Landing-Gear Fuze Blowing

wolf59a · 01-11-2012, 12:10 PM

Took delivery of our 38BR a couple months ago. Loving it!

One recurring problem, though: the hydraulic/Auto Level system keeps blowing its 10-amp fuze. First time it happened, discussed with Redwood service and they explained how to locate the problem fuze, they were extremely cooperative and friendly, got us going in no time. But it keeps happening. We've put about 2000 miles on our coach so far, and I've had to replace that fuze 6 times...

Is anyone else seeing that problem?

Thanks!

DoddsCP · 01-11-2012, 03:43 PM

I have a Redwood 36RE that I purchased in October 2011 and I haven't had any trouble with it blowing the fuses. Sounds like something is shorting out somewhere. Are the fuses blowing when you are bringing the slides in or out?

**hoosierguy** · 01-11-2012, 04:11 PM

We have 2012 RW 36Rl and I had a problem with that hidden 10 Amp DCfuse blowing once on the 8th time I tried to raise Auto-Level system to hook-up my truck to put our coach away for the winter. After I found the fuse and replaced it, I was able hook-up and put the coach away.

I recently requested information and drawings from Redwood some of which are LCI documents. A couple of those documents show a 15 Amp DC fuse. So, I have emailed customer service at Redwood yesterday and asked if the fuse should be changed to a 15 Amp fuse. I haven't received an answer yet. There may actuallybe a short in the system somewhere because I had actually leveled the coach and put out the slide-outs and everything had worked okay. But, the next time I went use the Level-Up panel, there was no power to the panel.

I will post whatI find out from customer service.

DoddsCP · 01-12-2012, 10:48 AM

Where is the "hidden" 10 amp fuse? Can you upload the document you have showing where it is located and post to this site? So far I haven't had any trouble with my leveling system, knock on wood.

**hoosierguy** · 01-12-2012, 11:43 AM

Charlie,

On my 36RL, I had to get up inside the equipment bay at the front of the coach; a somewhat tight sqeeze. I then followed the cables for the Level-Up control system by running my hand along the cables from the main level sensor, that is mountedon the ceiling of the equipment bay in the center of the coach, to the hydraulic pump motor. The fuse pod was actually "hidden" because it was on the back side of cable about 12 to 16 inches above the pump motor and I only found it becuase I could feel the pod when my hand came down that cable.I could not actually seethe poduntil I pulled it around the cable to the front side. The pump motor and hydraulic valve assembly is on the right wall of the equipment bay. It took me a couple of evenings working with a trouble light up inside that equipment bay to get a little understandingof everything I was seeing there.

I don't know if the fuse sizing is just marginal and occasionally the motor draws enough current to make the fuse blow (in that case the fuse could probably be increased in Amps by a step or two) or, if there may be an issue with a short circuit occasionally making contact somewher in the cabling. When I saw in the LCI documents, reference to a 15 Amp fuse, I thought maybe the wrong fuse size has been used by the supplier of the hydraulic system. That was my reasoning for asking Redwood customer service about this issue.

I will try later tonight to see if I can post the LCI documents.

wolf59a · 01-12-2012, 01:10 PM

Thanks to all for your help.

By hidden, as pointed out by Guy & Phillis, I meant that it's in the front compartment where the batteries and hydraulics are located. It's in a fuze holder; I see a total of three holders (that 10-amp, plus a 15 and a 30).

My problem is with the auto-leveling system control pad, not the slides. However, we've been camping and moving in relatively cool weather (several nights below freezing), and that definitely seems to affect the hydraulics.

There seems to be a thermal-protection device installed to protect the hydraulic pump. On many, many occasions in cooler weather, that device tripped and I had to wait about 10 seconds before I could continue the operation (this applied to the slides as well as the landing gear). I'm starting to suspect there might be a relationship between those tripping events and the 10-amp fuze blowing.

I'm a little unsure about installing a 15-amp fuze since Redwood probably determined that the circuit needed 10-amp protection. So I'm going to start with a 10-amp manual-reset ATC circuit breaker instead, and continue to monitor.

I'll keep you posted, and thanks!

Guzz1 · 01-12-2012, 01:53 PM

I took delivery of my 36RL early in Dec. 2011. The temp was minus 4C and we did have a few issues getting it off the delivery truck and leveled up in the driveway. We put the slides out and did the walk through. When I went to put the coach away for the winter several days later there was no power to the leveling panel and the slides did not want to come in more than about 10cm at a time. I found the 10 amp fuse with no trouble as it had been pulled to the front of the bunch of wires and the cap was off the fuse holder, leading me to think that this was not the first time this had happened. Hopefully the warm spring weather will bring an end to these problems.

I look forward to our first trip in early May.

**hoosierguy** · 01-12-2012, 06:36 PM

Here is a link to one of the LCI documents that references the 15 Amp fuse. Look at page 11 of 12. It is not clear to me if this is the same fuse that I found blown, but, it is in a similar location. This made me think that I should ask Redwood customer service about the size of the fuse.
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ffice

ffice" />
< http://www.lci1.com/images/Flyers/Owners_Manuals/Leveling/om-electronic-leveling-ii-operation.pdf >

I have not had any problem with the two thermal fuses that automatically reset.

When I get an opportunity, I plan to measure the current in the circuit with the 10 Amp fuse while the leveling system is operating. Once I know that value, I can properly size the fuse myself.

wolf59a · 01-13-2012, 10:44 AM

Thanks. Since the document discusses the system for a class-A motorhome, I'm not sure either that it's the same wiring and fuzes.

**hoosierguy** · 01-13-2012, 05:34 PM

I have looked at most of the documents on the LCI web site. I don't see anything that is specific to theexact system that is being used on thethe Redwood.There seems to be several generations of manual to automatic leveling systems and it appears to me that they are very similar. They appear to use some of the same components in most of the systems.

I haven't received any response yet from customer service concerning the fuse size.

balorenz · 01-14-2012, 01:07 PM

My experience with blowing the 10 amp fuse for the LCI Level Up system on my Redwood 36FB was a little different. I had read all the related postings on the Forum prior to taking delivery so I was somewhat familiar with what to look for...
The Level Up System worked fine throughout the pre-delivery orientation/walk-thru on our 36 FB. BUT... when I retracted the Main Slides, I wasn't sure they were all the way in so Idepressed theretract button again and a little longer that I should have... When I went to the Level Up control panel to retract the landing gear, I discovered there was no power to the panel. The 10 amp fuse had blown. It was replaced with a 10 amp 'circuit breaker'. Both slide outs and landing gear have worked fine since, although used very little with it being the middle of winter.
It would appear that the Level Up control panel runs off the same circuit that powers the hydraulic system that drives both the slide out and leveling systems???

wolf59a · 01-14-2012, 02:43 PM

Balorenz, that actually sounds very much like my problem. Since all the hydraulics (slides and auto-level) work off the same pump, I'm starting to think that whenever the thermal protection on that pump trips (higher resistance due to cold weather? depressing the retract button a little longer than necessary?), it somehow causes a spike in the electrical circuits, enough of a spike to blow the 10-amp fuze that seems to be protecting the auto-level control pad.

I just installed a 10-amp, manual-reset circuit breaker instead of that fuze (manual because for now, I still want to know how often that fuze would have blown). I'm not going to use the coach for a couple of weeks, but I'll post my results as soon as we take it out.

Concours12000 · 01-15-2012, 10:55 AM

Had the problem of the display being blank.
I was told to disconnect the red wire on the leveling sensor for 1 minute and this would reset the dispay
Or pull the display panel out and disconnect the wire plug and wait a minute for panel to reset.
Pulling panel out and resetting that way worked for me.
Also found that if you do not have two batteries the level system will not work properly.
My dealer only put one battery in and that is when I had a my troubles.
Trailer would not level it's self and screen would go blank.
Another thing that helped was to plug in power cable and then everything work perfect.
Since installing second battery everything has worked perfectly without plugging in to shore power.

DoddsCP · 01-16-2012, 12:48 PM

I found a Level Up manual that works on my unit and the control panel looks and operates like the one on myunit. Unfortunately it is in PDF format and I don't think I can past it to this site.The PDC file is from Lippert Components, Inc and is called Ground Control - Gen II - 6-Point. I will try to find the link to where Ifound it and let you know. I wish Redwood did a better job of putting things like this in the owner guide.

**hoosierguy** · 01-17-2012, 05:07 PM

Charlie,

Thanks for the reference on the manual. The link to it is:

< http://www.lci1.com/images/Flyers/Owners_Manuals/Leveling/om-GroundControl-6-pointWeb.pdf>

This is an operations manual. I have been searching a service manual that shows the electical connections information but haven't been succesful so far. Redwood's customer service sent me several different connection manuals but nothing specific to what is being used on the Redwood coaches.

If anyone finds something on the electrical connections, let us know.

Thanks,

wolf59a · 01-26-2012, 02:01 PM

Well, our dealership did some work on our hydraulic system; they seemed to know what to do, it must be a recurring issue.

They checked our house battery and somehow it was not holding its charge. They replaced it with a new one. They also replaced the 50-amp self-resetting breaker that feeds the entire hydraulic system (located on the sidewall near the hydraulic tank). Apparently the original was not of great quality, they put in a Bussmann.

Not sure exactly what did it, but we took our coach out last weekend and all of the hydraulic worked perfectly (and faster).

Hoping that solved it for good!

Flyfisher · 02-20-2012, 06:22 AM

We brought our new 36RE home from the dealer on Thursday and set it up in our front yard without any problems. All systems were working fine. Yesterdday morning I was going to hook it up and tow it to the storage area. The Levelup control panel would not power up. I called the Lippert "hot line" and they were unable to give me much help over the phone. I tried disconnecting the control panel for a few minutes as suggested by others on this forum and that did not reset the system. I will call the dealer today and hopefully they can send someone over here to get me going again. I'll let you know how that turns out. We are very happy with the new unit otherwise. We only wish that we could have broke down in a more scenic spot!!
Happy trails
Brett n Jan

lillyputz · 02-20-2012, 07:28 AM

With that many Redwoods having a problem with the level up fuse. I can't understand why they just keep on shipping them, with out fixing a known problem. So everytime you use your rig, you have to worry if the system will work or not. Terrible PR.

Lillyputz

**Dave&Ginny** · 02-20-2012, 08:26 AM

That's very disappointing! I would assume that the company would have fixed this problem considering I've read several posts about this problem.

Cyberdave · 02-20-2012, 10:41 AM

Just a thought but why not email Tom and suggest he look at this thread and others like it. As concerned as he is over building a good rep... It may be what is needed to address this problem. I would hope that they will give dealers a heads up on what to do or provide a "kit" if needed..

It may take a few owners emailing but....

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