LCI Hydraulic 6-point Leveling System Control Panel

[Curt_Hinson]

I called LCI regarding a switch beside the Automatic Hydraulic 6-Point Leveling System control panel on my 2014 Landmark Sequoia. The switch is installed with two square head screws. The control panel box appears to be manufactured by LCI, but the gentleman I talked to did not have a clue. If the control panel box was not manufactured by LCI, then it has to be a product of Heartland. My RV has been idle for several months until my wife fully recovers from back surgery, so I went out to see what did work, since not everything has worked since the day I bought it. The living room slides work both ways but do so intermittently. The front jacks work, but the right front one hangs at one spot, then continues to rise. I was getting extremely upset because the control panel would not come on. I noted that the switch beside the control panel was left in the on position, but appeared to have nothing to do with the control panel. I finally got the middle and rear jacks to retract by punching the on/off switch many times on the control panel and about 1 minute before getting a bigger hammer. At least, I can move the camper.

My question to the forum is simply WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THAT ROCKER SWITCH BESIDE THE CONTROL PANEL. I want to say that it is used to turn on the string lights attached to the camper under the main awning, but I can't get those lights to work either.

Any suggestions other than a case of dynamite.

 

[danemayer]

Curt,

You have 2 lights in the pass through storage. Each has an on/off switch. If you leave those switches ON, I think you'll find that the mystery switch allows you to turn those lights on without reaching in.

 

[jbeletti]

Curt - Dan has the correct answer (light switch).

As for your LevelUp issue, sounds like low DC voltage.

- Could be low battery
- Could be loose pos or neg battery cable connections of connections from to the LevelUp gear in the same bay.

 

[travlingman]

I would replace the 50 amp breaker for the level up issue. I replaced mine and it works fine now.

 

[NYSUPstater]

dane and travelingman are spot on.

 

[mlpeloquin]

Some have replaced that fifty amp breaker with a 80 amp to eliminate the problem. The hydraulic motor can draw as much as 90 amps. 50 amp breaker has a delay that is usually long enough not to trip. As the breaker ages or the more it trips, it trips much quicker.

 

[danemayer]

Curt,

Take a look at our Hydraulic Slideout Starts and Stops user guide. It explains what's happening when the slide starts moving and stops, then restarts after a few seconds. It also covers possible causes, and how to correct the problem.

If your levelup control panel was intermittently going dark while trying to operating the landing gear, you likely have low battery output or loose/dirty connections at the battery, affecting both the landing gear and slideouts.

 

[Curt_Hinson]

Thanks to everyone for responding. I apologize for the lateness of this reply, but have been working at many activities in preparation for a trip to Texas. Since my first post, this is what I have done to the camper regarding possible low battery voltage. I charged two deep cycle batteries and installed them in the camper for a lateral connection. They were fully charged when I put them in, but no change in the LCI control panel. I have to press the on and off button several times before I see anything in the display. Each time I get it to display, it says that Jacks are up. That is true, but I guess I was lucky to get all jacks raised initially so I can move the camper. When I get the control to display anything, the front jack button on the display will light up. I can't change that no matter what I do. If I press any of the buttons on the left side, the little light will light and then go out. I let everything sit for one day, and when I went back to check on it, I continued to get the same thing, but discovered that the front jacks would work when pressing the front jacks. I was able to put the front jacks all the way down and finally retract them, but I could do the same thing with the button on the front of the camper under the overhang. So I disconnected the batteries from the camper and hooked up my charger to charge both of them. When I pressed the percentage button it showed 100%. I press the volt button and it shows that it is charging. I left every thing there until the charger showed "charged". I went through the procedure again and I got the same results. It is not working.

I have an auto reset 50 Amp Circuit breaker installed. The slide outs work, but will only move about 2 feet. You have to wait for the breaker to reset itself, to move them another 2 feet or so. Since the front jacks work with both switches and the slide outs eventually work, I do not expect anything to be wrong with the hydraulic motor and after charging both batteries I don't believe there is a problem with the electronics. By the way, before I posted, I called LCI. Took most of a day for them to call back. I put the question to him about using an 80 Amp circuit breaker, and he said that LCI does not approve of the installation of an 80 Amp breaker.

I think it is time for a bigger hammer.

 

[NYSUPstater]

Replace the 50amp breakers w/ new ones. Got em thru Amazon.

 

[Curt_Hinson]

Thanks for the info, but I have about 5 brand new ones I purchased at an auto parts store. Every connection has been checked and re-checked. I will run thru all of them again. If it doesn't work after that, I will buy more new ones.

 

[carl.swoyer]

Some have replaced that fifty amp breaker with a 80 amp to eliminate the problem. The hydraulic motor can draw as much as 90 amps. 50 amp breaker has a delay that is usually long enough not to trip. As the breaker ages or the more it trips, it trips much quicker.

Some have replaced that fifty amp breaker with a 80 amp

Mlpeloquin
I too was almost there with the 80 Amp breaker however I opted not to do so. My 2012 Landmark Rushmore has been wire to support the fifty amp breaker. Now I carry a spare breaker.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

[Curt_Hinson]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my post. I will try to describe everything I have done so far.

1. I had 1 battery in the system.I had purchased two batteries with the intent of using both, but got side tracked and never put the 2nd one in. I removed the one battery and fully charged it. Then I fully charged the 2nd battery. This is one used and one never used. After putting both batteries in the system, my meter showed about 13.6 voltage. I used the 12 volt switch to take the batteries out of the circuit and put my charger on the 2nd battery which was connected to the first pos to pos and neg to neg. The charger ran for a long time, but eventually it showed a fully charged condition. Absolutely nothing had changed. The slides took three to six times to get them fully extended or retracted. The LCI system for the jacks would only come on after pushing the on button several to many times. Usually, the display would show "jacks down". The only light that would come on other than the display was the front jacks. I knew they worked with the switch under the overhang because I could raise and lower the camper. I even had it hooked up for traveling. At first, those were the only jacks that would work, but I eventually was able to get the jacks in the raised position which was good if I were to take it in for repair. I even recharged the batteries, but no go. I pulled everything out of the battery compartment. The one thing that I saw first was the negative cord from the front battery was barely in the buss bar. I pulled the cable and this is what I found.



This cable was installed in the far right of the buss bar and to get the battery cover on or off required some shoving of a pack of wires and a lot of talking under your breath. I moved the wire over to the first of the bus bar with a good connection.


There was something else I discovered that really puzzled me and still does. Between the positive side of the battery cutoff switch and the positive terminal was two Short Stop 50 Amp auto reset circuit breakers. One is attached to nothing. I can't figure out why there are two breakers there or for that matter, why are any breakers there.


This is the charger I use. Darn good one too.


After all of that, guess what. The control panel worked the same. I could not control any of the jacks except the front ones. Then I got a flash and wondered if the auto leveling feature would work. I had the jacks up and was connected to my truck so I thought I would disconnect the truck and try the Leveling system. I disconnect the truck, punched the on button about 20 times (I lost count) and the display finally came on. I pressed the auto leveling button and to my amazement it start to move, then stopped, then all of a sudden it went into it's thing. Eventually it said that the camper was level.

For what it is worth, I still can't control the four rear jacks individually, so I will ask, does anyone want a piece of junk (the camper - not the truck.

 

[mlpeloquin]

When I first got my camper the LCI levelup system worked with a short tap to the switches. I now have to hold the switch in for a second or two for it to acknowledge the command. You might try press and hold to see if it will recognise the command that you are trying to give it. It is worth a try.