hwh leveling jacks

NEW BERN RON · 10-20-2008, 12:28 PM

When "auto" retracting the jacks on our '08 Adventurer all jacks retract normally except the rear, passenger side jack which, at times, can take up to 10 minutes to completely retract. Ant suggestions or comments are appreciated.

NEW BERN RON · 10-20-2008, 12:28 PM

When "auto" retracting the jacks on our '08 Adventurer all jacks retract normally except the rear, passenger side jack which, at times, can take up to 10 minutes to completely retract. Ant suggestions or comments are appreciated.

isa · 10-20-2008, 12:50 PM

Next time you have all the jacks lowered, spray the chrome cylinders with heavy duty silicone and then wipe them down with a clean paper towel. Retract all of the jacks then lower them and repeat. I have found that if you raise and lower them every month as well as keeping the chrome cylinders clean you won't have any problems.

Jackm · 10-20-2008, 01:44 PM

As I recall from other threads, HWH strongly opposes using ANY lubricant on the jack stands. They do suggest keeping them clean but only with a clean dry cloth. You may want to call them to confirm but I've heard about this policy from a number of reliable sources.

Jack

GaryKD · 10-20-2008, 04:17 PM

In June, of this year, I attended a HWH seminar. Their instructions were to spray with the lubricant of your choice. However, they they said do not wipe the pistons with anything. Just spray and retract. Repeat the spraying if necessary, but no wiping the piston.

I use Gunk Brand Liquid Wrench, Multi-use Lubricating Oil. It can be purchased at Lowes.

Hillbilly2 · 10-20-2008, 04:42 PM

Your rig is too new to be having that problem already, sounds like a valve is not working correctly, low voltage to that soleinoid probally the culprit. Should be a warranty issue. With everything using printed circuit boards nowdays, could be the controller.

FleetMan · 10-20-2008, 07:36 PM

Manually open the valve on the solenoid for that jack next time you need to retract it. If it comes up quickly with the valve open, you have isolated the problem to that solenoid.

paz · 10-21-2008, 03:16 AM

RON - We had the same problem with one of our jacks when the coach was about the same age as yours. CAUTION: Do not leave your jacks on in the Retract mode too long. The solenoids get hot when they are energized for long periods and they can burn out, although 10 minutes probably isn't too bad - yet. As has been stated by others, either lube the exposed portion of the jack with silicone (this was suggested to us by HWH) or use the manual relief valve to retract the jack until you get it fixed. If your jacks are like ours, the solenoids for the rear jacks will have a T handle and are easy to use to release the pressure.

One of our rear jacks started taking longer and longer to retract and the solenoid eventually burned out. The fix from HWH was to replace all 8 springs with stronger ones. In the addition to the springs, they also ended up replacing all 4 solenoids (twice) and both rear jacks.

Give HWH a call. They are very helpful and they will stand behind their product. I think the warranty is 2 years for parts and labor and parts only for the third year.

BBBEEBOP · 10-21-2008, 06:01 AM

HWH only recommends silicone as a lubricant for the JACKS, Roadmaster makes a silicone product that is acceptable. If you spray it on glass and let it dry it should not be noticeable. DO NOT use the "lubricant of choice". SILICONE ONLY.

JoeT · 10-21-2008, 06:08 AM

I called HWH about a slow jack and spoke with a technician who told me to spray it with WD40, wipe it off, then smear Vaseline on it and then wipe it off. It worked like a charm.

It sounds like HWH needs to get their people together on what they recommend.

BBBEEBOP · 10-21-2008, 06:18 AM

WOW! I suppose someone from HWH needs to answer the question of lubricant on this forum. At the GNR rally they said silicone only! Now I am reading that WD-40 and other oils and greases are accdeptable. I guess HWH needs to get out a consistant answer. CONFUSED??

John Hilley · 10-21-2008, 06:35 AM

At GNR at the HWH Seminar, they said to never use anything except silicon and especially never use WD-40.

Mahlon · 10-21-2008, 10:47 AM

If you've checked the solenoid valve & hoses, your only recourse is to remove the offending cylinder and ship it to HWH to have it rebuilt. It's a DIY job. It'll cost you something like $100 plus shipping if it's just the piston rod seals & rings, which it usually is (it was in my case).

If your coach is still under warranty, of course you want the dealer to do this for you.

Side note: Why are there so many HWH cylinder failures? Something's not right here.

Hillbilly2 · 10-21-2008, 03:51 PM

Am I missing something? The post that I'm reading says that it's a 2008 model, lubrication should not be a problem yet with this coach, definetly should be under warranty.

hamguy · 10-22-2008, 10:49 AM

How many HWH failures have there been? How many is too many? I have seen a few failures as described but considering the total number out and about, I do not consider it to be too bad.

jdsr · 10-22-2008, 05:38 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by BBBEEBOP:
WOW! I suppose someone from HWH needs to answer the question of lubricant on this forum. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> I agree. I was told by hwh tech support to never lube them. Maybe because my mh is a 2004 and they do the new ones different? I dont know. safe travels

paz · 10-23-2008, 03:28 AM

One reason to not use lube on your jacks is that some petroleum products may deteriorate the seals on the jacks themselves. WD-40 has a particularly high solvent content (this contributes to its penetrating power) so I suspect that's the reason someone said never use WD-40.

Silicone, on the other hand, is not a petroleum product, although I suppose some brands may contain solvents to reduce the viscosity to allow the product to be sprayed. The possible presence of solvent is probably the reason some HWH techs say not to lube the jacks at all. It's a CYA thing. However, some techs do say it's OK to use silicone; and if you wipe it to a thin film and allow it to dry completely, there should be no problem.

I have been lubing our HWH jacks with a thin film of silicone every week or 2 for the past year and a half. The jacks come right up, and the seals do not leak.

If your jacks take an unusually long time to retract (more than 10-15 min.) and they are still under warranty (3 years), I would contact HWH.

Randy Chesnutt · 10-23-2008, 04:47 AM

My rear jacks was slow and they where replaced. To add to the lubercating of jacks I was told to use Petroleum Jelly. Been using it for three years now.

charles tuit · 10-23-2008, 05:29 AM

The left rear jack on my 02 Journey was allways slow. I installed heavy duty retracting springs from HWH on that jack and solved the problem.

Charlie
02 Journey
105,000 miles
03 XL-7 toad

John Hilley · 10-23-2008, 10:08 AM

I emailed HWH with a link to these posts. It looks like WD-40 is now accepted.

"Subject:
Re: Diagnose Problem
From:
"Joe Portelli" <[email protected]> (Add as Preferred Sender)
Date: Thu, Oct 23, 2008 1:01 pm
To: <[email protected]>
Cc: "LIZ EMMONS" <[email protected]>
Well I found the one you are talking about and I will tell you DO NOT spray
any lubricant on the rods at all. We were telling people to use silicone for
a short period of time about two years ago and we found it was doing more
harm than good so we stopped. What I tell people is when the jacks are
retracted they are sitting in oil, if the jacks are extended and they get a
heavy build of dirt on them spray them off with a garden hose or spray it
down with WD40 and then wipe it down good, but that is all.

Hopefully this answers your question.

If you have any other questions feel free to contact me.

Thank you
Joe Portelli"