedroom, which is schwintek, and slept the night away until morning. Could access right side of refer, bedroom and bathroom. Way off from being level, but comfortable.
Next morning made several calls to Lipperts customer service. After more testing it was determined that it was a bad electric motor. I called Tiara in Elkhart to get our extended warranty companies information and phone number. Was told their procedure. Located a mobile RV tech in Elkhart. They gave diagnosis and estimate to Ins Co. Went to Lipperts sample street warehouse in south bend, picked up motor. Returned to campground. Installed the electric motor and the hydraulic pump roared back to life.
Thank goodness we had the extended warranty. Electric motor is $777 on lipperts web site. Seen at a few other places around $820. Service call, driving and labor ran to over $1260 Our deductible is $50
I plan on carrying a spare polarity reversing solenoid ( trombetta ) with me. They are typically under $20 on ebay. They also use them for winches on ATV's,, etc. Cheap insurance if that part fails. I will not spend $777 to have a spare motor with us. Could have manually ran pump with electric drill using a 1/4" hex bit on the top of the motor, but you needed a 5/32" allen wrench to turn the proper valves to run the right components.
Didn't notice but a slight bit slowing down of the hydraulics the past few times we camped. Didn't have any problems other than they ran a little slower than normal. I figured it was the oil viscosity getting thicker due to the cooler temps, but maybe it was time for the motor to quit.
Chris
Glad to hear you got it working. Do the pump motors fail often. Haven't heard of many issues. I know the trombetta solenoids can be an issue and I have a spare as well
Don't discard that motor until you have a chance to take it to a motor shop. There is a chance they can fix that at a very reasonable cost. Then, you have a spare if that ever happens again.
I had a similar issue not too long ago but it turned out to be a loose connection on the solenoid you show below. After checking all other connection, I found a few other loose connections as well. Make this a normal part of your PM program...Check your connections frequently.
Shane, our 2012 is an early 2012. So 4 1/2 years use of the pump. Not sure of normal cycles expected. We don't full time. But use our Redwood often. Our connections are and were always snug and tight. I figure that loose connections will cause extra heat and premature failure. Not sure why it just quit.
Chris
Thanks Chris
That is great insurance. Could you share the name of the company? My pump motor failed after several months on our 2013 RL due to a loose connection on the pump motor. Had only operated the system about a dozen times. I had everything replaced as Lippert had redesigned the system (hydraulic valves, pump, etc.). Very salty - north of $3,000.00. Checking for loose connections in the battery box area (CB's, valves, pump motor, etc.) is a must-do on my list every time out. Also went through the all the cables/conductors and ty-wrapped everything solid to reduce motion at the connections. Would be tempting to redo all the wiring in that area someday. I kept the old system will have the motor checked for repair costs this spring.
Don't discard that motor until you have a chance to take it to a motor shop. There is a chance they can fix that at a very reasonable cost. Then, you have a spare if that ever happens again.
I had a similar issue not too long ago but it turned out to be a loose connection on the solenoid you show below. After checking all other connection, I found a few other loose connections as well. Make this a normal part of your PM program...Check your connections frequently.
I wish I could have the Motor rebuilt. The repair people have to send it in to the insurance company. Probably to verify that they actually performed the repair. I agree with you, I wish I could have a spare handy in case that ever happens again.
Chris
