Forum Discussion

J-Rooster's avatar
J-Rooster
Explorer
Feb 09, 2018

HWH Leveling System

My solenoid to my left rear HWH hydraulic jack went out! When I was in St. George, UT. A mobile RV mechanic came out to me and told me that my solenoid that operates the HWH hydraulic jacks is more apt to go out after time if they go up and down the full length. The mobile mechanic told me if I was to use blocks under my jacks this would extend the life of the solenoids? Does anyone know if this is a true statement or not? Also until my new solenoid got to me, I bought a bottle jack and used a small piece of cedar decking and that temporarily helped to reduce the sway I was getting only using 3 jacks!
Class A
  • J-Rooster's avatar
    J-Rooster
    Explorer
    Feb 13, 2018
    dougrainer wrote:
    1. Easy answer--- absolute BS.
    2. HOW would he even know if a jack had fully extended too many times???????
    3. The Solenoids can be energized up to 15 minutes with no harm. The AVERAGE time a Solenoid is activated is about 2 to 3 minutes.
    4. What will cause an HWH solenoid to burn out from too long is if your jack down light came ON on retract and you drove off with that light on and in Store mode. The system will NOT time out if just one jack down light stays on.
    Thanks, for the info Doug. I never drive until jacks are fully up and storage mode says all jacks are up, then I always turn the Store Mode Off. I’ll have everything gone thru at a RV Shop when I get home!
  • dougrainer's avatar
    dougrainer
    Nomad
    Feb 09, 2018
    PastorCharlie wrote:
    Perhaps a heavier solenoid would be the fix. Solenoids come in different grades. The better ones are a lot heavier in weight ...more wiring and can be easily noticed by holding them. More expensive.

    You are confusing 12 volt solenoids with the HWH hydraulic solenoids. Totally different part. Doug
  • PastorCharlie's avatar
    PastorCharlie
    Explorer
    Feb 09, 2018
    Perhaps a heavier solenoid would be the fix. Solenoids come in different grades. The better ones are a lot heavier in weight ...more wiring and can be easily noticed by holding them. More expensive.
  • dougrainer's avatar
    dougrainer
    Nomad
    Feb 09, 2018
    1. Easy answer--- absolute BS.
    2. HOW would he even know if a jack had fully extended too many times???????
    3. The Solenoids can be energized up to 15 minutes with no harm. The AVERAGE time a Solenoid is activated is about 2 to 3 minutes.
    4. What will cause an HWH solenoid to burn out from too long is if your jack down light came ON on retract and you drove off with that light on and in Store mode. The system will NOT time out if just one jack down light stays on.
  • J-Rooster's avatar
    J-Rooster
    Explorer
    Feb 09, 2018
    K Charles wrote:
    HWH doesn't want the solenoid to be energized more then a certain length of time. If your jack takes too long to go up or down it could burn out the solenoid. If that is the case the cause of the slowness should be fixed.
    Thanks, Mr. Charles, I’ll look into that when I get back home in April and see if I can speed those jacks up. My thinking until your reply was I’ll just shorten the throw of the jacks? Rooster
  • K_Charles's avatar
    K_Charles
    Explorer
    Feb 09, 2018
    HWH doesn't want the solenoid to be energized more then a certain length of time. If your jack takes too long to go up or down it could burn out the solenoid. If that is the case the cause of the slowness should be fixed.

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