Leveling system and slides not working

[Jerry and Kay Hudson]

Help......

We have a 2002 Contessa with three slides. This last week as we were trying to set up in Charlotte, N.C., neither the hydraulic jacks (the type of jack that levels the coach against the frame) nor the two front slides would operate.  We had a tech look at things and he could not figure anything out, even after talking with Ken Carpenter in Oregon.  We would try and extend the slide outs, the jack pad would go out, and when we would try and use the auto setting on the hydraulic jacks, we would let it go thru the motion of sensing what was low and then you push the auto button, and all it would do is flash and then go thru the process again of evaluating what was low or high.  To summarize, we put blocks under the rear wheels to try and get level, and we installed switches to operate the slides from outside of the coach.  I think we have a loose wire or a short some where, but where to start?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.  There are not too many people that know how to work on the Beaver Coach in the south.

Thanks,
Jerry

[Edward Buker]

Jerry,

I feel for you on this one and will be interested in what you find out given I have a similar system on my coach. The only suggestion I would offer is to see if you can pry a schematic of that system out of Ken and the BCS folks. They must have one, or Monaco possibly, but less likely. You need that first to equip a knowledgeable tech to start trouble shooting the system. Without that people will just scratch their heads and guess. Once you have that I would then ask around and look for someone who is highly recommended in trouble shooting and solving electrical RV problems in general and has worked on leveling systems. You could also call Alliance Coach in Florida at the Wildwood facility. They may have a schematic or some trouble shooting insight. If you find a schematic let me know.

Things you could try...I would pull the control board touch panel and just be sure that all the wires are attached and tight and also look at the pump unit for loose wires, crimps, or corrosion. On mine there is a unit that is part of the system that resides under the dash which houses some electronics and the level sensor. It is below the removable panel at the top of the dash. You could with all the power off on the coach remove any plugs and push them back in to renew contacts in case surface oxidation is involved here. Your unit location may be different.

Because it goes through a level sensing sequence it would seem that the brains may be O.K. but this should result in 12V being supplied to some solenoid hydraulic valves in some sequence. I do not know if that is happening, just not sure how this all works. You could lightly tap any solenoid hydraulic valve near the pump assembly with a small ball pien hammer in case a valve was sticking.  That is a shot in the dark but something you could try (gently). Hope this helps.

Later Ed

[George H. Wall]

Make sure your batteries are fully charged before useage!!  HENRY

[John Fearnow]

on my 2002 Pat Thunder, the hydraulic pump behind the rt rear wheel powers the front slide and the leveling jacks.  there is a solenoid on top of the pump. when it goes bad as mine did you lose operation of the slides and jacks.  Steve Wilson at BCS is knowledgeable on the system and can advise as to how to jump the solenoid as a temporary workaround as he did in my case.

John Fearnow
2002 Patriot-Thunder
C-12

[Jerry and Kay Hudson]

Thanks a lot for the suggestion. Ken Carpenter had sent me a wiring schematic of the unit and it appears this is the one that I have. We ended up running two independent switches for the two front slides as both are electric and not hydraulic, the levelers still do not work. when we were driving from Pine Mountain, Georgia to Bay St. Louis, Ms. one of the jacks went down slightly and the warning buzzer went off. I touched the manual retract button and the slide that covers the front steps in front of co-pilot seat retracted. So as you can see, it gets better by the minute. we only checked one of the relay's in the elctrical bay and it appears the we needed to check two others. I will update the situation as it evolves.

Gerald,
If you can suggest something, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jerry

[Louis Williams]

Brett Howard at Alliance Coach in Wildwood, Fl is very knowledgeable about most all systems on Monaco and Beaver coaches. He can be reached at 352-330-3800. I think it would be worth a call. Good luck.

[Gerald Farris]

Jerry,
I am sorry, but I have never worked on your particular leveling system. Therefore if I was working on your problem, I would have to take a DVOM (digital volt/ohm meter) and start tracing the system circuits to locate the problem. Having the wiring diagram should help, however unless there is a common problem with the system that you can check first, it just requires time and effort.


Gerald

[Edward Buker]

Jerry,

The retracting of the cover may be a clue. I hate to be guessing here but I do not have schematics. I believe that the step cover uses an air driven ram that must be fed by an air solenoid valve. The switch that runs the solenoid valve may directly switch the valve or this is done through a relay. My guess is that when you hit the manual retract the current pulled by the pump dropped voltage enough in the step cover switch circuit that the air valve or the relay that drives the valve switched states. That is not normal and leads one to believe that either the pump is pulling more current than it should and therefor dropping excessive voltage or you have a wire connection problem source that is dropping voltge and is common to the leveling system and the electrical system that controls the step.

I would hit the manual retract momentarily while measuring the voltage at the pump. My guess is if all is well it should be 10V -12V or so under load. I would also measure the voltage at the air solenoid valve, switch, and or relay that controls the step cover while hitting the manual retract button and see if it significantly modulates the voltage there. Perhaps dropping it to under 10V or less to close the steps.  If it does I would work my way back with the schematic to see what connections either ground or 12V that might have common sources to both systems. See if the 12V line that runs the panel with the retract button uses the same ground or 12V line that the step control relay, switch, or air solenoid does. You may have a common poor connection causing voltage drop under load that is keeping the leveling system from firing the solenoid valves in the hydraulic system. Connection points that are exposed to weather are more likely to be the source.

The fact that the slides are electric and they also do not work with the standard switches would also indicate a poor common 12v or ground source of the problem. You have bypassed some of that system to get it to work. Look for what are common connections to these systems that are involved with the slide circuits. I wonder if your main chassis ground at the frame is good and all the battery connections and main fuse connections are good. These are high currrent points that will drop voltage if there is resistance due to oxidation or corrosion. I think using the manual retract button briefly while tracing your voltage drops is your best bet to sort out the source of the problem. Educated guesses is all I can provide here, hope along with your schmatics something clicks.

Later Ed

[Jerry and Kay Hudson]

Thanks all for the suggestions. I guess I will start tracing things as time permits. we do not have any trips planned in the near future so all I have is time. I will post here once we have it fugured out.

Thanks,
Jerry