Atwood Electric Jacks

[Florida Jim]

I am glad I found this forum.  This is my first post (aka - seeking advice)  I have a 2005 Fleetwood Southwind.  The electric jacks have always worked great - till yesterday.  They were in the down position.  I turned them on and pressed the RET and ALL switches.  Engine running and emergency brake was on.  All four jacks came all the way up as they should.  But the right-front jack motor continued to run.  Turned OFF the engine - restarted the engine and of course I was in error mode.  Put it in gear and all the lights blinked / sirens went off.  The RF jack motor is still on ("clutching" I think is the term)  I Turned the engine off to make sure the jack was up.  Then I disconnected the electric supply wire to the motor and drove home.  YES the sirens were going off but I only to go 5 miles and I knew the jack was in the up position.

I got out the manuals and did all the RESET features several times.  Individually putting down each jack for the 10 seconds as recommended.  Then pressed the RET and ALL switches again.  Once again - all jacks came up - but the RF motor continued to run (clutch).  I wonder if it would make a difference if I lowered each jack all the way to ground level?

I did notice the red - low voltage light was on during all the blinking.  I didn't think my house batteries were bad - but they were the originals so I did replace them.  Still same problem.

At this point - I am lost.  I was told there is a relay switch to replace - but I didn't see this on any diagram.  I know I will be taking it to the RV shop - but don't want to get soaked by a mechanic on a "fishing expedition" for $100 an hour. 

Any help will be most appreciated.  Thanks for this forum.  I think it is great.

 

[SargeW]

Welcome Jim, stand by I am sure that some other folks here have Atwood systems as well.

 

[cliston]

I have Atwood electric jacks and I've had the same problem as you, and then some.  I've had the continuous clutching, I've had them all retract except one, I think I've had every error you can possibly have.  I still have the problem and after hours of on the phone troubleshooting  with Atwood, I am no closer to a solution. 
I have finally just disconnected the two front jacks, right at the motor underneath while driving, and then reconnect them once I arrive at my location and just hope they work.  Sometimes they work, sometime they don't. 

Hopefully someone here will have some helpful suggestions.

 

[Florida Jim]

I don't understand why manufacturers can't fix their own products.  I am going to the RV shop in a few days.  If we are able to get this corrected I will post here.  Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

They did fix them while they were under warranty, but both the RV manufacturers and the component suppliers (Atwood in this case) abandoned the end user once the 12 month warranty ran out on the jacks. That's pretty much business as usual in the RV industry. Car manufacturers sometimes absorb post-warranty costs to protect their brand names, but the RV industry typically does not do that.

 

[Florida Jim]

Has anyone replaced the electric front jack assembly?  I think it might be good money to have the shop do it.  It appears to be appx 2 hours to do the job.
I am fairly handy with the tools but I don't know how awkward this install  could be???
I talked to Atwood this AM.  They said it is moast likely the motor/gear box assembly.  appx $300.00 with shipping.

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

I had the Atwood electric jacks on my 2006 Fleetwood Expedition and had very few problems, unlike Colin has had. The clutching issue I had once was cured by spinning the motor with a wrench to get it repositioned, per Atwood and some others. I have also heard of people taking the motors out and cleaning them, but cannot speak to that personally.

A friend with a similar unit replaced two of his in the campground one day with the help of his wife without too much problem. Probably more than anything, they are heavy to maneuver lying on your back in a bad place.

I don't recall mine being much more than bolted to the frame, but I have slept since then.  8) It might end up being one of those "duh!" repairs - take a close look when you are under there; I thought it was mostly wrench work.

 

[cliston]

While on the phone Atwood told me my controller board was fine, and malfunctioning jack problem was related to a weak power source.

One of the things Atwood told me was the jacks run off the house batteries and "some other power source".  They told me that is why you run the engine, but they could not tell me what this other "power source" was, they said possibly the transmission, for example. 

They said Fleetwood took liberties when installing the jacks and I would have to call Fleetwood to find out this other "power source". 

Does that seem to make sense to anyone here?  Can you draw power from a transmission?