Intermittent HWH slide-out malfunction

B Kane · 05-08-2013, 08:32 AM

In the past 8 months my 2006 34Y Journey has been in the shop three times at North Trails RV in Fort Myers FL for an intermittent slide out issue and each time by the the time they get around to looking at it (about 2 weeks) the problem goes away. The Jacks Down warning light flashes and the HWH system (jacks and slides) refuses to work. No clicking sounds when activating the on-off switch, just a dead system. I found a work-around by jumping the hot wire from the solenoid to the pump. This will force the pump on and allow movement of the slides but won't correct the Jacks Down light and incessant dinging of the alarm or allow the jacks to work. Right now the coach in sitting in the back lot at the dealer waiting for it to malfunction again. The problem is that I will be traveling up north with the RV next week and according to Murphy's Law it will not malfunction again until I am on the road or even worse when my jacks are down.
I checked and cleaned all the connections and ground wire and don't know where to go from here. Any Ideas?
I apologize if you read this post twice, since I also posted it on another subsection of IRV2.

Ray,IN · 05-08-2013, 09:06 AM

I'm new at the MH scene, but from what I've read here, clean, tight connections at the batteries, and fully-charged, is very important to things operating correctly.

azpete · 05-08-2013, 09:30 AM

the switch that operates the rooms is supplied by winnebago. it is notorious for failure. i carry at least one spare on hand at all times. i dont have the number, but it is a mom/off.mom switch. the cap pops off, so when you buy a new one, that is not included with the switch. to test it, either swap it with one of the other room switches, or take a 12 volt tester, and check the switch. it will have two lines of tabs. one line controls the hydraulic valves, the other line controls the motor. the center should have a jumper so that both ;lines have power on the center tabs. test the switch to see if both sides are being activated when you press the switch. i know this maybe confusing, but its in the service manual. if you need further help, call me at 602-549-3638. i can help. i will see if i can locate the winnebago number.

B Kane · 05-08-2013, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azpete

the switch that operates the rooms is supplied by winnebago. it is notorious for failure. i carry at least one spare on hand at all times. i dont have the number, but it is a mom/off.mom switch. the cap pops off, so when you buy a new one, that is not included with the switch. to test it, either swap it with one of the other room switches, or take a 12 volt tester, and check the switch. it will have two lines of tabs. one line controls the hydraulic valves, the other line controls the motor. the center should have a jumper so that both ;lines have power on the center tabs. test the switch to see if both sides are being activated when you press the switch. i know this maybe confusing, but its in the service manual. if you need further help, call me at 602-549-3638. i can help. i will see if i can locate the winnebago number.

I don't think that it is a slide out switch is the problem as both slide outs are affected equally and the entire HWH panel is disabled. I have had those toggle switches apart and am aware how easy it would be for them to malfunction. As to the previous post, the battery connections and charge are good and I took sandpaper to all the connections involving the pump and ground wires.

smlranger · 05-08-2013, 12:42 PM

Your best bet, if you can swing it, is to visit the HWH factory service center in Moscow, IA.

RickO · 05-08-2013, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B Kane

I apologize if you read this post twice, since I also posted it on another subsection of IRV2.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I can't add any wisdom to what's already been offered but I deleted your other post on this topic since our rules don't allow for multiple postings.

Best of luck.

Rick

EngineerMike · 05-08-2013, 01:21 PM

Sounds like a power problem, either weak battery voltage to the HWH motherboard, or weak ground connection, or both. Your rig has some years on it and these connections can weaken over time & w/the vibration of travel. Gotta trace the + & - feeds and brighten/tighten them up. Sometimes the system used the base nut that holds the hydraulic manifold w/the solenoid valves onto the motorhome (screws up into manifold from the bottom) as the main ground, sometimes there is a separate main ground.

B Kane · 05-08-2013, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EngineerMike

Sounds like a power problem, either weak battery voltage to the HWH motherboard, or weak ground connection, or both. Your rig has some years on it and these connections can weaken over time & w/the vibration of travel. Gotta trace the + & - feeds and brighten/tighten them up. Sometimes the system used the base nut that holds the hydraulic manifold w/the solenoid valves onto the motorhome (screws up into manifold from the bottom) as the main ground, sometimes there is a separate main ground.

Thanks for your input EngineerMike:
The first time this happened was while driving for 4 hours and the batteries are only 1 year old so I doubt if it is a battery charge issue. I did clean up the connections around the pump and solenoid and North Trail RV said they cleaned up a ground connection under the dash. Wondering out loud if the solenoid can produce an intermittent problem or once they break they are broke? Once when the pump was inoperable I tugged and pulled on all of the wires around the pump to no avail.

Ray,IN · 05-09-2013, 06:11 AM

Forgot to put this in my previous reply:
When we were buying our 2000 Winnegabo the genset would not start. The salesman had it fixed. The problem was a speciality clip/washer on the battery cables was bad. CW replaced it and the Onan genset started and ran normally.

DAN L · 05-10-2013, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B Kane

Thanks for your input EngineerMike:
The first time this happened was while driving for 4 hours and the batteries are only 1 year old so I doubt if it is a battery charge issue. I did clean up the connections around the pump and solenoid and North Trail RV said they cleaned up a ground connection under the dash. Wondering out loud if the solenoid can produce an intermittent problem or once they break they are broke? Once when the pump was inoperable I tugged and pulled on all of the wires around the pump to no avail.

the ground for my hwh pump solenoids is supplied by a large hose clamp that attaches the solenoids to the motor. the motor is painted.

i installed a supplementary ground wire from the clamp to a ground post.
my system still works better with the engine running.
my parking brake must be set. my parking brake switch has been problematic.

my transmission must be in park. my engine will not start if the transmission is not in park. my engine will start if the parking brake switch has not made a connection, but my hwh system will not operate.
per hwh the solenoids mounted on the motor are problematic. they are included when you buy a depressurizing slide or jack solenoid from them. they look like the old ford starter solenoids. there are 2 of them, one for the jacks, one for the slides.
i had problems with my motor too. i got it to run by tapping on it with a hammer while my dw held the switch energized. i replaced the brushes in the motor. that lasted for a while but i ended up buying a new motor.
i hope this helps.

azpete · 05-10-2013, 06:47 AM

if the pump motor runs when you operate the jacks, its good for the rooms. the only thing the rooms have in common is the control box and the 12v relay mounted on the pump. if that operated the other room its good, since all rooms use one solenoid.. the only thing left is the control box. do you have a service manual specific to your coach system. you can do a diagnosis with it up to a point. send an email to [email protected] include your name, address, phone and coach info, like vin model, make and year. they will call you back, or you call me at 692-549-3638. i can help.

Cheryl Bisson · 05-13-2013, 12:08 AM

Have you checked/cleaned all connections on the relay switch? Replacement of that switch corrected our intermittent failure of slides to extend. Our relay switch is located near the pump but not on it.

azpete · 05-13-2013, 08:20 AM

in my post above, my cell number is wrong. its 602-549-3638 paul

B Kane · 05-14-2013, 07:09 AM

Just got the MH back from North Trail RV and they said that whenever they disconnect the power to the solenoid and reconnect it that the problem goes away. They told me that they cleaned up all connections associated with the unit but are unsure they fixed it since the problem goes away after disconnecting the power. He offered to me the option of doing the same if the problem recurs.

Party Barge · 05-16-2013, 09:47 PM

I had an issue with the system not working on an intermitten basis. After researching time, alt, temp, it turned out to be temp. issue. The system stopped working in cold temps. I figured it was a cold soder joint in the control box. Inspeced the boards in the box and did not find any thing.

I order up a new box from hwh and all is was ok.

RAB

B Kane · 06-01-2013, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B Kane

Just got the MH back from North Trail RV and they said that whenever they disconnect the power to the solenoid and reconnect it that the problem goes away. They told me that they cleaned up all connections associated with the unit but are unsure they fixed it since the problem goes away after disconnecting the power. He offered to me the option of doing the same if the problem recurs.

I thought I would provide an update. We left for up north and at our first stop which happened to be Lazy Days in Tampa, the unit malfunctioned again, this time with the jacks down and slides in. The mechanic showed me how to retract the jacks by twisting the wing nuts on the individual solenoids (very nice to know). In about two hours they think they found the problem at the plug in to the mother board where the parking brake sensor tells that the brake is set. I have had the problem recur a couple of times since finding this out and think that moving the plug in back and forth the problem went away. I talked to HWH and they walked me through disassembling the plug to check for a loose pin. I couldn't find one. HWH did say that I could send the mother board back for a rebuild which will be my next option if the problem persists. So far since talking to HWH, the problem has not recurred.

Many thanks to all of you who provided advise. IRV2 rocks!