Hydraulic system failures

[DonHelenL]

I have a 2013 bighorn with a six point hydraulic leveling system and hydraulic slides. Last two or three times I have moved the trailer, when I retract the living room and kitchen slides they retract super slow, the trailer lights go dim and a warning message on the fridge flash " low dc power". Once the slides are completely retracted the warning ends. Also the jacks retract super slow. when I try to extend the jacks to unhook from the tow vehicle they extend slow and stop when both jacks take the weight of the trailer, with a noise coming from the solenoid unit which is by the hydraulic pump.( same noise as when a weak battery will not start a vehicle engine) Once when this happened, i retracted the landing jacks fully, tried again and it worked flawlessly. the last time i unhooked the trailer from the tow vehicle, the landing jacks worked very slow, the auto level worked fine until the end of the leveling process but the hydraulic pump wouldn't shut off until I shut the leveling control off. It appears to be intermittent. Has anyone ever encountered similar problems. I have ordered a new solenoid unit as my thinking is that it may be the culprit. Any thoughts?

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

Are you plugged into shore power while its happening ?

What's you buttery voltage not plugged into shore power.

I would check battery cables and ground connections to the frame.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[LBR]

I have a 2013 bighorn with a six point hydraulic leveling system and hydraulic slides. Last two or three times I have moved the trailer, when I retract the living room and kitchen slides they retract super slow, the trailer lights go dim and a warning message on the fridge flash " low dc power". Once the slides are completely retracted the warning ends. Also the jacks retract super slow. when I try to extend the jacks to unhook from the tow vehicle they extend slow and stop when both jacks take the weight of the trailer, with a noise coming from the solenoid unit which is by the hydraulic pump.( same noise as when a weak battery will not start a vehicle engine) Once when this happened, i retracted the landing jacks fully, tried again and it worked flawlessly. the last time i unhooked the trailer from the tow vehicle, the landing jacks worked very slow, the auto level worked fine until the end of the leveling process but the hydraulic pump wouldn't shut off until I shut the leveling control off. It appears to be intermittent. Has anyone ever encountered similar problems. I have ordered a new solenoid unit as my thinking is that it may be the culprit. Any thoughts?

Symptoms point to low voltage battery bank.

 

[danemayer]

The symptoms argue a weak battery or bad connections. Clean the terminals and get the battery load tested at an auto repair shop or parts store.

If the battery checks out ok, check for loose/corroded/dirty connections or bad crimps at the wiring between battery and hydraulic pump.

 

[DonHelenL]

Thanks for the input, to answer some of your questions, i have been hooked up to shore power every incident except one. batteries show 13.1-13.2 when not hooked up to shore power, have checked all connections, had a load test performed on the batteries( good) . i have replaced the solenoid unit for the hydraulic pump so I guess time will tell( next few trips), if this is a fix. Could not find any issues with connections or battery cables. Will advise on the outcome.

 

[danemayer]

. batteries show 13.1-13.2 when not hooked up to shore power,

Good batteries, when not hooked up to shore power (or to tow vehicle, or solar) normally read 12.6V when fully charged. 13.1 suggests you may be reading a power source other than the batteries. Or if you took the reading a few seconds after disconnecting shore power, perhaps the reading reflected the output of the Power Converter and would have dropped quickly.

 

[Piperflyer]

Two New Batteries and updating my hydraulic circuit breaker to 80 amp cured my problems.

 

[DonHelenL]

Thanks for the input, to answer some of your questions, i have been hooked up to shore power every incident except one. batteries show 13.1-13.2 when not hooked up to shore power, have checked all connections, had a load test performed on the batteries( good) . i have replaced the solenoid unit for the hydraulic pump so I guess time will tell( next few trips), if this is a fix. Could not find any issues with connections or battery cables. Will advise on the outcome.

To update my problem with my hydraulic system failure. I had stated that I had ordered a new solenoid as my first attempt to solve my problem. the new solenoid fixed my problem, thanks for everyone's input.