Broken switch for front hydraulic landing gear

[wkcox]

My wife and I took our new Road Warrior out for a weekend "checkout" trip. The weekend was great, but when we tried to drop it off at our storage facility, we noticed that the front hydraulic switch was floppy. The plastic DPDT, mom on-off-mom on, switch was broken after one month. The disconcerting part was that there was no backup way to control the landing gear. I had to take the switch apart and use the contacts to operate the landing gear. Any similar experiences out there?

When I looked at the switch closely, the plastic rocker fatigued and broke. It looks cheap. However, when searching for a replacement online, the issue seems to be water resistance, and the cost is around $38. Has anyone come up with a better idea? Used a different switch? Moved the location?

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[cookie]

Welcome to the forum wkcox. This is a great place to gather and share information about our rigs.
I have heard of the switches failing, but not breaking.
If your rig is new, give Heartland Customer Service a call. If you are still in warranty they will send you a replacement.
You will need your VIN.
Heartland Customer Service
877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030
Be sure to come back and let us know how you make out.

Peace
Dave

 

[jnbhobe]

Call Heartland, they should send you one.

 

[wkcox]

Thanks for the info. I will call. This occurred so quickly and without an apparent reason, and I'm concerned that others may have had similar problems with this switch. In addition, when it does occur - YOU'RE STUCK. It took me 20 to 30 minutes to take the switch apart and make the correct contacts to operate the landing gear. I will always carry a backup. It's a cheap switch that operates an important function.

 

[danemayer]

I will always carry a backup. It's a cheap switch that operates an important function.

Hi wkcox,

I have a similar philosophy and employ it so often that I've named it the "rules of twos." If it's inexpensive, and it's important, and you need one, go ahead and buy two. It just makes sense to me. Of course DW thinks of it as hoarding because I have quite a collection of parts and stuff that never seem to get used.

 

[jimtoo]

You will always need the one you don't have.

 

[Tool958]

We had the same thing happen to us while we were at Camping World Greenwood, In. We were having an extra air conditioner installed. It broke when I was trying to get the coach off of the truck so they could work on it. It just so happened that they had a camper on the lot with the same switch in it. Otherwise, I don't know how long it would have taken to get another one. The one thing that I think may have contributed to it breaking was the way the lock on the cover is set up. There is no stop on the latch to keep it from turning on through. More than once that latch caught under the switch itself and either moved the landing gear up or down and put extra stress on the switch from underneath. It may be a design flaw that needs to be addressed. We were fortunate that it happened where it did instead of out in the middle of nowhere.