The woes of "dewinterizing" the camper!

[always quiet]

We have a HiLo camper. We've had it since 1999 and never had any problems with it. We lowered it for the winter in Nov. Now it won't go up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had no problems with it when it lowered (actually, you have to raise it slightly higher than normal to get the lock to release so it goes down). I have no clue what the problem is. We've posted the question on a HiLo based discussion forum and even spoken to the Hi Lo company directly. My poor husband is beating his brains in trying to figure this out. I can't see it being anything drastic as it was fine in the fall.

If you have any pixie dust to spare, please send some to one very frazzled man in PA!!

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Ah, I know the feeling well. This year, after owning our Kiwi for 3 years, we had a roof leak and a leak in the hot water tank. Fortuneately, both were easily fixed. Today, just 3 days away from leaving for FW, I had a flat tire on my bike. Oh well, better to find it now than at FW. Best of luck with the HiLo.

 

[Piglet4me]

This may sound dumb - But have you checked the battery and/or connection?

This is exactly one of the reasons we bought a TrailManor.
Best of Luck & Pixie Dust!!!!

 

[always quiet]

We initially thought it was the battery (it had been dead and when it refused to take a charge, we replaced it). That wasn't the problem. Next up was the solenoid. Nope. When I talked to Hi Lo, the tech told me to check the '12 amp breaker' that was located in the front of the camper in the battery/pump compartment. I told him we didn't have one of those. He asked me where the black wire from the solenoid connected. That connects to a 30 amp breaker, not a "mini breaker" the newer models contain.

DH noticed that the connections were a bit rusty so he managed to reach back far enough to disconnect it from the wall of the compartment and get a good look at it (not easy since with the camper in the lowered position, there is not much room). He immediately noticed upon closer inspection that the breaker is cracked! I do think that might be our problem. I'm calling Hi Lo on Monday and inquire with them if that would cause the connectivity problem. I also want to find out where we can replace this.

Piglet4me, isn't the TrailManor just like the Hi Lo?

ftwildernessguy, have a blast in FW!!!!! We're going in Dec., but not taking the camper this time! I can't wait to stay in one of the cabins in FW, but I have to admit, I'm going to miss the camper!! (but I don't think I'll miss the added gas expense though )

 

[Disney Campers]

there are 2 types of electrical systems in an RV - 30 AMP shore power and 12 volt battery power, most likely your lift motor is 12 volt, so the 30 amp breaker should not have any effect on the lift, try a 12 volt item such as a your awning light or water pump, if it does not work it could be a blown fuse or possibly a converter problem. is there a manual way to crank it up??

 

[elliemae1192]

Did you buy your HiLo new? The warranty on the lift system is supposed to be pretty long isn't it? We bought ours used so I'm not sure. Also I know on ours you can lift it manually. Takes a while but maybe you can get in there and check it out better with it up.

BTW how do you like your HiLo? We've had a pop-up and a full sized 22' TT and while the pop-up was just too small for our family, the TT was a PAIN to pull on long trips. We LOVE the HiLo. It's a perfect compromise between the two. They don't sell them anywhere near us (closest dealer is several hours away) but we just happened to drive by a lot one day and there it was and they were selling it for next to nothing!

 

[DMRick]

Only mentioning this, because we just picked our our trailer from storage at the shop, and we had purchased a new battery before picking it up. The hitch wouldn't go up and down, and we thought, gee a brand new battery...and nothing. We had no idea there was a kill switch under the trailer's hitch (so the carbon monoxide thingy, wouldn't wear out the battery). We switched it over, and we are good to go.

Hope your answer ends up easy to fix.

 

[always quiet]

there are 2 types of electrical systems in an RV - 30 AMP shore power and 12 volt battery power, most likely your lift motor is 12 volt, so the 30 amp breaker should not have any effect on the lift, try a 12 volt item such as a your awning light or water pump, if it does not work it could be a blown fuse or possibly a converter problem. is there a manual way to crank it up??

The solenoid, which is attached to the starter, is connected by the black wire directly to the 30 am breaker. There are fuses all the way in the back of the camper (in the closet in the bathroom) and we have checked all of them and they are all good. The Hi Lo website does say that if your battery is dead, you can still lift the unit using the electrical system. Since it doesn't work that way, it has to have something to do with the breaker. Not sure about the water pump but I do know we have inside lights. And no, there is no way to manually lift it!! The newer models comes with a manual system as well. Ours is a 1991 so we're out of luck!!

We really love the camper (hate this problem though!)!! We have towed it down to Disney twice and since it sits lowers than the van, there is no wind resistance. We were looking at a pop up but I insisted it must have a bathroom. We got this Hi Lo used for a fraction of what a pop up would of cost.