Happened this morn to a neighbor (you know the kind) getting ready to leave, who kept starting/stopping the coach numerous times/ on and on. I finally heard THAT SOUND of a jack dragging when he tried to move the coach. Being curious, I could hear him cursing and grunting under the front end, finally left, no wave. So WHAT happened? Did he drain fluid to get the jack up, or was it a leak that caused the problem in the first place? Here's a bad pic:
Mike,
No way for us to know the root cause of the jack not properly retracting-- could be a bent piston, weak or broken spring, failed solenoid, etc.
To release the hydraulic pressure on a jack, go to the HWH pump/reservoir. Unscrew the "T" handle on the offending jack a couple of turns (do not remove). That will release the hydraulic pressure on the jack. If bad spring, bent piston, etc he will still have to pry the jack up.
He could have driven off the jacks forward and they would have flipped up extended. Then cracked the valve later
[quote author=wolfe10 link=msg=228599 date=14 To release the hydraulic pressure on a jack, go to the HWH pump/reservoir. Unscrew the "T" handle on the offending jack a couple of turns (do not remove). That will release the hydraulic pressure on the jack. [/quote]
When the "T" handle is released, does it daylight fluid?
No the pressure holding the jack down is realeased and the oil flows back into the tank
JohnH
If kick down jacks, he could have done that-- I still would release the hydraulic pressure and get them up first. Besides, the jack down alarm would continue to sound!
So did the dweeb bleed the lines to daylight for nothing, or would a leak have caused the problem?
Mike,
I would expect a leak to relieve pressure thus causing the jack to raise.
No, a leak would not cause the jack to stay extended. They are hydraulic extended, spring retracted.
And using the "T" handle to release pressure results in zero leak-- it just goes back to the reservoir.
Not that I remember as the jack is not down. Just extended.
Bob, I seem to remember when we had that kick down type that as you said the alarm would sound only if verticle but not extended as the alarm is triggered from a mercury switch that has to be vertical. Extending does not do that. But, having said that there is a very good chance that that you could bend the shaft enough to cause more problems so allways best to "get it up one way or another"
JohnH
The neighbor must have seen his warning light come on when trying to retract, which (I guess) is why he kept starting the coach over and over, not knowing, with the key on, the HWH console warning light & dash warning would work without the noise and drain on the batteries.
Either on purpose or by accident I have driven off a lot of hwh jacks without incident. Big shaft. Big pivot bolt on top. Two heavy springs for retraction.