Dumping Air Ride System

D Lindy · 08-16-2013, 09:59 AM

I have a 2012 Winnebago Journey with the Freightliner XC chassis, and the Power Gear Auto leveling system. Is then any way to just dump the air ride without the leveling jacks coming down to level the unit. Can this be done in the manual mode maybe??

FIRE UP · 08-16-2013, 11:33 AM

D Lindy,
First off, did you get any owners manuals with that coach? If so, there should be a section on the workings of the Power Gear Leveling system and, what, if any, alterations to that process of leveling you can do. We have an '04 Itasca Horizon, 36GD with the 330 C-7 CAT and, it came with the HWH 625 System which, is both automatic and manual.

On our key pad, it has two modes of dumping the air, one, in the automatic mode which, if activated, will dump the air first, then, about 20 seconds later (automatically calculated for max air out of the bags) it will start the pump and the appropriate "first down" jacks will start to descend.

But, in the other mode, the manual one, it has a "Dump" button too. If I just push that one, it dumps the air and that's it. It won't do any automatic leveling.

Now, mind you, this is the HWH system, not Power Gear so, you'll have to look into YOUR systems books to be guided correctly. Others may tell you that you can or cannot dump without leveling but, like HWH, Power Gear has multiple systems. And, even with the same name, it may change from year to year or model to model.
Scott

BFlinn181 · 08-16-2013, 12:27 PM

If you don't have a manual, enter your model # of levelers and you can download a copy. Technical Documents - Power Gear

D Lindy · 08-16-2013, 01:18 PM

FIRE UP; I've read and reread the 12lbs of manuals that came with our unit, and they leave a lot to be desired, i.e. the Power Gear section makes reference that in the manual mode that it'll take 20 sec to dump the air and then to manually level MH. Does this mean the I can press the manual mode wait for the air to dump and then turn the power gear sys off and it'll reair the suspension??? Manual doesn't say. Also there is no separate air dump button on my controller. The reason I sometimes need to dump the air only is it lowers the MH 2-4" and makes it a lot easier to run the front wheel of my motorcycle up into the rack I use to tow it behind the MH, then reair the system to travel.

stik · 08-16-2013, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D Lindy

FIRE UP; I've read and reread the 12lbs of manuals that came with our unit, and they leave a lot to be desired, i.e. the Power Gear section makes reference that in the manual mode that it'll take 20 sec to dump the air and then to manually level MH. Does this mean the I can press the manual mode wait for the air to dump and then turn the power gear sys off and it'll reair the suspension??? Manual doesn't say. Also there is no separate air dump button on my controller. The reason I sometimes need to dump the air only is it lowers the MH 2-4" and makes it a lot easier to run the front wheel of my motorcycle up into the rack I use to tow it behind the MH, then reair the system to travel.

I have the same system. You should be able to (engine running) push the on/off button, then push and hold the "Manual" button until the light under the button comes on. The bags should then dump (might take a few seconds). You can then push the on/off button or leave it alone and the system will shut itself off after 30-45(?) seconds. Don't forget to shut off the engine DOH!

BFlinn181 · 08-16-2013, 01:47 PM

Check and see if you can turn off power to levelers after you dump air. In manual mode see if it stops after dumping air, waiting for your manual button pushing. Are you running the engine while using levelers or not? If running engine, it will start to re air, so you'd have to turn off levelers and engine as soon as air bags dump. I know some systems say to run engine while leveling so you have full battery capacity, and hydraulic, but if you're just using air dump function, there really is no need.

FIRE UP · 08-16-2013, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D Lindy

FIRE UP; I've read and reread the 12lbs of manuals that came with our unit, and they leave a lot to be desired, i.e. the Power Gear section makes reference that in the manual mode that it'll take 20 sec to dump the air and then to manually level MH. Does this mean the I can press the manual mode wait for the air to dump and then turn the power gear sys off and it'll reair the suspension??? Manual doesn't say. Also there is no separate air dump button on my controller. The reason I sometimes need to dump the air only is it lowers the MH 2-4" and makes it a lot easier to run the front wheel of my motorcycle up into the rack I use to tow it behind the MH, then reair the system to travel.

D Lindy,
I referenced our system just so you could maybe see if your system was operated in a somewhat similar manor. I know some of those manuals can be almost "Non-user friendly" so to speak. We shouldn't have to decipher our manuals, they're supposed to HELP us understand our machinery.
Anyway, without seeing your control panel, or at least reading your manual, I'd hesitate to advise you on just how to operate it, based on how our HWH system works.

On our 625 HWH system, once you've dumped the air, either manual or automatic, the system will NOT AIR UP THE BAGS until you command it to. And, for our system, there is a "Store" button that you push. When that's pushed, and the engine is running, the jacks will all retract and the control valves will engage the bag fill system.

So, you asked if you dump the air, then turn your system off, will it "re-inflate the bags? Well, again, without seeing your panel or, reading at least something in your Power Gear section, I cannot tell you if your system will automatically re-inflate the bags. There must be something on your panel that might be similar to our "Store" button, is there? There must be something in the operations of that system to tell it to re-inflate the bags.

I can dump the air, either manually or use the automatic side and, until I push that "store" button, I can start and stop that diesel as many times as I want, and the bags will not re-inflate 'till commanded to do so by the store button. Maybe your system does automatically fill the bags.

But, you say your manual does say to dump the air, wait approximately 20 seconds, then use your leveling jacks to level. And, as another poster stated, some manufacturers of either the Jacks or the coach itself, require the engine to be running to get full electrical power to the hydraulic pump while in the leveling process. Well, in that case, something is keeping the bags from refilling. And if that's the case, then what mechanism, or button is pushed to command the bags be refilled???
Scott

D Lindy · 08-16-2013, 04:04 PM

Fired UP I'm guessing but maybe to refill the air I'll have to push retract the jacks and the system once it has determined that the jacks are fully retracted it'll re-inflate the air bags. I guess this is something I'd better experiment with at home when I have time to undo what I might goof up. I just hate pushing buttons and experimenting with the electronic/hydraulic systems on the coach without knowing what I'm doing or how to do it.

FIRE UP · 08-16-2013, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D Lindy

Fired UP I'm guessing but maybe to refill the air I'll have to push retract the jacks and the system once it has determined that the jacks are fully retracted it'll re-inflate the air bags. I guess this is something I'd better experiment with at home when I have time to undo what I might goof up. I just hate pushing buttons and experimenting with the electronic/hydraulic systems on the coach without knowing what I'm doing or how to do it.

D Lindy,
I agree about "ramdomely" pushing buttons on things and not knowing the potential result. But, these systems are pretty full-proof. In that, I'm about 99.9999999% sure that you could not screw anything up by pushing a button on that panel that you were unsure of. It will protect itself. And, again, while I'm not familiar with your particular system, I would agree with you that, when the "Retract jacks" button is pushed, your bags will start to fill. That and the fact that, there's no other button that indicates "fill" or "Store" or, anything that would point you to specifically fill the bags. Good luck.
Scott