Dead panel HWH Levelers

[stubblejumper]

First I have read nearly all HWH posts on the forum and recognize Doug as the expert.

Have a 99 Winnie Chieftain F53 HWH Levelers series 200
Problem: Panel is dead, joystick is "floppy" when levers are in down position.
Park brake light is on, on the dash, Ignition is in either Acces position or engine is running. Fuse in panel is OK .

Also cannot locate reservoir in engine compartment. Have not crawled under due to spring thaw ( might drown :>)

Have tried email to HWH--- no response nearest dealer is 300 miles away.

All worked fine in fall when stored away (outside)

Any help would be appreciated THANKS

[Bumpyroad]

azpete wrote:
really? i buy them all the time at walmart, office depot, and staples. i use them in woodworking. i havent seen the old wheel type in years

I think you are talking about those that have the cylindrical soft eraser that you can push up out of the plastic housing. I am trying to find the old "typewriter" type that have a coarse eraser instead of a pencil graphite that you sharpen like a standard lead pencil, and they have a brush on the top. none of those mentioned stores have them. I had staples check their catalog and they couldn't even find them to order them in.
bumpy

[thgoodman]

I had a similar problem when I first got our MH. This may sound too obvious but did you hit the reset switch yet? I was crawling all over our MH the 1st time this happened to us looking for fuses, circuit breakers, etc and came upon the reset switch in an outside electrical bay. The button was lit up so I pressed it. Problem solved. I find I have to do this a few times a year.

[azpete]

sorry double post

[azpete]

really? i buy them all the time at walmart, office depot, and staples. i use them in woodworking. i havent seen the old wheel type in years

[Bumpyroad]

azpete wrote:
next clean the contacts they make with the circuit board. use a pencil eraser. that works good. .

who sells a pencil eraser nowdays? I have been trying to buy some. the old type with a coarse eraser and brush on the end that used to be used with typewriters. none of the office stores I have been to carry them.
bumpy

[azpete]

the power supply for the joystick circuit board is on the 6120 wire in the joystick harness. this is supplied thru a 15 amp fuse. the fuse should be the accessory fuse in the chassis fuse panel. not everyone uses that connection though.
there should also be a 10 amp fuse in the ground wire down by the pump ground connection.
if you have power to the fuse in the plate, check the power thru the switch to the circuit board. check for power to the three spring contact connections on top of the circuit board.
check the three springs on the underside of the plate. these may be bent out of position. make sure they straight up and down. next clean the contacts they make with the circuit board. use a pencil eraser. that works good. also clean the ring circuit board that the joystick makes contact with. these contacts get corroded sometimes. sorry to ramble, hope this helps

[GJim]

The power lead, before the fuse, should be connected to a point that has +12 volts when your ignition switch is in the 'Accessory' position. You'll just have to trace that wire back to that point. The wire may be disconnected or the terminal is corroded. I understand about the 'spaghetti' - the wiring in my MH looks like a snake-pit in places.

My levelers didn't work when I purchased this MH (used). Same symptoms as yours. I found that the power lead had become disconnected from the fuse panel where the installer had put it. Quite a bit of time, upside down, underneath the dash with the engine/transmission hump bending my body in directions it didn't much like.

[stubblejumper]

Doug
No "not in park" indicator, no yellow lights, no power to fused circuit... which should be normal if " not in park " right? Can you tell me where on the board I should get 12v under these circumstances.

I have the elec schematic ( page #MP85.1525) applicable P/B hookup is top centre with pig tail. Based on that I should not get an ON DASH P/B light when either access or running. But I do get the on dash light which seems to indicate that the P/B switch is ok. That should then complete the 12v circuit.

[dougrainer]

IF the Emergency brake light switch was the problem, you would get a Not in Park brake indicator and the yellow level LED's would still light. Doug

[Bumpyroad]

stubblejumper wrote:


Bumpy..
Know what you mean about mashing it.. But if I press any harder I will have to go for knee replacment. If I can solve problem as above will tackle tha damn switch from up top through the dash. Luckily I have a drivers door. Thanks

yep, I would think that it would be possible to do some modification to make the switch operate "quicker". possibly just put another switch in the circuit, which would be the type you have to hold to keep it activated.
bumpy

[stubblejumper]

Doug
1) Have no power to panel so if I by pass park brake switch by grounding wire on panel that goes TO park brake on the connector with the pigtail joining 2 connectors this should give me power to panel ... right ?

2) Joystick is straight levers.. no lights ... will open that and check grounds there.

Will get back to you with results

Thanks for your input.

Bumpy..
Know what you mean about mashing it.. But if I press any harder I will have to go for knee replacment. If I can solve problem as above will tackle tha damn switch from up top through the dash. Luckily I have a drivers door. Thanks

[dougrainer]

The reservoir is not the source of your problem on YOUR HWH system. You need to pull the plate off the joystick and check for 12 volt there. Remove the 3 black knobs and the 4 mount screws and lift the cover plate off and then check for voltage there. There are various versions of the Joystick. Do you have the separate rectangle On /OFF box with indicator lights or are all switches and LED lights on the Joystick panel itself? If you have the box, THAT is where you start your power problem. Doug

[Bumpyroad]

on my 99 winnie chieftain F53 HWH levelers, I had to really mash down on the parking brake to have the levelers work.
bumpy

[stubblejumper]

Will check that in the AM with the multi meter. Didn't think of going beyond the fuse.Obviously you have been in the wiring. Like looking for a grain of pepper in a plate of spagheti.