The electric step

Our new Fuse has one of those electric steps that opens when you open the door and close when you close the door. It ought to be really simple to control this, but I have run into an issue that I do not seem able to solve without going through the hassle of exiting the RV from the cab instead of the coach door.

As I said, the step opens when I open the door and closes when I close the door, but that is when the coach battery switch is ON. It is when I am ready to store the coach and turn the coach battery switch to OFF that I have issues.

1) If I exit the coach by the coach door and leave the door open to turn off the coach battery, the step is out because the door is open. When I close the door the step stays out.

2) If I stay in the coach, close the coach door and flick the coach battery switch to off, the step stays in. When I open the door to exit the step opens and does not close again when I close the coach door.

I have been unable to find a way to keep the step in and exit using the coach door. I understand from the manual that the step is wired to the chassis battery, not the coach batteries, so I understand why it is operating when the coach battery is switch off, but then how can I store the coach without having the step out?

I have not yet checked (but will tomorrow morning) if the step stays closed when I exit using the cab door, but that seems like a kludgy kind of way to solve this problem. The manual is no help. Can anyone tell me how to do this? Or do I just have to use the cab door? Or climb out a window?

Ours is tied to the engine battery, so we don't have the issue. I see reference to rewiring in the owner's manual to change the powersource.

With my switch in one position, the steps stay extended regardless of the door opening and closing, in the other position they open and close with the door operation.

I think John is referring to a special switch related only to the steps, and not to the 'storage/use' battery switch. Did you call Winnebago and ask how it should work just in case someone wired it improperly???

Sounds like your step is operating properly.  Any time you open the door, the step is going to go out. You might try using a small bar magnet over the reed switch next to the hinge side of the door to fool the circuit. I don't know  if the step would stay in when you take the magnet away to close the door.

ChasA said:

Sounds like your step is operating properly.  Any time you open the door, the step is going to go out. You might try using a small bar magnet over the reed switch next to the hinge side of the door to fool the circuit. I don't know  if the step would stay in when you take the magnet away to close the door.

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Stick the magnet to the switch with painters tape.

John Canfield said:

With my switch in one position, the steps stay extended regardless of the door opening and closing, in the other position they open and close with the door operation.

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Yes, the steps work that way when he coach battery is on. My problem is when the coach battery is off and the unit is in storage.

Alfa38User said:

I think John is referring to a special switch related only to the steps, and not to the 'storage/use' battery switch. Did you call Winnebago and ask how it should work just in case someone wired it improperly???

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No. We noticed this yesterday (Saturday) and so I assume Winnebago was closed as they will be today (Sunday). I will call tomorrow to find out, but am not sure I can talk to someone who will know.

I did some additional testing this morning when I put the coach back in storage. I stayed inside, closed everything, turned off the coach battery and the set the step to off. I then exited from the driver's side cab door and the step stayed closed, so this is a decent "work-around" but it seems that there ought to be some way to exit normally and have the step remain closed when putting it in storage.

Alfa38User said:

I think John is referring to a special switch related only to the steps, and not to the 'storage/use' battery switch. Did you call Winnebago and ask how it should work just in case someone wired it improperly???

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Pretty sure it's a dedicated switch for the steps, we rarely operate it but when we put the coach in for service, they always operate the switch so the steps remain retracted unless the door is opened. Probably keeps them from running into the extended steps.

John Canfield said:

Pretty sure it's a dedicated switch for the steps, we rarely operate it but when we put the coach in for service, they always operate the switch so the steps remain retracted unless the door is opened. Probably keeps them from running into the extended steps.

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The manual says that the step is wired to the engine battery, not the coach battery, for safety. The idea is that if the engine is started the step automatically retracts preventing someone from driving down the road and clipping anything close enough to the side of the RV. I think that makes perfect sense, but it does cause this problem with the step when the coach battery is off the the coach is being put into storage.

Short of climbing out a window or using the coach doors I do not know of any way to keep the step retracted when exiting, and that seems to me to be a relatively big issue, at least for me, and I am surprised that it is not an issue for others.

Then again this is a new RV for me, so I have a ton of questions, and this is only one of them.

The manual says that the step is wired to the engine battery, not the coach battery, for safety.

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That is easy enough to prove!! Disconnect one side of the house battery (no outside power connected)and see if the steps continue to work... just in case a mistake was made.

Alfa38User said:

That is easy enough to prove!! Disconnect one side of the house battery (no outside power connected)and see if the steps continue to work... just in case a mistake was made.

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The step works when the coach battery is turned off, so I assume Winnebago is correct when they say it is wired to the engine battery. When the coach battery is turned off nothing else works inside the RV, so the on/off switch is working properly. The step must be wired to the engine battery.

Just my two cents:

I followed all the post and understand the problem. My work-around was this: my coach and engine disconnect switch is just inside the door and reachable through the screen door opening. I come out of the coach close only the screen door which in turn retracts the steps, reaching through the screen opening I disconnect the remaining battery close the door and lock everything up.  to open, open door flip the switch that reconnects the battery, steps come out. this only works if your disconnect switches are just inside the door and reachable through the screen.