Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

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Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

December 12, 2022, 02:21:58 pm

Pulled out of the RV Park and noticed that as I was leaving the coach was not level and the travel light was not on. Made it to the Walmart a mile away and I'm trying to get the system to work but will not. Yes I've tried everything that I can think of. The HWH panel is working as far as the lights so that's not it. I checked the fuses in the HWH computer and they all seem to be okay although it's a little hard to tell laying on my back with blurry eyes cuz I can't see that close lol. Even with my glasses on the left driver side airbags are fully deflated and the right are inflated and will not deflate when I hit the dump switch.
I've read instructions from somebody where they tell you how to bypass the system but it didn't really make a whole lot of sense to me. Any ideas?
I'm sure I'm going to have to send the computer back to HWH but right now I need to get a hundred miles south to quartzsite.

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #1 – December 12, 2022, 02:36:20 pm

If you have your HWH wiring schematic try jumping 12 V straight to the travel solenoid wires unplug them from the control board first and go straight 12 V and see what happens. You can do that right at the control box. Get your 12 volts from the power wire in the box. If the travel solenoids are working that will make it go to ride height, as long as the power is on them

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #2 – December 12, 2022, 02:42:45 pm

Where are you? Havasu?

Make sure the ground wires on the HWH panel are properly secured. There's a stud on the outside of the HWH box with two white wires going to it. I've seen similar issues to yours when the nut holding those two grounds on backs off

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #3 – December 12, 2022, 02:45:00 pm

I have had a lot of trouble with the travel fuse blowing but I could always get it to manually
set. If you have a test light that I find the easiest way to check fuses or could use a volt meter.
Hopefully it is just a bad ground.

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #4 – December 12, 2022, 02:47:23 pm

Does going into raise selection do anything? Can you operate in manual to correct height and pull fuse? Bruce is spot on with powering up ride height circuit

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #5 – December 12, 2022, 03:01:27 pm

Just to cover the basics, the salesman switch is on, right? One guy just ran into that on the FT FB page with his HWH not working.

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #6 – December 12, 2022, 03:12:25 pm

Thanks currently in buckeye at the Walmart. The ground wire seem to be intact on the side of the computer case. All lights at the control panel working,
Salesman switches on I tried to cycle that no change. As far as I can tell all the fuses are good. I've got a lot of traffic around me and I really don't want to pull everything out and start going at it with a multimeter here unless I absolutely have to. I seem to not be able to deflate the passenger front airbag. Trying to inflate the driver's front airbag I do not hear the compressor coming on. Lately the compressor has been making a weird sound so I wonder if I have a bad compressor now?

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #7 – December 12, 2022, 03:13:35 pm

Quote from: bbeane – December 12, 2022, 02:36:20 pm

If you have your HWH wiring schematic try jumping 12 V straight to the travel solenoid wires unplug them from the control board first and go straight 12 V and see what happens. You can do that right at the control box. Get your 12 volts from the power wire in the box. If the travel solenoids are working that will make it go to ride height, as long as the power is on them

Bruce can you be a little more specific ?
Can you talk me through the steps? Thanks

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #8 – December 12, 2022, 03:18:37 pm

Quote from: Journey, Roam, Explore – December 12, 2022, 03:12:25 pm

Trying to inflate the driver's front airbag I do not hear the compressor coming on. Lately the compressor has been making a weird sound so I wonder if I have a bad compressor now?

The engine compressor should provide air when the engine is on. With ignition on, you should be able to press the "travel" mode button on the HWH control panel and the corresponding green light on the control panel should light up. If that's not happening, your problem is in the brains somewhere (either the control box or perhaps the control panel). You shouldn't need your aux compressor for this.

If the green travel light is turning on, then you might have a problem with your travel solenoids.

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #9 – December 12, 2022, 03:29:51 pm

I don't think a bad compressor is your problem as you are too high. If no one can figure out
how to fix it and as you want to go a hundred miles I would get some fittings and values and
disconnect the air lines going to the air bags and fill them manually to the proper ride height
and shut off the valves and that should keep you going. Hopefully someone can come up with
a simpler temporally fix.

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #10 – December 12, 2022, 03:37:00 pm

Again, the engine driven compressor is the one that provides air while driving/with engine on. You could drive cross country with no auxiliary compressor and the coach suspension would be just fine.

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #11 – December 12, 2022, 03:52:27 pm

The HWH system diagrams are available online here: Foretravel Motorcoach System Diagrams – HWH® Corporation

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #12 – December 12, 2022, 03:54:53 pm

Quote from: wolfe10 – December 12, 2022, 03:37:00 pm

Again, the engine driven compressor is the one that provides air while driving/with engine on. You could drive cross country with no auxiliary compressor and the coach suspension would be just fine.

I have proven this to be correct.
Bob you will have to get in your manual and find the wire number associated with the ride or raise circuit to workaround it. I dont have access to manuals since im at work. I can look them up for you after 4pm if you dont get them before. Does the manual work at all to get height close? Adjust and pull fuse

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #13 – December 12, 2022, 03:54:59 pm

Bruce's solve is the probably the simplest. You ultimately just need to get 12v power to the two travel solenoids on each six pack and make sure there isn't any power going to the other 4 on each sixpack. You could literally hotwire 12v from anywhere you want. After that, the ride height control valves will take care of everything else.

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #14 – December 12, 2022, 04:06:04 pm

4. If the control box is removed, +12 ignition power must be
applied to the travel solenoid wires (GRAY) 1700 in the front
and (GRAY) 3700 in the rear air harnesses. This will allow the
height control valve to function. See MP85451F of section (3)
This the 2 wires you need to put 12 volts to. This would be a lot simpler.

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #15 – December 12, 2022, 04:11:38 pm

So I've been able to get the front passenger side airbag to go down some but the rears are now not inflating. I found that the right adjustment bracket was loose on the passenger rear. I tightened that up and still no go. I went in and pulled the 7.5 amp fuse on the travel solenoid and saw no change there I'm going to go into Walmart and buy some fuses and see if that makes any difference.

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #16 – December 12, 2022, 04:56:00 pm

Unfortunately it didn't.

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #17 – December 12, 2022, 05:14:29 pm

Quote from: Elliott – December 12, 2022, 03:18:37 pm

If the green travel light is turning on, then you might have a problem with your travel solenoids.

Hey Elliott! Just our of curiosity, what's the return path for the electricity from the solenoids? Is it through the chassis or individual ground wires back to the HWH box?

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #18 – December 12, 2022, 05:37:30 pm

Quote from: Old Toolmaker – December 12, 2022, 05:14:29 pm

Hey Elliott! Just our of curiosity, what's a return path for the electricity from the solenoids? Is it through the chassis or individual ground wires back to the HWH box?

Art I'm 90% sure it's individual grounds back to the HWH box based on what I've seen at the 6 packs and when diagnosing the control box. I'm not sure where I found this but it's from HWH 625 series installation instructions that I have saved in my foretravel folder. For that system at least, the diagram seems to indicate ground wires to the box. These HWH levelling systems are not custom to FT and I assume are made to operate independently of the chassis.

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #19 – December 12, 2022, 05:43:02 pm

Quote from: Elliott – December 12, 2022, 05:37:30 pm

Art I'm 90% sure it's individual grounds back to the HWH box based on what I've seen at the 6 packs and when diagnosing the control box.

Is there a separate plug back at the box for each six pack?

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #20 – December 12, 2022, 05:45:04 pm

Quote from: WS6_Keith – December 12, 2022, 03:52:27 pm

The HWH system diagrams are available online here: Foretravel Motorcoach System Diagrams – HWH® Corporation

Do you know which of these systems you have in your coach?

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #21 – December 12, 2022, 05:58:05 pm

Quote from: Old Toolmaker – December 12, 2022, 05:43:02 pm

Is there a separate plug back at the box for each six pack?

I have a different series HWH system than Bob but yes, in my case it's one plug for the rear six pack and one plug for the front six pack I believe.

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #22 – December 12, 2022, 06:50:53 pm

Yes all the grounds return back to box with ground lug externally. Easy to separate front from rear. I texted Bob and he said he was underway on i10

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #23 – December 12, 2022, 07:15:02 pm

Quote from: Journey, Roam, Explore – December 12, 2022, 02:21:58 pm

Pulled out of the RV Park and noticed that as I was leaving the coach was not level and the travel light was not on. Made it to the Walmart a mile away and I'm trying to get the system to work but will not. Yes I've tried everything that I can think of. The HWH panel is working as far as the lights so that's not it. I checked the fuses in the HWH computer and they all seem to be okay although it's a little hard to tell laying on my back with blurry eyes cuz I can't see that close lol. Even with my glasses on the left driver side airbags are fully deflated and the right are inflated and will not deflate when I hit the dump switch.

Can you safely check the dump ports on the front 6-pack?

If it won't dump/lower on one side, it's possible the exhaust/dump port is blocked with a mud dauber nest. Over-inflation on one side might make the other side appear underinflated.

Re: Stuck in Arizona Walmart parking lot leveling issues

Reply #24 – December 12, 2022, 08:39:39 pm

Appreciate all the help. As you all know when you're on the road and things break is very frustrating. With you guys help as well as twig via phone and his friend Scott I think his name was who basically reinforced earlier suggestions about jumping from 12 volts to the gray wires and that did the trick. I am now at quartzsite foretravel site. A little shooken up from the day but I knew at some point my leveling system was going to go out. It's been kind of funky for the last couple years but it's always done what it needed to do until today. So the next thing to do would be to rebuild a six packs which I have the kits for and see if that fixes it or if not I'll have to send my board to HWH.
Again I appreciate all the help. Below is a picture of what my bypass/jumper looks like.
You know how it is if things don't break you don't learn how to fix them...

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