Help needed for Roof not raising all the way.

[cahillprc2]

We have a 2013 Somerset E3 pup that frankly has had problems from day one with the electric lift not working proper. At first it wouldn't lift at all with the 12V battery (went back to dealer 3X, each time a new battery was installed and seemed to work fine; but when we got ready to go it failed again). After the warranty was up, they ran all new wiring directly to the lift motor(for which they charged me) and it seemed to do fine for a few campouts. NOW it won't lift all the way up; stops about 6 inches from fully extended. Anyone have any ideas on what problem might be (other than it being a Somerset LOL)

[cahillprc2]

I measured the 4 corners and none of them where the same. So instead of trying to adjust all the cables myself, I took it back to the dealer (turns out we have an extended warranty on the whole camper; glad we bought that). They replaced a pulley wheel that was binding in one of the arms and adjusted the rest of the cables and now it goes all the way up ??yaaay! I also just discovered that the level we attached to the side was off a bit, about 2" at the tongue so that may also have contributed to both the roof issue and the door being very hard to attach to the roof at the top. Hope this helps someone else.

[GNO22]

Brave,

It worked fine 2 out of 2 times on battery, so I figured the charge was good. While camping, I forgot the key to the battery so i just plugged in and the lift worked, but not quite all the way.

[Mike_Up]

I know fleetwood/Coleman campers had a poorly designed lift system that would often never put the roof up all the way when it was falling a part. If it's that same lift system, sounds like a repair is in order.

[1995brave]

GNO22,
Have you checked your battery, shore power may not be enough to raise the top, you also need a good charged up battery. Do you have a hand crank for emergencies? Try cranking the rest of the way by hand, if that works I would say you have a weak battery.

[GNO22]

Hi All,
Im brand new to PUP life and the site. This thread caught my eye as the last time I went camping (my first time actually using it), I had the same issue. I bought a 2013 Flagsaff MAC used, though it was supposedly used only 4 times. It still smalls new and everything is in great shape, so I don't doubt the # times used. During the initial setup/tear down test, it lifted fine (on battery). I got home and tested again (on battery) and was fine. Used it at the camp ground plugged into 30amp power source, and it came up short. Looking under it, the cable is greased (though I will do it again) but doesn't look flat anywhere. What are other starting points for trouble shooting?
Are there start/stop points that need to be set like a garage door that may need recalibrating?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated and apologies in advance for the novel.

GNO

[1995brave]

Another question. Have you been greasing or oiling your lift system as required by the manufacturer? If it hasn't been done, the extra effort to move the cable past binding pulleys and shafts is causing the motor to stall. Lift systems have come a long way since 1995 hand crank systems.

[1995brave]

Do you have an A/C on the roof? Look at your lift cable where it goes into the winch, is it all flattened out? If it is the cable is stretched some. My first pop up at year 5 the cable was flattened out and the last inch I had to push up by hand to get the lock bars into place. We used ours around 7 times a year.

[Mike_Up]

I don't know what lift system they use, but the most reliable seems to be the Goshen Lift system. Is that what it is?

[cahillprc2]

I may have not made it clear but the electric problem was solved by the rewiring. However now the roof won't lift all the way up; its about 6 inches too low. 1995Brave is it really possible that the cables would have stretched that much in just 4 years of limited use? We've only put the roof up and down about a dozen times total(sadly for a variety of reasons we haven't used it as much as we would have liked).

[Mike_Up]

Thought Somerset went out of business right away. Never seen any dealers, anywhere.

You could have a shunt (drain to ground) in the circuit. Not enough current to blow a fuse but enough to drain the battery.

[coolmom42]

Sounds like your battery is not being adequately charged.

[1995brave]

Is your battery charged? Could also be stretched lift cables.