DH in his rush to get the rig packed and out of Dodge, pushed two chaise lounges into the basement under the bedroom slide despite the fact that is where the cables and HWH power rod pushes out the slide. yes, it's been some time since he did that. we are now parked again and looking for stuff, noticed my broom and rake had also been shoved in there. scares me to mess with anything hydraulic. thinking I'd pull out one of the lounges, discovered the two were locked together and eventually got them pulled out to discover one had all the channels full of hydraulic fluid. good lord!! the slide went out ok. IF it comes back in, am I needlessly worrying about it? how much of this stuff can you lose AND is there is central reservoir that would tell us how much fluid it should have to safely operate? my manuals are the pits...no specifics anywhere. ease my mind--please. (DH says no problem.....uh huh) this is a 2002 FR Windsong, 34'.

Simply check the reservoir for the proper level. If it's low, add some fluid. Most use tranny fluid but check your manual for the correct fluid. Inspect the undercarriage to ensure the chairs etc didn't damage anything. The fluid on the chair had to come from somewhere, your job is to determine from where.....Dennis

Jacks and Slides have to be stowed to check fluid level.Check for pump and fluid tank under entry step.

thank you dennis. I just need to know where in the world the reservoir is so I can ck it. i'll nose around the manuals again. tranny fluid, huh? okay. thanks so much. seems we always have to learn things the hard way.

You might have to call the factory to get the location of the reservoir - on our rig, it's right up front, just behind the front "bumper". I've seen some rigs where you get at it through one of the wheel wells.Don't even try to open it until you get the jacks retracted - until the jacks are up, the whole HWH system is pressurized. On our rig, the system isn't pressurized when the slide is out, but I wouldn't risk it until the all the slides are back in.Good luck.al

Also any chance that your husband added fluid to the reservoir during trip preparations? You also cannot add fluid until the slides/jacks are all retracted. I made that mistake one time with hydraulic jacks. When I retracted the jacks, I too had fluid all over everywhere!!!!Ed

HWH fluid is everywhere--how much can we lose? | Good Sam Community

Flasho
Explorer
Jun 04, 2014
aslakson wrote:

Don't even try to open it until you get the jacks retracted - until the jacks are up, the whole HWH system is pressurized.

The reservoir is vented and is never pressurized.
rvten
Explorer
Jun 04, 2014
OK I stand corrected on the slides? So it really makes no diff. Slide in or out. Just the Jacks.
dougrainer
Nomad
Jun 04, 2014
rvten wrote:
OK I stand corrected on the slides? So it really makes no diff. Slide in or out. Just the Jacks.

It does make a difference ONLY if you intend to fill the reservoir to the very top. By leaving that 1 inch below the top, you are assured that you will not blow any fluid out when checking, slides extended or retracted. You have the margin of safe error. You can verify when the oil level is higher or lower, by noting the reservoir level with jacks retracted and the room Retracted. Then extend the room/s only and see how much lower the level goes if at all. Doug
azpete
Explorer
Mar 23, 2015
doug is correct about the rooms. if your coach has below the floor mechanisms, the rooms have to be retracted. if they have above the floor mechanisms, the rooms have to be extended. jacks should always be retracted.
in any case. one inch below the top of the tank is the right fluid level. if you're not sure, check it with the rooms retracted. that normally good enough. it doesnt have to be that accurate. just dont overfill.
cbeierl
Explorer
Mar 23, 2015
azpete wrote:
doug is correct about the rooms. if your coach has below the floor mechanisms, the rooms have to be retracted. if they have above the floor mechanisms, the rooms have to be extended. jacks should always be retracted.
in any case. one inch below the top of the tank is the right fluid level. if you're not sure, check it with the rooms retracted. that normally good enough. it doesnt have to be that accurate. just dont overfill.

Listen to 'azpete'--he works for HWH and knows what he's talking about.

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HWH fluid is everywhere--how much can we lose?

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