BAC Forum
General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Robert Wagner on July 22, 2019, 10:44:44 PM
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We took our coach in to be serviced as the front auxiliary pump had given out. Went to pick it up today and it won’t go into travel mode. They replaced the front pump so that shouldn’t have done anything. Now they say it won’t go into travel mode and we need a new control panel for the hwh system. Has anyone had this problem???
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Are you aware there is re-set button in the electrical bay (the one in front of the street-side front tire). Its red and right next to the switch that operates the power slide-out for your generator. You can click on the attached photo to make it bigger.
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Well right now it’s in the shop. Will that re establish the travel mode?
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It always has for me. I hit the re-set and when I go back in the coach and turn the key, the "wait to travel" light comes on the dash, and I can touch the "travel" on the touch pad, and it brings the coach to ride height. I do it while the coach is running.
The thing that causes me to use the re-set is this: I have air leveling only. Most of the time, I use the auto leveling. Sometimes in the process of leveling, one of these two things occurs. The front to back shows that either the front needs to go down or the rear needs to come up. For some reason, the light that tells me the front to back is out of level will not go off (not every time, just sometimes) even after Becky tells me the level she has on the kitchen counter/and then the bathroom counter shows us level. I hit the emergency shut off to stop the process. The touch pad will not work after I do that until I go out and hit the re-set button.
Coincidentally, I'm stopped near Moscow, Iowa and have an appointment with the HWH factory for Wednesday morning. I need them to tell my why the system is not working as it should. I'm too old to crawl around under the coach looking at ride height sensors, air bags, and the like.
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Well let me know what they say. The shop is apparently talking with HWH. I will try the reset when I go in tomorrow morning. Thanks so much for your input. Good luck at hwh.
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We too would like to know why also. We have been having to reset ours nearly every time we move. Had a new touch panel & main board replaced a little over a year ago. Please keep us posted Stan. Thanx
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A little off subject! I do not have the reset button on my 03 as noted above. I don't see one. Is that only on newer coaches? If not, where did they hide them on the older models? Thanks sorry for the change of main subject.
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Jerry, do you have "Air Leveling" in addition to your hydraulic levelers?
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Yes!
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Well apparently they did many many resets. They are on the phone with HWH right now. Hoping they can fix what they broke. Right now it’s not drivable. We live in it so that makes things a little hard.
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Update.
It needs a new control module and one is on the way. They fixed it so we can drive it and all is well. Take it back in when module is here. Thanks for you advise and help
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Just an update on my visit to HWH this morning. I have nothing wrong (that I know of) with my leveling system or the slide outs. We were going right by there on the way home, so we scheduled an appointment just to get some things explained from "the horse's mouth", as they say. We met with Lon the service manager. He ran our slide outs in and out and pronounced them in good condition, even the bedroom one the squeals like a pig going in or out. He said that is normal and should be ignored. He also informed us that our two living room slides are not HWH equipment, only the two bedroom slides. I don't know yet (haven't looked yet) who makes them. He said they were in good condition. On to the air leveling. The first thing he did was level the coach with the slides in. My manual says to level when the slides are out. He said they are on a crusade to educate manufacturers and end users to this practice. He also said it was unnecessary to lubricate the slide mechanisms in any fashion. I was in the service bay for a little over a half hour and the charge was zero.
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The general consensus is that you should run the slides in and out at "Ride" height. Once the Slides are out then Level, and return coach to Ride height before running the slides back in.
The reason is that at Ride height the frame rails are parallel and the Slide room is square to the body opening.
If you level first on uneven ground, the frame or body may have some twist in it as one corner, or side, of the coach lifts and the other side doesn't. That frame/body twist can cause the Slide to drag in the body opening as it runs in or out, or load the support rollers unequally.
If the ground was "level", then it would not matter if you run the Slides in or out at Ride Height or if you Level first.
We all know how much the frame/body can twist during leveling - as it can even cause the windshield to crack when at extreme.
That makes sense to me.
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Yup that’s what we do too
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I agree with both of you. That's what we have always done, and will continue.
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Much perhaps to HWH’s chagrin, that’s what we were instructed during walk-thru at BCS... “slides out first and in last”.
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One more thought while we are talking about gigantic openings in the sides of our coaches is this: If you have an issue and the coach needs to be towed, NEVER let a tow truck lift your coach off the ground from the front. ALWAYS have it "flat bedded" to its destination. Not always a convenient decision but worth the wait to have one show up. 40 to 45 foot coaches with 4 slides have 4 big openings and it doesn't take much to tweak the geometry between the box and the chassis. A "low boy" flat bed is what you ask for to keep your grief to a minimum.
Happy trails, Fred
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So let me get this straight. The Service Manager @ HWH is saying to level first, then run the slides out, but the "General Consensus" is saying the opposite?
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Dennis, I had my MH parked beside my house and leveled. One day I decided to check something and I needed to move the living room slide in. I thought, "it is level, it should not be any problem." I moved the slide in without starting the engine to raise it up to ride height. It caught the mirror on the wall between the kitchen and the bathroom. It bent the brackets and broke the bottom of the mirror. I now ALWAYS raise it up to ride height before moving the slides in or out.
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Dennis,
It is not consensus but Monaco and SMC before them due to the reasons noted previously in this thread. But, it's your coach and $ so you are free to listen to whomever you wish.
Steve
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So let me get this straight. The Service Manager @ HWH is saying to level first, then run the slides out, but the "General Consensus" is saying the opposite?
Dennis,
That is exactly what he told me. I choose to do as instructed in the owner's manual for my coach.
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When I first bought my coach I did not have a manual. I did what seemed right and leveled first before putting slides out. My driver's side slide always rubbed the trim on the top of the slide and it was coming loose. I asked about it either here or another forum and was promptly told to read the manual and follow it! Then the nicer folks explained it as Fred Brookes did above. It has never rubbed when at ride height, only when level.
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Thank You Stan. As always, we greatly appreciate the knowledge you & this forum provides. We have always leveled first, then slides out, mainly due to the P. O. telling us that's how he did it, & also our slides do not operate with the ignition on & the manual recommends the engine be running while leveling. We want to do what's best, so we will adjust accordingly. On another note, did the HWH manager say anything about resets of the system. We have to do ours too often. Once again, Thanx
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On another note, did the HWH manager say anything about resets of the system. We have to do ours too often. Once again, Thanx
Dennis,
I told him my procedure for hitting the emergency stop when leveling. And then hitting the reset to bring it to ride height when we air up to go. He said that was an okay practice.
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Dennis, instinct at least for me has always been that once parked I go straight for the leveling panel. Fortunately I have a monitoring system called Lee for a back up. One thing that for some reason really stuck with her during our BCS walk-through was the “slides out first and in last” part, driven home by the “instructor” and reinforced by other staff later. So every time I try to start leveling before getting out of the drivers seat, my back-up system sounds off!
Back ups are a good thing to have 😉.
Joel
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I have an '06 Monterey that I have owned for two years (air leveling only). I did not have the advantage of having someone tell me the proper order of slide operation and leveling. I had to learn the hard way (experience is a hard task master). The first time I set up in a campground, I leveled first and then put the slides out (seemingly no problems). However, when I got ready to leave, I brought the slides in before I aired up in travel mode. I heard a bit of a crunch just as the large living room slide came all the way in (the one with the storage bays attached to the bottom of it). There was evidently enough of a twist in the coach body that the front bay door caught on the side of the coach as the slide came in. The plastic slam latch could not hold the pressure and was therefor destroyed (thankfully, that was the only thing destroyed). Ever since that experience, I have extended the front two slides while still aired up in travel mode and retracted them only after airing up in travel mode. No more problems. The two rear bedroom slides have a totally different configuration and it would make no difference for those two.
I thoroughly enjoy learning from this forum and only wish I had found it sooner so I could have avoided some of those bad experiences.
Richard
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Thanx Richard. So, no problems with the rear slides going out last & in first?
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Dennis
The rear (bedroom) slides are not in a position to be impacted by frame twisting while leveling. There position in relation to the rear axle holds them rather rigid. The front slides on the Monterey (particularly the drivers side) have significant potential for twisting. Add that to the close tolerances of the slide opening (particularly the bay doors underneath) and you have the potential for impact. So, it becomes critical on the front slides that they be opened and closed with as little frame twisting as possible (up on air in travel mode). When you are in travel mode, the front air bags are controlled by a single air source. Effectively the front axle is allowed to float without undue twisting of the body. When you invoke the HWH air leveling controller, the front axle has independent air source for each side creating the potential for body twisting. If you had a ride height system that was plumbed differently (some mfgs are), then you would have a different routine for leveling. That is why there is significant confusion as to what routine to follow.
Richard