Entrance steps

[Janss]

Our steps normally come out and stay out when I open the door to exit after stopping the engine.

I've been sitting in my winter site for a few months. Started the engine. After I turned it off and opened the door, the steps did not come out, no noise, nothing. Then about a week later I come back to the RV from the clubhouse, open the door to go in, and out of the blue the steps came out! Huh?!

This is the second time this happened this winter. And I recall something weird like this happened at home before the winter.

The on/off switch by the door (which has been "off") seems to operate the steps properly. After this happened I turned it on and off a few times, opening and closing the door to check it's operation.

I don't actually have to drive for the steps to come out after turning the engine off, do I? Don't recall ever having to.

Any ideas?

[dougrainer]

ksg5000 wrote:
For what it's worth. While the step is designed so that it's not suppose to draw power when it's opened/closed it can happen - Kwikee diagnostic includes a procedure to rule that out. Also - the key override had more meaning in the old controllers .. but unless your Kwikee is ancient the door position controls the steps regardless of the key. I rewired my step so that it operates the coach batteries - got stuck with dead chassis battery because of of fault in the kwikee step.

1. The key operation does the EXACT same thing regardless of the year of the Kwikee step. The wall switch does the same thing as older steps. IT kills the steps in the extended position for camping.
2. The parasitic drain is so far out there, that to rewire to a coach battery is not called for. They have the drain diag because it is possible, but extremely rare. Doug

[ksg5000]

For what it's worth. While the step is designed so that it's not suppose to draw power when it's opened/closed it can happen - Kwikee diagnostic includes a procedure to rule that out. Also - the key override had more meaning in the old controllers .. but unless your Kwikee is ancient the door position controls the steps regardless of the key. I rewired my step so that it operates the coach batteries - got stuck with dead chassis battery because of of fault in the kwikee step.

[dougrainer]

There is NO power draw from the steps when retracted or extended. I am not aware of any Kwikee manual that states wiring the step to the COACH battery. That is NOT the correct way. You always wire to the CHASSIS battery. I KNOW some OEM's wire to the Coach battery, but that is not the correct/best way. The reason is simple and this used to be a problem with National Motorhomes that wired to the Coach battery. IF you have a malfunction or dead COACH batteries, and the step is extended, it will NOT retract when the engine is started and will be extended when driving down the road. Wiring to the Chassis battery eliminates this problem. If you can start the engine you have enough power to retract the steps. Doug

From the install manual

Kwikee recommends wiring the
step to the vehicle battery instead
of the house battery due to
potential interference from other
circuits.

[MDKMDK]

D.E.Bishop wrote:

MDKMDK wrote:
You're welcome. Hope it was just "step Alzheimers" and not something more serious. Funny that there isn't any smarts in the system to keep you from killing your chassis battery from regular step extension and retraction. They put those types of failsafes in other automotive systems.

I'm not trolling but maybe that is why both Kwikee and Lippert suggest wiring the power for the motor to the house batteries(y). I agree that Winnie and who knows how many others may wire it to the chhassis battery but it would provide that protection to the chassis battery if it were wired to the house battery after the disconnect switch.

Maybe Winnie finds it easier to enable the other failsafe that retracts the step if the engine starts and/or the transmission is put into gear with the step extended? It might just be easier to wire it up on the chassis battery/ignition circuitry side of things, would be my thinking.
I may ask Winnebago, as it seems like a good question as to why they do it the way they do it.

[j-d]

If you don't have your Owner's Manual, on a 2002 you might have a step that came with Manual 875. The control module mounted on the bottom side of the step base had its mounting tabs in a square pattern. Newer steps use Manual 888 and one of the control module mountings is out on a plastic "fin" on one edge of the box.
You can get either with gOOgle "kwikee owner's manual #875 (or #888)" to read or download.

[D_E_Bishop]

MDKMDK wrote:
You're welcome. Hope it was just "step Alzheimers" and not something more serious. Funny that there isn't any smarts in the system to keep you from killing your chassis battery from regular step extension and retraction. They put those types of failsafes in other automotive systems.

I'm not trolling but maybe that is why both Kwikee and Lippert suggest wiring the power for the motor to the house batteries(y). I agree that Winnie and who knows how many others may wire it to the chhassis battery but it would provide that protection to the chassis battery if it were wired to the house battery after the disconnect switch.

[MDKMDK]

You're welcome. Hope it was just "step Alzheimers" and not something more serious. Funny that there isn't any smarts in the system to keep you from killing your chassis battery from regular step extension and retraction. They put those types of failsafes in other automotive systems.

[Janss]

I have a Trik-L-Start engine battery charger....siphons off a small charge from the house batteries. So engine battery voltage is and has been good while I've been sitting.

I have a magnet in the doorway. Seems to be working, as I wrote, I tested the steps a few times in and out.

So, dougrainer, sounds like you're saying my experience with my steps is nothing to worry about...just a system memory loss. I'll go with that unless I continue to have a problem as I do my summer traveling when I don't sit for long periods.

Thanks for your replies!

[dougrainer]

There is nothing in a step module that would prevent a step from operating automatically if the battery voltage was low. The step will just NOT operate at all if the voltage is below 9 to 10 volts. The Signal is from the IGNITION side of the Key switch and has nothing to do with driving. You do not even have to start the engine for the Ignition override to function. Just turn the key to ignition. Steps can "lose" their memory if not activated in a long time. All you do is make sure you have a good 12.5 volts or higher and open and close the entry door 2 or 3 times and that will put the system back in memory. Your steps have a last out feature that can be lost from inactivity. IF you have a intermittent pin switch/magnetic switch in the entry door, that switch MUST operate for the steps to extend and retract regardless of the Ignition override. Doug

[MDKMDK]

This is a long shot guess. My steps are also automatic and they run off the chassis battery. There's probably (I hope) some sort of circuitry that prevents the steps from working automatically if it detects the chassis battery is at a low SOC. Do you recall when they stopped working? Was it after a long time between when the chassis battery was last recharged by any means? Then after you drove it, the chassis battery got charged and the steps started working?
Is that your scenario?

[Lwiddis]

Another example of too much stuff “automatic.”