Atwood Levelers Sticking

[Retired_VSP]

Have a Newmar Baystar with Atwood leveling system.
Lately when it's "dormant" for a few weeks I attempt to extend the levelers and the right front leveler "whines" and I get the red/green light....troubleshoot instructions says to hold the corresponding button and extend button....sometimes this works. I attempt to extend/retract a couple times and they work okay....Atwood tech said it will correct itself and should be okay. But I'm concerned it may hang up eventually and I'll be "stuck"...any thoughts on this?

[Fleetwood_Coupl]

I was able to by the motor assy with the shaft assy. from Atwood for around $240 if I remember right. They wouldn't sell me just the shaft. it broke right where they drilled the hole for the roll pin that holds the gear on. I still carry a 12 ton bottle jack with me now, and the extra motor I now have. Hopefully it never happens again.

[garymunson]

Like Bruce said, these are some pretty simple jacks. Too bad they get these little funky problems. I'm sure within the next few years I'll end up cleaning all the jack motors on my RV.

[garymunson]

Well, got tired of crawling under to spin the motor every time the control locked up. This is what I found and how I fixed it! Removing the jack on my Fleetwood Flair was pretty straight forward. Just unplug it and remove the 4 1/2" bolts (3/4 socket with short extension). I ran the jack down until it was just a hair off the ground before I started to "land" it. This let me unbolt it and rock it back and forth to relieve any binding on the bolts as I removed them. Once the bolts were out, I was able to lay it down and drag it out from under the rig. There are 2 screws holding a plastic cover on the top...these don't need to be removed. The motor also has a plastic cover with two Torx screws securing it. You will need to remove the split corrugated wire loom cover from the motor wires as it will get in the way of pulling the cover off the motor and it's wires. Once you have the cover off, use some fine sandpaper to clean the motor shaft above the manual adjustment nut. You need to do this as when you work on the motor, you will be pulling the armature up and that part of the shaft will move up into the lower bearing. Best to minimize the dirt dragged into it. Next, with a marker or scribe, mark the two end caps and the main motor housing so you will get them back together in the same position. They do not have any locating pins so this is necessary as the relationship of brush position and motor field magnets must be retained. Also makes it easier to get the motor bolts back in proper position. Then you can slide the bottom motor cap and the motor body off together. The top cap is fastened to the gearcase and doesn't need to come off. Be careful not to lose the multiple washers that usually stick to the underside of the top cap. I padded the jaws of my vicegrips with tape and gently clamped it on the motor shaft between the bottom cap and the manual nut. This will let you pull the motor body off the armature without the armature trying to come with it. The magnets are pretty strong! The inside of my motor was pristine. I've seen some that have failed because the inside of the motor rusted and the field magnets came loose. Motor's junk if that's happened to yours. I could see the commutator on my motor was covered with black crud.. A combination of 10 years of brush dust and oil that had migrated up from the lower bearing. You can now take the vicegrip off and pull the armature up. I used a paper towel and alcohol to clean the commutator and also used a razor knife blade to CAREFULLY clean the gunk out from between the commutator segments. I then used some 600 sandpaper to polish the commutator. You can't get it too clean. CAREFULLY lift the springs from the brushes just enough to hook them over the back of the brush holder. You don't want to go reefing on them and bend them or pull them back so far you ruin their tension. Then you can pull the brushes out and clean them. Once all is clean, use a toothpick to put ONE drop of 20 wt motor oil on the motor shaft below the commutator and lower it back in place. Reinstall the brushes and springs. Put the vicegrip back on to hold the armature down and put the motor body back on. Put a drop of oil on the top bearing area of the shaft and slide the motor back on the gearcase, line up your marks and put the motor bolts back in. I found I had to tweak the cap and body back and forth a few times before the motor shaft was as free as when I started after it was tightened back up. Replaced the motor cover and wire loom and bolted the jack back on and so far, so good!

[Retired_VSP]

Gotcha! Thanks a bunch....we're planning an Alaska trip next spring and that is good information, Bruce.

[Bruce_Brown]

Retired VSP wrote:
Mine has a tendency to "whine" in the cold weather months after non use for a few days/weeks. Atwood tech told me to keep a lubricant handy. Summer months no problem...only left front did this...trouble shoot instructions helped. Good idea about keeping wrench handy....where is that manual adjustment located on the jack in case I ever have to do that?

On the bottom of the motor. You'll see a stem sticking out that takes a ...can't remember the size, socket.

[Retired_VSP]

Mine has a tendency to "whine" in the cold weather months after non use for a few days/weeks. Atwood tech told me to keep a lubricant handy. Summer months no problem...only left front did this...trouble shoot instructions helped. Good idea about keeping wrench handy....where is that manual adjustment located on the jack in case I ever have to do that?

[Bruce_Brown]

I've worked on these jacks more than I care to say. Between ours and my parents old MH I've seen more than a few failure modes too.

The good news is they're easy to fix and I have a bunch of parts in my own private stock. (Gears, pins, clutches, etc - I don't have a complete new motor) I also keep a rebuilt spare on hand and I have another complete jack for parts.

As to why eadeals pin broke, the Atwood guys I spoke with said they had some manufacturing issues and had seen some breakage issues that shouldn't have happened. The newer parts do seem to be more reliable.

As to the whining, I'm going to say thats the motor. It was suggested to us to put some type of a flap/cover over the motor to help keep any road debris and water from getting to the motor.

As long as it's working now I wouldn't change it. Ours had a slight whine on the first outing this year, I haven't changed it, it no longer whines.

I would, however, maybe suggest keeping a cordless drill with a properly sized socket installed on board just in case you ever need to crank it up. It takes a lot of turns to move it even a little. :B

I really wish these jacks worked 100% correctly 100% of the time. I love the idea of how simple they are, I love how easy they are to work on. I hate the fact I know that.

[eadeal55]

garymunson wrote:
eadeal.... Is it fairly easy to disassemble the jack part? I figured since I'll have it off, re-lubrication would be a good idea. Any idea why the shear pin broke in yours? I would have thought that the clutch would have prevented too much stress being put on the pin...

Gary...once I got the jack off the frame, three top bolts release the motor assembly, and then you can see the jack screw and shear pin. There was a lot of grease in the top by the shear pin, which I replaced when I put it all back together.

Not too sure why the shear pin worked. I dragged that rear jack a few years ago coming out of a parking lot (that I never should have driven into...lesson learned there), and it ended up cocked back about 10 deg. Never could get it back to straight up/down. I think the slight off angle on that jack when it impacted the ground and then adjusted to level the coach put additional pressure on the jack screw, eventually causing the shear pin to do it's job.

As for my previous comment about thinking Atwood jacks were obsolete, that's what I get for listening to my Brother-in-Law. Wish he would just drink my beer, and not try to help me fix stuff..:):):) Andy

[garymunson]

eadeal.... Is it fairly easy to disassemble the jack part? I figured since I'll have it off, re-lubrication would be a good idea. Any idea why the shear pin broke in yours? I would have thought that the clutch would have prevented too much stress being put on the pin...

[Retired_VSP]

Interesting about being obsolete. I have a 2010 Newmar Baystar with Atwood.

[eadeal55]

Yes, I have taken my rear Atwood electric jack apart after the shear pin went and the center jack pad dropped to the ground. Did not take the motor/gears apart, just the jack screw and shaft, which was busted.

Had to drill out the 7/32 shear pin hole to 1/4 inch, and drive a new molly steel shear pin into the top of the jack screw. Re-installed the jack, plugged it back up and reset the entire system.

Caution, if you disconnect the plug from the back of the dash control panel, make sure you are careful and don't pull the entire pin off the board. I did and ended up having to get a computer shop to reattach the pin and run a continuity check on the board...$69 well spent since that control panel is obsolete and I couldn't find anyone with a spare one.

Those Atwood electric jack are also mostly obsolete, and most RV salvage yards no longer have any spares in stock. I don't think many were used after the 2006 models.

[garymunson]

I'll let everyone know how my attempt goes once I get back home and remove the jack. It was mentioned that the jack units are quite heavy so I'm thinking I'll manually extend it until it just touches the ground so when I unbolt it, I can simply tip it over and drag it out from under the coach to take it apart...

[garymunson]

After looking at the Atwood installation manual, I see that there are only two wires that go to the jack. Obviously this means there are no limit switches in the unit and the controller only monitors motor current and that is how it determines if the jack is fully retracted (or extended). The clicking the jack makes for a few moments is no doubt the clutch that will slip in an overload situation (also with the jack at full extend/retract). This makes me even more convinced that my problem is poor brush contact in my leveler. Still looking for someone who has opened one up. Hate to have to be the first one....

[garymunson]

Has anyone attempted to disassemble one yet? As I mentioned, mine appears to be an electrical problem with the motor. Have been a motor guy all my life, my expectation is that a brush is hanging up in the motor as I can correct the problem by just turning the motor back and forth a time or two. It's obvious when I do this there is no binding in the assembly, just a motor that does not run. Generally, cleaning the dirt from the brush rigging and cleaning up the commutator with some fine sandpaper will cure this sort of problem. Apparently the control processor will set the fault if it doesn't see the jack coming off the retract limit in a certain amount of time. It looks to me that all the 'magic' happens in the control assembly and that the jack assemblies are just a 'dumb' motor/jack screw with a limit switch at each end of travel. I would expect that the controller also monitors motor current to be sure the jack screw isn't binding up. I haven't given it a good look-see yet..it's up between the frame and storage bins. Was hoping someone else has had one off and examined it to determine if it can be opened up. Since it's over 10 years old now, I'd also like to clean and re-lubricate the jack screw and nut. I wouldn't think spraying any lubricant on would be of any value as the jack screw is inside where spray won't reach..