Leveling Jacks Dashboard Light

[S.Rodimus]

Hi! I'm new. This is my first post.

We are recently new owners of a 2007 Aspect 26A. It's substantially in great condition, with relatively low mileage for its age. We've only had to fix little issues here and there -- for example a missing drawer latch, a loose window valance, some loose screws, and a window shade whose cords got sucked inside the hem bar.

Anyways, one of the larger things we've realized is that the prior owner removed the leveling jacks alarm (as I understand would make sense given how annoying it can apparently be). The light that goes with same is still there and functional, but appears to somehow have been ripped from the hole on the dashboard that it's supposed to sit in. So, it's just floating back there behind the dash under the steering wheel. For some reason, there doesn't seem to be enough slack in the wiring that we can simply pull it to the hole and re-attach/re-insert it where it belongs.

Any thoughts on why this wire is no longer long enough?

(Disclaimer that I may have other questions relating to the leveling jack system as we learn and investigate it further -- but I'll put those in their own posts if/when we aren't able to figure things out on our own.)

Thanks in advance!

[Morich]

Sounds like the previous owners may have had trouble with jacks down alarms which they felt were in error! so they hid the alarm instead of doing a somewhat easy fix, perhaps?

The jacks down alarm is actually very important if you try to drive away without pulling them up!
But they are also a bit misleading in that they are often set to a float in the fluid, not actually on the jacks! Putting the jacks down uses fluid out of the tank and the alarm comes on.
But it also comes on when the fluid in the tank is low, so maybe check and find an easy fix for the false alarms by topping off the fluid??? Maybe a real problem but maybe not?

Check for them having twisted the wires when they hid the alarms, There should have been enough there but people who do strange things, do strange things to get what they think is the cure???
Once you find you are following folks that solve problems by hiding alarms, you have to be alert!!
Note that I like alarms to keep me from doing the big damage and that alarm is not normally a problem if we keep the fluid topped up right.
Check the manual on the right way to check the level as there may be a hole in the tank side that looks like the right place to check but the correct spot may be a hole on top which is much easier to miss! Set it to the level at the lower hoe and it's sure to alarm!
Getting the right way to check with jacks up or down is important, so check the book for that!

[S.Rodimus]

Originally Posted by Morich

Sounds like the previous owners may have had trouble with jacks down alarms which they felt were in error! so they hid the alarm instead of doing a somewhat easy fix, perhaps? ... Check for them having twisted the wires when they hid the alarms, There should have been enough there but people who do strange things, do strange things to get what they think is the cure???

Hmmm, that's an interesting point. When we had a new Head Unit installed, we asked the tech to also investigate a random wire that we saw hanging down under the dash. He said it was part of "some sort of buzzer." It wasn't until more recently we realized that buzzer was part of the leveling system -- we had assumed it was removed and thrown away, but maybe it's still in there, just disconnected. We shall looksee.

Originally Posted by Morich

The jacks down alarm is actually very important if you try to drive away without pulling them up!

Indeed! I have created a checklist of things to make sure are done before pulling away, and that stays tied to the steering wheel -- so we should be out of that danger for now.

But if that alarm is still under there, perhaps we will reconnect it.

I have seen on many other posts that low fluid is often the simple problem and solution. Definitely will look into that if once connected the light and/or buzzer don't turn off when they should.

[Morich]

I just watching a show about aircraft accidents and the pilots had so many "false alarms" while moving on the ground that they had developed a habit of just reaching behind the seat to trip the alarm breaker!

They found this as they sorted out the wreckage after the crash! They were not able to ask the pilots about it, however!!!

[tim myers]

Some hydraulic jacks that retract by use of a spring do so on a timer. The solenoids stay open until the timer has expired. When you prematurely turn the jacks off with the on/off or cancel switch the solenoids close. In some cases the hydraulic fluid will warm up as you drive and expand just enough to push a jack or two just enough to trigger the Jacks Down sounding the alarm.



I learned this the hard way.

[Ray,IN]

FWIW, most unintentional jacks-down alarms are due to operator error. HWH leveling systems says to allow the store command to run for a minute or so after the jacks-down lights go out and alarm stops.(it will time-out after 20 minutes) This allows any pressure in the hoses to dissipate, thereby reducing the chance of fluid expansion in the hoses from pushing a jack down enough to trigger the sensor.


When we bought this MH I was frequently having to stop and run the store command again to retract the jacks again and stop the alarm. After I learned the above I've never had another unintentional jacks-down alarm.