Hydrualics Intermitent, Rewired and Replaced Breaker but now breaker trips

[garybetz]

Hopefully somebody else has seen this problem.

On our 2017 Bighorn, we have 3 slides, and Level-Up system. We were having issues with the slides and jacks stopping intermittently during their extension/retraction. Sometimes we had to switch the Level-Up into manual mode to get the jacks to retract and even then, we would have to try multiple times to finally get the jacks completely up or the slides all the way in.

We took the unit to Camping World (they are an authorized Lippert dealer/repair entity) and were told that Heartland wired the hydraulic system with a underrated breaker and power harness. We took their advice and had a 100A breaker installed and had the wiring changed so that the hydraulics are directly wired to the batteries. This seemed to fix the intermittent stopping issue but now the new breaker pops pretty consistently when the jacks or slides get close to being completely closed/retracted. My engineering experience tells me the current is spiking when the jacks/slides are getting near the end of their retraction (the load is higher), popping the breaker. I can reset the new breaker and all is well but this happens pretty much every time we operate the jacks or slides. I'm sure the breaker isn't really rated to be constantly manually reset (I know house breakers typically aren't).

Has anybody else had this issue? Camping World also recommended adding some stiction fluid to the hydraulic fluid to help with this. Has anybody else done this and would this help? Or is this some other sort of problem with the pump or something?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Gary

 

[danemayer]

Hi garybetz,

The problem is quite common and we have an owner-written user guide, Hydraulic Slideout Starts and Stops that explains what's happening.

Some people have increased their breakers to 80 amp, but that's usually not necessary. In your case, the problem is obviously not the size of the breaker.

As the problem happens with slides and landing gear, you're looking for a failure common to both, which probably rules out most mechanical issues.

You may have a low voltage condition or loose or corroded connections at the battery or at the pump.

Also, P32 of our Electrical user guide in the same folder has a block diagram of the pump electrical wiring showing the Dual Solenoid (Trombetta) located on the pump. All points to check closely.

The ground side can also be a problem. You may have to trace the battery negative cable to the frame ground to ensure a good ground.