Sticky hydraulic levelers

[BartonT]

The levelers on my class A work well except when it time to pack up and leave. Often 1 or 2 will stay down. I now carry a 6 foot 2x4 and a wood block to push them back into the stored (up) position. Each leveler has two springs attached to the ground pad and the springs seam to be applying enough force that they should pull the Pistons to the up position. In owners manual says very clearly not to lubricate them in any way but after 11 years it does not seem unreasonable to expect something to have dried out a bit. I have tried moving them up and down to try and free them up but this has not been enough. Is there some thing I can use to provide more lubrication? Any other suggestions?

[dougrainer]

http://www.hwhcorp.com/ml47149.pdf

[AllegroD]

http://www.hwhcorp.com/ml47149.pdf

[RJsfishin]

A welded cylinder is a disposable cylinder.

Besides lubrication, I'll buy the "new springs" story. We all know that springs
do fatigue over time.

[dougrainer]

j-d wrote:
Doug, I've been doing some reading that tells me this about rebuilding:

1. There may be a "Kit" and that makes the job sound DIY-possible, but

2. It's a welded jack, making the rebuild a pro shop job because the jack has to be cut (probably on a special lathe) and then we-welded (true and oil-tight)

That these make it a replace or professional rebuild?

1. ALL motorhome jacks can be removed without cutting off. The "welds" are too the mount plates for the cylinders
2. IT IS NOT THE EXTERNAL SEAL ON THE BOTTOM YOU SEE THAT CAUSES THE JACKS TO BE FORCED TO RETRACT. IT IS A FAILURE OF THE INTERNAL SEALS THAT CAUSES THE PROBLEM.
3. The only KIT for DIY is by Powergear. Powergear also have grease Zircs on the bottom collar. HWH does not.
4. Yes, the shiny part can get dirty from being exposed, but you do use WD 40 to CLEAN the exposed part, but is not neccesary for actual lubing
5. My comments are based on 30 years of working on HWH systems and when I state REPLACE or REBUILD, that is the ONLY fix, unless you want to continually crawl under and attempt to manually lube and wipe down the cylinder, which will work for a few times, then the problem returns.

[j-d]

Doug, I've been doing some reading that tells me this about rebuilding:

1. There may be a "Kit" and that makes the job sound DIY-possible, but

2. It's a welded jack, making the rebuild a pro shop job because the jack has to be cut (probably on a special lathe) and then we-welded (true and oil-tight)

That these make it a replace or professional rebuild?

[doublev]

On our previous coach which had hydraulic levelers I would spray silicone on them before retracting. It was generally the same one or two levelers that would get stuck. This always worked.

Eventually I got tired of doing that and had the springs changed and that solved it permanently. Get stronger springs and put this one behind you.

[WILDEBILL308]

dougrainer wrote:

lryrob9301 wrote:
You need to spray the shafts with WD40 and then run the levelers up and down a couple of times. HWH now recommends this cleaning any time one of their levelers becomes sluggish. Also on a 11 year old system I would say the springs are getting weak and need replacing if that hasn't already been done.

Not true The ONLY thing HWH recommends is to keep the shiny cylinders clean. The cylinders are immersed in Trans oil when retracted. Doug

The problem is when they are extended for long periods of time. The "shiney" shafts get covered with dirt/dust and are dry so they don't retract easily. Same thing as when the landing gear on a plane is extended or over extended as when on jacks. for a long time they need to be cleaned and wiped down with the proper oil. The bottom seal gets dried out and increases drag.
Bill

[RJsfishin]

dougrainer wrote:

lryrob9301 wrote:
You need to spray the shafts with WD40 and then run the levelers up and down a couple of times. HWH now recommends this cleaning any time one of their levelers becomes sluggish. Also on a 11 year old system I would say the springs are getting weak and need replacing if that hasn't already been done.

Not true The ONLY thing HWH recommends is to keep the shiny cylinders clean. The cylinders are immersed in Trans oil when retracted. Doug

I would think it is a lubrication problem. The shafts are always lubricated from the inside, but never from the outside. So thinking it is a dry seal problem, thats why I would use oil on the shafts to lube the seal. WD would do nothing for long term lube.

[dougrainer]

lryrob9301 wrote:
You need to spray the shafts with WD40 and then run the levelers up and down a couple of times. HWH now recommends this cleaning any time one of their levelers becomes sluggish. Also on a 11 year old system I would say the springs are getting weak and need replacing if that hasn't already been done.

Not true The ONLY thing HWH recommends is to keep the shiny cylinders clean. The cylinders are immersed in Trans oil when retracted. Doug

[lryrob9301]

You need to spray the shafts with WD40 and then run the levelers up and down a couple of times. HWH now recommends this cleaning any time one of their levelers becomes sluggish. Also on a 11 year old system I would say the springs are getting weak and need replacing if that hasn't already been done.

[RJsfishin]

I have those cylinders, but have never had a problem w/ them.
But if and when I do, the first thing I will do is apply motor....or hydraulic oil to the shafts and cycle a few times. There is absolutely no reason not to.

[dougrainer]

IF your system is HWH, the sticking cylinders have bad internal seals. You either replace the cylinders or remove and have them rebuilt. Doug

[WILDEBILL308]

I use a silicone spray on my levelers, spray on and wipe off the excess. Some rams have a zerk fitting on the bottom of the upper part of the ram that needs to be greased. Like all systems they need to be exercised. I will run my levelers through about 10 cycles. I started doing this after I got this coach and noticed after a trip where they got used they worked a lot better.
Bill