Lippert Leveling System and Jack Down light

[101stveteran]

Don't know the system but spent a career in aviation maintenance and thought I would throw an idea out there. Could it be the sensor that determines the piston position? Could be everything is working properly but it is a bad indication.

[1mainiac]

The Lippert system uses a pressure sw to tell if the jacks are up so if retract pressure drops the alarm sounds. As you drive the temps and pressures change which will case pressure to rise on one side and lower on the other. If there is any leakage you will lose pressure which sets off the alarm. What they should do is something HWH did many years ago That is they built in a auto retract program you never see working. What happens is instead of setting off a alarm the pressure drop triggers a auto retract and brings the pressure back up if the condition continues for 3 full min then it sets off a alarm letting you know there is a problem. Thousands of people have this happen every time they drive with HWH the difference is HWH put a program in the system so it does not annoy you.

[ccrider,]

Have I been doing something wrong. When I have pushed the retract button and the system has stopped I go out and physically check the see that all are up, I then push the off button and travel with the system off.

[Scuster1]

Originally Posted by ccrider,

Have I been doing something wrong. When I have pushed the retract button and the system has stopped I go out and physically check the see that all are up, I then push the off button and travel with the system off.

Ccrider. No i dont think you are doing anything wrong. Ive all but abandoned auto leveling and auto retract. First manual leveling is so much faster. When you manually retract the jacks you can hear when the pressurize. If it doesnt sound right to me, i put them down and retract until it does sound right. Also check your hydrualic fluid.

[Shellback1]

Originally Posted by Hikerdogs

Lippert recommends having the engine running when either extending or retracting the jacks. The "low voltage" error will come on the panel when the battery voltage goes below 12.7 volts. Since a fully charged battery is only 12.75 volts it doesn't take much of a drain for the "low Battery" code to appear. When the engine is running the alternator charges the battery at as much as 14.1 volts. That's why Lippert recommends having the engine running

When you got the "jacks Down" light were you traveling or did you actually have them extended? We've not had a problem with the light coming on while traveling in our new motorhome, but did have that problem with the HWH system on our previous coach.

Our problem like many others turned out to be a hydraulic line in close proximity to a heat source like the exhaust system. Ours was fairly close to an exhaust manifold. It wasn't so close it was touching rather it was about 3" away. The heat was transferring through the line and causing the hydraulic fluid to expand. The expanding fluid couldn't return to the reservoir so it pushed a jack down slightly.

The jacks only have to move a little more than 1/8" to make the sensor think they are extended and turn on the light. Our problem was resolved by wrapping some foil backed insulation around the hose that was close to the manifold. I made the insulation cover an area about 12" long even though only a couple inches were near the manifold. By extending the insulation beyond the affected area I could hold it in place with a couple wire ties.

Once the insulation was in place the problem was resolved.

I had a recall from Damon on my 2006, to see if the hydraulic lines were too close to the exhaust. The recall was in 2007.

[Shellback1]

2006-09-12 (Published by NHTSA on 2006-09-12)
Recall Summary: ON CERTAIN CLASS A MOTOR HOMES, SOME HYDRAULIC LINES FOR THE LEVELING JACK SYSTEM MAY BE IMPROPERLY SECURED OR ROUTED TOO CLOSE TO A DRIVE TRAIN HEAT SOURCE.
Hazard: THIS MAY CAUSE MELTING OF THE HYDRAULIC LINE RESULTING IN LEAKAGE OF HYDRAULIC FLUID, WHICH COULD CAUSE A FIRE.
Remedy: DAMON WILL INSPECT AND SECURE THE CLEARANCE OF THE HYDRAULIC LEVELING HOSE THAT MAY BE TOO CLOSE TO HEAT SOURCES. THE RECALL BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 25, 2006. OWNERS MAY CONTACT DAMON AT 1-800-860-3812.
Additional Info: DAMON RECALL NO. 06-116.CUSTOMERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO http://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV.
NHTSA Source: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls...l_ID=06V347000

[ccrider,]

Found out today that if you release the park air brake with the engine running and the levelers down they WILL automatically retract. Even if the system is off. That is on my 2009 Coachman.

[Nxkharra]

All, great discussion...lots of expressing similar issues we are all having....one of the jacks extending few inches....jacks down light on....buzzer sounding alerting us that jack is down.....very few solution as what we all should do to remedy the issues.
Does Lippert taking any responsibility for a faulty system? How about Winnebago?
Where can we go to fix these issues even if we are willing to pay for the fix? Dealers can not repeat a intermittent issue. Like going to doctor. I dont know how to look up the hose...dont know where it is.
Sorry for winning...it is frustrating.
Love this forum...and the helpful folks in it.

[audvid1]

Hi there
We have had our Right front jack come down a few inches three times and the left front one time and what I found on all 4 incidents was the retract hose on the pump under our stairs had come loose. I don't understand why it would come loose and the right front I think I finally have fixed since it has not done it again in 8 months. The left front was the last one and that one I can kind of understand it coming loose, it has 2 hoses connected to a T fitting, and where the T fitting goes into the valve block is where it started to come loose, with all the bad roads, made the hoses bounce up and down and eventually made it loose. Tightened and tried to secure hoses from moving again. Dealer said needed to be recalibrated, but it failed after that again, so that is how I figured this out, hope it helps.

Paul

[Nxkharra]

Thanks Paul. How do i find the hose. I have Itasca Meridian. Under the coach or hidden somewhere?

[audvid1]

Hi there
Under the 2nd step down in entry door, there is a bolt under the step, remove that and the step will open up. Under that is the pump and where all the hoses connect to the block assembly. I had to cut open some tie wraps to get to the hose ends. Most of the cables have a tag on them to say what they are, but check them all.
Hope that helps
Paul

[Nxkharra]

Thanks.....will try

[raycyn778]

Originally Posted by SAWTELLE

We have a 2013 Itasca Meridian and also have the same problem. We have found that, after checking to make sure they're up, we give it about 20 min then hit retract, enter, and the light goes off and the buzzer stops! MH is getting a PDI at Tom Johnson now before manufacturers warranty is up and they are looking into the problem. We'll share any info or solution they find.

Hello, I am having the same issues with the leveling jacks as you. I have a 2014 Winnie Adventurer 37f and like you I purchased it from Tom Johnson's. they still have not resolved the jacks down light being on whenever I start the rig and I get on occasion, a "retract timed out service unit" prompt. In fact on a day I was bringing it in for warranty repairs to Tom Johnsons a couple of months ago, I got the prompt on the screen and left it there so that the service writer, Kris Reid could see it. He photographed it for records. When I picked it up, I was told that after they reset it, they could not duplicate the problem and left it that way. I still get the prompt, in fact I was getting it ready yesterday for a 10 day trip at the end of this week and it did it again, does not make for a feeling of confidence. My question is did Tom Johnsons ever resolve it??

Thanks
Ray

[Nxkharra]

I get the time out message also and have to reset periodically....the saga continues....God Bless Lipert.

[Hikerdogs]

Originally Posted by Nxkharra

I get the time out message also and have to reset periodically....the saga continues....God Bless Lipert.

You might want to contact Lippert Products directly. As I recall there was an updated program that could be downloaded to the system to eliminate the "retract timed out - Service Unit" message. Apparently the amount of time the system needed to retract the jacks in cool weather was only a second or less than it took to set the message. A later version of the program extended the time allowed to retract the jacks before the message was displayed.

Lippert - Contact Us
Corporate Office: 574-535-1125
E-Commerce: 574-312-6850
Customer Service: 574-537-8900

We had it happen one time on our 2013 Adventurer as I retracted the jacks when the temperature was -8*F. When I talked to the people at Lippert they recommended having the controller reprogrammed if the problem persisted. In our case there were no further problems so I never perused having the system reprogrammed.

[Nxkharra]

Wow. Thank you. This males sense. Ours is 2013 Meridian. Recently we get the message "time out" a lot. Not in cold condition (California).

[raycyn778]

I agree with the last poster, mine is not in a cold environment either,in fact it does it when I am NOT even operating the jacks. it happens when I start the unit up after it has been parked. But not everytime. What does happen every time is the jacks down light is on. thoughts anyone??
Ray

[SAWTELLE]

Our 2013 Meridian is in Marion NC at Tom Johnson right now for the continued problem with the jacks down issue. We have had continuing problem with the driver side back jack coming down about 2 inches after retracting, however latest from Tom Johnson is a problem with one of the front jacks! Will know more when it's ready and we pick it up. We've found that if we turn the radio up to the level of a teenager it pretty well covered up that annoying buzzer of the jacks down warning-of course our hearing is now getting so bad we probably won't have to do that much longer!!😱

[raycyn778]

Originally Posted by SAWTELLE

Our 2013 Meridian is in Marion NC at Tom Johnson right now for the continued problem with the jacks down issue. We have had continuing problem with the driver side back jack coming down about 2 inches after retracting, however latest from Tom Johnson is a problem with one of the front jacks! Will know more when it's ready and we pick it up. We've found that if we turn the radio up to the level of a teenager it pretty well covered up that annoying buzzer of the jacks down warning-of course our hearing is now getting so bad we probably won't have to do that much longer!!😱

Hi, i was wondering if you got your rig back from Johnsons and if the jacks problem was resolved. I have a service appointment there soon to address the jacks and a lot of other issues but the jacks are a real concern. I just got back from a 10 day trip to the GA mountains and when prepping to leave to come home yesterday, the rear jacks would not fully retract. The drivers side is down about 5 inches and the passenger side is down about 3. I extended and retracted them twice more times and no change and the kicker is that the display shows "jacks fully retracted" and no red light. I only get that when they actually are fully retracted!!!...

HELP!! LOL!

[SAWTELLE]

We just picked up our 2013 Meridian 40u from Tom Johnson and have not put the jacks down yet since getting it home. Will be putting them down today as we leave for Charleston SC Wed so we'll see what happens. I will post an update while on our trip. Our service tech was Mike at the Marion NC location and he said they lowered and raised the jacks several times, even leaving them down for a while before retracting and so far everything seemed fine. I will say that since our passenger front slide was redone last Dec, it has worked great with no problems. Hoping the jacks down problem will now do the same.