HWH Air Leveling - front leveling making a "bang" sound.

[Mike Shumack]

As a new coach owner, I get nervous when I hear a new sound that I don't like.
Yesterday I moved the coach to a new spot in my yard. The ground is pretty level but rear of coach was low. I activated the Auto-leveling.
The HWH leveling lights on the panel was showing the rear of coach was low.

After air dumped, I started to hear a repeated "bang" like noise form the front. It sounded mechanical but upon inspection it seems now that it is the sound of air dumping (perhaps the sound of solenoid/valve opening?) in the front. The "air dump" is like the air compressor governor unloader purge except not as much air is coming out (I get a puff each time).

About every 2 or 3 seconds, I would get the bang/air-dump. This went on for about minute until I cancelled the Auto-level process. I think the front end was trying to lower to match the low height in the rear - but it seemed that there was no air left in the front and the HWH computer didn't know that (or the valve was not letting the air out fully). The front did not appear to be lowering anymore during this event.

I'm now looking for some troubleshooting and system operation manuals so I can better understand what is going on. I think I have the HWH 2000 series leveler. I've been on the HWH site all morning trying to find the correct information for my coach.

Has anyone else experienced this noise? Maybe its normal and I just didn't wait long enough for process to complete.

[LaMonte Monnell]

I have that issue sometimes. I think it is a normal thing. It seems like the air is coming out and the coach is not lowering at first then when it does it drops a bit quicker causing the "bang" you hear. It only happens occasionally for me but I have no issues from it, or at least I don't see any.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

LaMonte,
I'm pretty sure your 01 has leveling jacks that bottom out on pads mounted on the axles. This often can result in some "banging"noises, especially if the coach is severely off level. From what Mike posted, it sounds like he has full air leveling.
Steve

[Mike Shumack]

Yes. I have the full air-leveling. But I also have hydraulic leveling (3-point leveling) - which seems to be working properly.

The noise is not a one-time occurrence like metal to metal as if suspension is bottoming out, rather it repeats every 2 or 3 seconds. I need try to find a better descriptor as "banging" is not an accurate term.

I believe the coach tries to level itself by lowering first, and if that doesn't work, after a certain amount of time it will then try to raise to level. I may not have given the coach enough time to switch to "raise mode". However, the sound it was making (the banging) did not sound proper - so I'm asking if this is normal or not.

First I need to determine if I have the HWH 2000 system. The reason I think it is the 2000 is because there is a label inside the control box that says "AP31481" which I entered on the HWH website and that indicated it is the 2000 series, however the manual for the 2000 series that I found does not accurately describe my equipment.

[LaMonte Monnell]

LaMonte,
I'm pretty sure your 01 has leveling jacks that bottom out on pads mounted on the axles. This often can result in some "banging"noises, especially if the coach is severely off level. From what Mike posted, it sounds like he has full air leveling.
Steve

Actually I have only air leveling from HWH. I got rid of the poorly designed IDS SMC jacks and all their issues 4 years ago at the HWH factory.

[Joel Ashley]

I've experienced what you're hearing, and presumed it's some chassis or air component that's up against another because I've dropped too low or am out of kilter enough to cause problems. 

If one corner is low, I'd not dump all the way down first, just part way.  That leaves maneuvering room for the system at all corners.

Joel

[Stan Simpson]

I, too have experienced that phenomenon, when air leveling automatically. It only happens once, and not every time. I have tried many times to be looking under the coach when it happens, but can never see anything out of the ordinary. Soon after it happens, the indicator light starts blinking rapidly, which means we are leveled.

[Mike Shumack]

I traced the "bang" sound to the electric air compressor in the front near generator. Now I'm going to describe it as a "popping" (Bang was a bad choice of words) It sounds like its internal air-governor has reached maximum pressure and is unloading. It goes off every couple of seconds. I'll need to look up some info on this compressor to understand how it functions. But this "popping" is something new - not a normal function. Something is malfunctioning.

UPDATE: I'm pretty sure now that the problems is that the "Air Pressure Switch" used to shutoff power to the compressor when air pressure is 115 psi is not opening, and the compressor just continues to run - which then causes an internal pressure relief valve to "pop" open every couple of seconds.

So my next issue - is how to determine the part number for that switch (or Solenoid valve)? I went to HWH website and found that there are more than a dozen switched/solenoids listed by "AP number". I'm not sure what AP number I need. I don't see any tags or numbers on the parts.

On the iRV2 Monaco thread, I was provided a link to a source for new switch. It is Nason p/n SM-2B-115R 443 or SM-2B-115R/WL285.