Hydraulic Pump Quit Working

[r time soon]

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

[atom ant]

So sorry for the troubles, but sounds like you got it worked out!

I've used those reversing solenoids for years on various mods I have done. It came in handy for creating a wireless remote control for the slides, however I don't think I would give up space in my spare parts box for it. The are very hardy and if they fail, they are easily bypassed until you can get one.

[Shane Wood]

Chris
You need to get a better set of knee pads

[r time soon]

Shane, best knee pads that I had with me. Much better than the gravel. Was workable.

Chris

[rickc]

Who is your extended warranty with? 10 months left on our original.

[hoosierguy]

WOW!! $777. for little DC motor? Lippert must have that corner of the market all to themselves. Sounds like a huge rip-off.

[r time soon]

Originally Posted by rickc

Who is your extended warranty with? 10 months left on our original.

Our extended warranty is through American Colonial. They call it Repair Care. It was offered by Tiara RV when we purchased our 2012 36RL in April of 2014. We didn't shop around. It cost $2495 and covers us for the next 7 years. It is transferable. Been happy the two times that we have used it. We figured that the little stuff had been taken care of by the 2 year bumper to bumper coverage from Redwood. Don't want to purchase an A/C or 12 cu ft Norcold refer out of pocket if they go out.

Chris