hydraulic landing gear problem

Hi all, my landing gear will go down but not up. Pump seems to work fine going down, but when I go to raise the gear nothing, no pump noise or anything. Any ideas?
Jim

Look at the wiring at the switch or on the top of the pump.
there could be a loose wire. Are the slides working normally?

Sean

slides are working fine

The rams are double acting, (ie push fluid in one way and out the other), its only valves that open and close on the pump to let the fluid flow. so at the worst it could be a bad or sticking valve. There is a valve on the right hand side leg looking in the front locker on mine, if the valve is faulty I think it would be this one. I think the fluid is pushed in at the bottom, leg extends, valve at top opens leg retracts. Do not take my word for granted as this is only a quick summery of how hydraulics works.

Sean

The switch for operating the landing legs is a twin pole type, push at the top it makes contact, push at bottom ect. Center wire should be feed (live), the other wires go back to pump to energise pump, and solenoid valves. It could be as simple as the switch has burnt out. One way to try this theory is if you have a test meter probe the cables to see if there is continuity when you press the switch. Be aware that ther will be voltage if the battery is conected.

Sean

I thought it was the switch and bought a new one with no luck. Looks like I won't be going away this weekend.

When you press the switch to go up can you feel or hear which solenoid valve is opening?. there is the one on the leg at the top, and one near the pump body its self.
One other thing you could try is using a piece of wire from the feed to the input side of the pump (this would check to see if there is a break in the wiring).

After reading my original post I should clarify a little. I am able to raise the legs (lower the camper), but when I try to extend the legs (to raise it), I get nothing. When I changed the switch I should have marked the wires, but in a rush to hopefully get it done and leave I didn't. I am almost positive that I plugged everything back in correctly but I guess there may be a chance that I may have mixed a couple up. What would happen if they were not plugged in correctly? Oh boy this stinks!

Other things come to mind as possibilities... If your battery is low, your legs might extend, but it takes more draw to pull them back up. The other thing is, it might be the breaker tripping and resetting. On mine, the same breaker is used for both the slide AND the landing gear. Is your hydraulic fluid level O.K.? Low pressure could cause this problem also.

TC

I went out to look at my wires to tell you which one goes where, but they are all sealed up.

When you hit the switch, can you hear the breakers popping?

Local auto parts stores have the breakers in the Fuse section.

Should have a 40 amp on the shelf. They usually only stock 1 or two. You may need to double up the breakers. A lot of us have had this problem. But if your slides are working fine then I doubt its the breakers ?

I'd lean more toward seans idea of a stuck valve on the the landing gear.

Hammer TIME..... ,,,, light tap might do it.

Can't hear anything when I hit the switch. I may try some tapping on the valves in the morning. Unfortunately my mechanical skills are very limited and I don't want to do anything to make things worse. I looked at Scotz's diagrams for wiring and may try changing some wires in the morning. Can I do any damage if I plug wires in the wrong position?
Jim

Read your first post you said the pump does not run when you use the switch. Since the pump works for the slides it is not a pump problem. Check the extend wire from the switch to the pump. If this is bad no power will go to the pump. Should be the yellow wire.

It is possible to have the switch wired incorrectly if you have the feed wire which is the main power wire (Red) on the retract leg connector of the switch and the retract wire on the feed wire connector only the retract will work. No power will make it to the extend wire when you push the switch. Hope this makes sense

If you have a volt meter check which wire has power this should go in the center of the switch, this wire should be red. The other two wires are the extend (Yellow) and retract (Green) wires.

Good luck, sound like a power problem you may make it out this weekend yet.

Another thought Jim in side my locker box near the pump, there a switch that replicates the switch on the front panel, this works the slides, and the valve nearest the switch is also for the slides. The pipe work comes up from the pump and tee's off one to valve for slides and one for landing legs. I have done a couple of test on my unit to see if I could replicate your problem, It is not the valves pump runs with valve disabled. So it must be a wiring problem. I'll have a play with the wiring, so see if I can put you in the right direction for a cure.

Sean

Right I have now done another couple things to replicate the problem.
On my unit Yellow wire retracts legs, Green extends legs. (Green in picture looks a bit Blue)
If I disconnect yellow valves operate (clicking sound) but pump will not run and lift legs.
If I disconnect green vales operate (clicking sound) but pump will not run and extend legs.
So I now need to know if you get a clicking sound when you operate the switch, because I will then look for something else that might be causing the problem.
On the pump body there is a row of wire connections have you checked these are connected?
Large white wire is common (earth)
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as you can see in the picture the wires from the switch end up on this part of the pump.[img][/img]

in this picture you can see the valve that operates the slides

Hi Sean, I'm up early here. I will have a look when we get some daylight around here. Without tearing your unit apart, do you know the configuration of the wires at the switch? I did check all the wires at the pump and they seemed fine. My guess now is either I reconnected wrong or there is a stuck valve. Also, no clicking sound when I try to extend the legs. As a matter of fact there is no sound at all.

SUCCESS!!!!! I am a dumb a@%. It was wired wrong. I just went out in the dark and re did everything (correctly this time) and she works!! It was a bad switch after all. Thank you all so much for taking the time to help me out. I owe all of you a cold one.
Jim

That's good we all learn by our mistakes, Well done

Sean

Glad to hear it was an easy fix and you got it working. Hopefully not to late to get out

Hi Jim, I was reading the log and glad to hear you got your problem sloved. I thought in one of your pictures the hydraulic fluid looked low. It is difficult to see from here but the fluid in mine is very close to the top or the resivoir and when the rooms are extended the fluid only goes down about 1/8th inch. Not that this has anything to do with your problem, just might want to check your fluid.. Glad your up and running. Duke.

My reservoir is a little low. what is the proper fluid to add to the reservoir?

I'll try and check mine tomorrow. I marked mine when new. I think it is about 3/4 inch from the top. I'll check tomorrow for sure.

Lograf, in mine its ATF. not standard hydraulic fluid. the in my tank is just over half full, with a cross marking the level. I have never topped up since I have had the cat (2 pictures in this post where of my hydraulic setup).

Sean

Another note, I think the landing gear need to be retracted to check properly.
Jim

Here's a link to the hydraulic system by Lippert.
http://www.lci1.com/OwnersManuals/Leveling/Hydraulic%20Landing%20Gear-Web.pdf

Sean

Hi guys, I just checked my hydraulic fluid. The fluid is 3/4" from the top of the tank with both rooms in. When the rooms are extended the fluid drops 1/8". I marked the resivoir when we first got our 2009 trailer and have not added and fluid since. This is the way our trailer has been since new. I once had trouble with a breaker that acted similar to yours. I could lower the trailer ok but it would pop a breaker when I tried raising the trailer. This was when my trailer was about a month old. I since have had the rooms adjusted and replaced the breaker. So far we have traveled over 13,000 miles and three years without breaker problems. Just thought you might want to hear what my experience has been. Hope this helps. Have fun camping.

I saw that it is supposed to be ATF in the manual but I was curious because mine doesn't look red like ATF. Just wondering if they ever used anything else from the factory. Didn't want to add ATF is that's not what's currently in the reservoir.

Hi guys, I'm back! I ordered a new switch from my local Wildcat dealer. Well I just picked it up and it only has four wires instead of the six my broken switch had. The wires are red, pink (with an inline 30 amp fuse) and two black. Here are two pics to show how they are connected to the switch. *Edit* This switch came with the harness you see in the pics.
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and the other side (kinda blurry, but I think you can see.)

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My questions are
1) is red power?
2) is pink ground (with an inline fuse)?
3) are the blks the extend and retract?
I am planning on using the wiring that is alrady in the cat, but just need to know what you think the configuration is.
Thanks
Jim

[url=[URL=http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2520413420104288262bnQrrq]
Here is another shot with it orientated correctly.