Leaking Level Up Hydraulic Line

pegmikef · Dec 31, 2016

Woke up this morning, went outside and saw a small pool of hydraulic fluid under the generator compartment (where the pump and manifold are located). Also my doorside rear jack was retracted and the middle jack retracted about an inch. I have not used the system since our return on the first of Dec.

After much searching I found the line that apparently has a pinhole in it. I extended the jacks again and after 15 minutes there was a two inch diameter spot of fluid on a paper towel I put under the suspect line. The amount of fluid looked bad on the driveway, but apparently was a not whole lot looking at what is remaining in the reservoir. I think it has been leaking for a while and finally got to the point where it found a way out of the generator compartment.

Ok, here's my dumb question (that I think I know the answer to).

Is there any way to patch or splice the line or do I have to replace the whole line?

There is plenty of room to work in the generator compartment. I am hoping for a temporary fix that would last until Goshen so I could just arrange with Heartland to repair it and some other stuff. Thanks for any info.

Doublegranch · Dec 31, 2016

I would not use this as a permanent fix but at the National Rally in Goshen I picked up some "rescue tape", have never used it so not sure it really works...they claim it will seal hydraulic lines, radiator hose, etc..
You can pick it up online....just a thought until you get around to replacing the line.

pegmikef · Dec 31, 2016

Doublegranch said:
I would not use this as a permanent fix but at the National Rally in Goshen I picked up some "rescue tape", have never used it so not sure it really works...they claim it will seal hydraulic lines, radiator hose, etc..
You can pick it up online....just a thought until you get around to replacing the line.

Thanks. You don't happen to know the psi rating do you? I saw one online that was 950 psi, but I don't know what the psi of the fluid is under pressure (e.g., jacks extended with weight on them).

danemayer · Dec 31, 2016

Re: Leaking Level Up Hydraulic Linet

Mike,

If the problem is isolated to one hose - the one that feeds the door side mid and rear jacks, you might be able to retract all the mid/rear jacks and then see if the leak persists while using only the front landing gear. You may be able to get close enough to level using front gear only until you get it fixed.

But I don't know whether Heartland would be prepared to fix something like that as one of the 2 minor repairs at the rally. And getting into the service center isn't a sure thing.

But Lippert may have a service center that could easily take care of it if you schedule now.

Btw, I deleted the other thread.

Doublegranch · Dec 31, 2016

Mike:

I have no idea what the psi rating is on the rescue tape....sorry

jbeletti · Dec 31, 2016

Mike, I don't think the rescue tape will hold under the hydraulic pressure.

Consider removing the line and taking it into a shop to have another made of the same length.

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HornedToad · Dec 31, 2016

Call Hosepower.com, they have a shop in San Angelo. They came to my location in a mobile service truck and made / installed a custom replacement hose on site in about an hour for around $100

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pegmikef · Jan 1, 2017

Re: Leaking Level Up Hydraulic Linet

danemayer said:
Mike,

But I don't know whether Heartland would be prepared to fix something like that as one of the 2 minor repairs at the rally. And getting into the service center isn't a sure thing.

But Lippert may have a service center that could easily take care of it if you schedule now.

Btw, I deleted the other thread.

Dan, my thought was to schedule an appointment with Heartland before the rally and have the work done as I have a dead week or so before the pre-rally week.

What other thread? I had two? If so, I must have hit something twice.

- - - Updated - - -

HornedToad said:
Call Hosepower.com, they have a shop in San Angelo. They came to my location in a mobile service truck and made / installed a custom replacement hose on site in about an hour for around $100

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Mike. Earlier, I did a search and for some reason Hosepower didn't come up. That would be perfect and probably more cost effective in the long run.

porthole · Jan 1, 2017

This is just one example of the many types of splices that can be used to patch a hydraulic hose (and rescue tape isn't one of them).

http://www.tools-plus.com/coilhose-...s7-4zdQOk2y_PafVum6RyuXGHSY27jD0v4aAqyx8P8HAQ

And here is another option

http://www.pirtekusa.com/on-site-hose-service/

pegmikef · Jan 1, 2017

Thanks Duane. Appreciate it, but since Hosepower is here in town, I'm just going to go with them as they are only about a mile away.

HornedToad · Jan 2, 2017

Mike,

My leak was about an inch from the fitting on the left rear jack and I thought they could easily splice it. The Tech told me that he need about three feet of free line to get his crimping tool on the line. Since my underbelly is riveted I told him it was OK to cut a slit in the coroplast to feed the line back through the frame rail and down through the underbelly to use his crimping tool.

When the Tech dropped the line that was leaking it was the one that crossed the 8 ft over from the right rear to the left rear jack. He decided it was easier / better to make / replace the line instead of trying to splice it. Now if it was a line that ran from front to back a splice would have been the way to go.

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pegmikef · Jan 2, 2017

HornedToad said:
Mike,

My leak was about an inch from the fitting on the left rear jack and I thought they could easily splice it. The Tech told me that he need about three feet of free line to get his crimping tool on the line. Since my underbelly is riveted I told him it was OK to cut a slit in the coroplast to feed the line back through the frame rail and down through the underbelly to use his crimping tool.

When the Tech dropped the line that was leaking it was the one that crossed the 8 ft over from the right rear to the left rear jack. He decided it was easier / better to make / replace the line instead of trying to splice it. Now if it was a line that ran from front to back a splice would have been the way to go.

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Mine runs front to back, but it angles over to the doorside jack in front of the tires. Because of the damage I have found, I'm just going to drop the coroplast and replace the whole line (see next post). I went out to hosepower today after the gym, but they were closed for the holiday. I have been in the bolt and tool store next to them, but never noticed their store. Thanks again for the tip.

pegmikef · Jan 2, 2017

Still leaking, but after cleaning everything up I found the culprit. The offending line is routed right along the seam in the middle of one of my battery boxes (poor design as it turns out). There is a marked discoloration of the portion of the line for about a foot right along the area that is next to the battery box. I had never noticed this before as the line is pretty much out of sight. I can flake part of the outer layer off with my fingernail.

My thought is that when the batteries are charging (off an on, most of the time) there is an acidic combustible vapor produced. Even though the battery boxes are vented, they are by no means air tight along the seams. I figure three and a half years of the line being exposed to this vapor weakened that area of the line until it succumbed to the pressure and in its weakened state, burst. That would explain why I had the pool of fluid and the retracted and partially retracted jacks.

Although it is a super PITA, I'm just glad that it happened at home and that it was caused by a discernible problem and not because my lines are reaching their end of life.

I would advise anyone that has my model of Big Horn (2013/2014 3010RE) with the factory installed level up to check their hydraulic lines in the generator compartment.

pegmikef · Jan 3, 2017

Re: Leaking Level Up Hydraulic Line Help!

Please Help.

I lowered the coroplast, located the offending line (down the driver's side, then crosses over to the door side middle jack), and called " Hosepower" to get it fixed, and their response was "oh, we no longer do that at this branch." They will make the new line for me if I take it in. So it looks like I am in the hydraulic line replacement business even though I know nothing about hydraulics (lowering the coroplast was probably half the job.

I have watched several youtube videos regarding line replacement, but they are all for heavy equipment or tractors. One thing in common was making sure there was no load on the hydraulics.

I plan on performing the following steps to replace the line.

1) Hook trailer up to my tow vehicle.

2) Retract all the jacks (slides are already closed).

3) Disconnect line from jack. Then disconnect line from manifold.

4) Fish line out of trailer.

5) Fill wheelbarrow with money and go get a new custom made line.

6) Fish line from the jack to the manifold.

7) If there are o rings involved, I will replace those and then reconnect the line.

8) Fill reservoir to my fomer fill mark and extend and retract all jacks several times to expell air.

9) Add fluid as required to reach the fill mark.

10) Extend landing gear and disconnect from tow vehicle.

11) Reinstall coroplast and sewer hose tubes.

12) Have a well-deserved adult beverage or two.

Thanks in advance for any advice or criticism of my plan.

avvidclif · Jan 3, 2017

Shop around. A lot of places make hydraulic hoses including some NAPA stores. You might save some money. Also add the Anti-Stiction fluid while the system is open. Search "leveling jacks popping". All sounds good....

HornedToad · Jan 4, 2017

Mike,

I wish I could offer some advice... but step 12 is the only one that I have much experience with!!!

I do remember when they serviced my trailer I went inside for about 30 minutes and the Tech had completed steps 3, 4 & 6,
so it didn't take too long, and hopefully you'll only need a wheelbarrow if you pay with pennies.

I didn't notice notice any discernible drop in the fluid level after I extended / retracted the jacks several times... so I skipped steps 8 & 9,
and had already added the Anti-Stiction fluid.

We can practice step twelve again in Alpine... Good Luck with the repair!!!

aRAYwego · Jan 4, 2017

Re: Leaking Level Up Hydraulic Line Help!

pegmikef said:
Please Help.

I lowered the coroplast, located the offending line (down the driver's side, then crosses over to the door side middle jack), and called " Hosepower" to get it fixed, and their response was "oh, we no longer do that at this branch." They will make the new line for me if I take it in. So it looks like I am in the hydraulic line replacement business even though I know nothing about hydraulics (lowering the coroplast was probably half the job.

I have watched several youtube videos regarding line replacement, but they are all for heavy equipment or tractors. One thing in common was making sure there was no load on the hydraulics.

I plan on performing the following steps to replace the line.

1) Hook trailer up to my tow vehicle.

2) Retract all the jacks (slides are already closed).

3) Disconnect line from jack. Then disconnect line from manifold.

4) Fish line out of trailer.

5) Fill wheelbarrow with money and go get a new custom made line.

6) Fish line from the jack to the manifold.

7) If there are o rings involved, I will replace those and then reconnect the line.

8) Fill reservoir to my fomer fill mark and extend and retract all jacks several times to expell air.

9) Add fluid as required to reach the fill mark.

10) Extend landing gear and disconnect from tow vehicle.

11) Reinstall coroplast and sewer hose tubes.

12) Have a well-deserved adult beverage or two.

Thanks in advance for any advice or criticism of my plan.

I just replaced an elbow fitting for the LF landing gear at the manifold last weekend. I also did step 1 in connecting my trailer to the tow vehicle. Everything went great but then I realized after finishing that hooking up the truck was a step I didn't really need to do. I could have retracted the landing gear fully without the tow vehicle attached. Being in an rv park, I wouldn't have had to partially block the road in front of our space. Oh well, Live n learn. On the plus size, I did find a good source for all things hydraulic. I bought the same part at discounthydraulichose.com for half the cost that Lippert wanted to charge after shipping, etc.

pegmikef · Jan 5, 2017

Re: Leaking Level Up Hydraulic Line Help!

sdnative1970 said:
I just replaced an elbow fitting for the LF landing gear at the manifold last weekend. I also did step 1 in connecting my trailer to the tow vehicle. Everything went great but then I realized after finishing that hooking up the truck was a step I didn't really need to do. I could have retracted the landing gear fully without the tow vehicle attached. Being in an rv park, I wouldn't have had to partially block the road in front of our space. Oh well, Live n learn. On the plus size, I did find a good source for all things hydraulic. I bought the same part at discounthydraulichose.com for half the cost that Lippert wanted to charge after shipping, etc.

Thanks for the info. Since I am going to be crawling around under the front end that is all supported by the hydraulic jacks, this is more of a safety precaution than an actual requirement to change out the line.

In any event, the hydraulic line replacement project is kind of on hold until Monday or Tuesday when it warms up out (went from 70 to 30 the other night and expected to hit low twenties). I had to open the slides so I can run the furnace to keep the under belly halfway warm (I'm not big on winterizing since I keep it connected to electricity . . . empty the tanks and H/W heater).

aRAYwego · Jan 5, 2017

Re: Leaking Level Up Hydraulic Line Help!

pegmikef said:
Thanks for the info. Since I am going to be crawling around under the front end that is all supported by the hydraulic jacks, this is more of a safety precaution than an actual requirement to change out the line.

In any event, the hydraulic line replacement project is kind of on hold until Monday or Tuesday when it warms up out (went from 70 to 30 the other night and expected to hit low twenties). I had to open the slides so I can run the furnace to keep the under belly halfway warm (I'm not big on winterizing since I keep it connected to electricity . . . empty the tanks and H/W heater).

I get what you're saying, I hate the cold. As far as the safety factor, I figure if all the legs are retracted fully, the trailer can't go any lower unless the the axles fall off. I would never lay under it with extended jacks being the only support. Fully retracted though, the bolts in the jack to frame position would have to all fail. Just my thoughts.

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avvidclif · Jan 5, 2017

HornedToad said:
Mike,

I wish I could offer some advice... but step 12 is the only one that I have much experience with!!!

I do remember when they serviced my trailer I went inside for about 30 minutes and the Tech had completed steps 3, 4 & 6,
so it didn't take too long, and hopefully you'll only need a wheelbarrow if you pay with pennies.

I didn't notice notice any discernible drop in the fluid level after I extended / retracted the jacks several times... so I skipped steps 8 & 9,
and had already added the Anti-Stiction fluid.

We can practice step twelve again in Alpine... Good Luck with the repair!!!

Amen on the first and last line. Step 12 it is.....

Leaking Level Up Hydraulic Line

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