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  1. #1
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    Problems with auto leveling system and hydraulic slideouts

    I have submitted this thread to Grand Design because their techs don't know what to do with this problem. It has been addressed in other threads but I post it again as it is a common problem.

    I have a 2018 Solitude 310GK-R. I have continually had problems with the hydraulic jacking/leveling system. It got so bad that each time I tried to raise the RV off from the hitch, it would go part way and then stop. The green light on the outside push button panel would be red. I would have to go inside to the leveling panel and reset the system then go back outside and push the raise button again to complete the action. The same thing would often happen when trying to retract the leveling jacks. I have just completed a 50 day trip to Canada. On the last day (in Idaho - I live in Utah) when I was preparing to leave the campsite, the large slides would not completely retract. They were about 6 inches from being retracted. After trying everything for about 10 minutes they finally retracted all the way. The when I punched the hitch height button the rear jacks started to retract then stopped. The light turned red again. I reset the system and pushed the raise button. The hitch raised after two tries to the proper height (I have an Andersen Hitch) and lowered properly onto the ball. The rear jacks finally retracted but I could not get the front jacks to retract (they stopped with one partially retracted and the other not retracted at all). I tried everything for 15 minutes. I then called Grand Design Tech support and talked to a tech. He suggested trying several things that did nothing. Finally he suggested I call Lippert. I spoke to a tech there and he asked several questions about the status of my batteries and then had me take voltage measurements of my batteries (13.7 volts) and the voltage at the circuit breaker feeding power to the hydraulic pump. Power in was 13.7 volts. Power out was 0. He said I had a bad circuit breaker and that it was an 80 amp 12 volt breaker. He suggested that to get on the road that I manually retract the jacks. The process to do that wasn't difficult but what I expected would take 15 seconds rotation of the pump with a drill motor took over 3 minutes - but I did get the jacks retracted and on my way (over 1 hour late).

    I was on my way to St. George, UT with a 2 day stopover in Salt Lake (where the dealer I bought the RV from is located). I removed the faulty circuit breaker and found out it was a 50 am breaker (not 80 amp like the Lippert tech had said). I called the dealer and asked if they had a 50 amp breaker in stock which they did. I went to the dealer to get the breaker and found it was a different style (side mount rather than end mount) which would be difficult to install as there are 4 such breakers in a row with a common bus bar between them. In talking to one of the parts guys there, he said they had been having problems with 50 amp breakers on hydraulic jacking systems and had been replacing them with 80 amp breakers. I asked if they had any 80 amp breakers in stock. They said no but would have some in 4 days (too late for my schedule). I then asked if there was any place in town where I could get an 80 amp breaker. They suggested Intermountain Fuse. I went there and asked if they had an 80 amp breaker. They said they had never carried more than a 50 amp breaker of this type. They did have a 50 amp model of the same configuration as the bad one, so I bought it ($5).

    I then went home and called Lippert again to get to the bottom of the 50 amp / 80 amp situation. Finally the tech told me that Grand Design had upgraded the jacking system in 2018 but had forgotten to upgrade the breaker to an 80 amp. He said the new pumps need an 80 amp breaker because they will have power spike requirements that go to as high as 80 amps. He also said this same pump controls the slide outs and that is why I had problems with both the jacks and slideouts. I asked if they had 80 amp breakers in stock and they did and shipped me one under warranty. These 80 amp circuit breakers of this style are not readily available - even on line. To get me back on the road I replaced the 50 amp breaker and it worked fine and probably will for a while, until it goes thru a few cutouts and then it will likely fail. I am going to install the 80 amp breaker as soon as it arrives in St. George.

    For Grand Design I suggest you look further into this problem and determine how many units have shipped with the 50 amp breakers where there should have been 80 amp breakers. I have seen in the forum, several threads where users have problems with the jacking system cutting out.

  2. #2
    Big Traveler
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    I believe this is the breaker
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001PYL1VM...v_ov_lig_dp_it

    I'd swap it and see if it fixes the issues. That is the most obvious thing besides voltage which you checked already.
    2019 Momentum 395
    2018 Ram 3500 DRW 4.10 AISIN

  3. #3
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    I'm waiting to see what the breaker Lippert sent me looks like. Meanwhile I am on the road to St. George, with a 50 amp breaker. I am going to swap it out as soon as the breaker comes to St. George. I had found the breaker you showed, but it has 1/4 inch studs which will require new connectors on the wires (the current ones are not 1/4 inch). It will also require some modifications to the bus bar to fit 1/4 inch. My question is why is Grand Design providing a 50 amp breaker for this circuit when Lippert says it requires an 80 amp breaker.

  4. #4
    Site Sponsor JCR GD's Avatar
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    Lots of us have changed to 80amp breaker like noted by Aridon with no ill effects.
    Jim (& Sharon)
    2015 GD Momentum 385TH - SOLD
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  5. #5
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    2019’s have 80amp breakers.

  6. #6
    Seasoned Camper Clanker24's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by larsslc View Post
    I'm waiting to see what the breaker Lippert sent me looks like. Meanwhile I am on the road to St. George, with a 50 amp breaker. I am going to swap it out as soon as the breaker comes to St. George. I had found the breaker you showed, but it has 1/4 inch studs which will require new connectors on the wires (the current ones are not 1/4 inch). It will also require some modifications to the bus bar to fit 1/4 inch. My question is why is Grand Design providing a 50 amp breaker for this circuit when Lippert says it requires an 80 amp breaker.
    I received an 80 amp breaker from GD. U can drill out the connecter with a larger drill bit to allow it to fit on the larger stud on the breaker. No modifications were required on the bus bar. The amazon link on a previous reply shows a resettable breaker. The one I received is an auto reset
    John & Joanne
    2018 Solitude 374TH
    2018 GMC 3500HD Duramax CC DRW
    2001 Harley Ultra Classic

  7. #7
    Rolling Along vonzoog's Avatar
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    I installed the 80 AMP Bussman breaker and have never had a problem again.

    This has been discussed extensively on the forum. My advice is to install the 80 AMP breaker and be done with it. It only took one trip with this problem to convince me. Lippert and Grand Design are well aware of this. Thus, models are now shipping with the 80 AMP.
    2018 Momentum 376TH
    2016 RAM 3500 Dually

  8. #8
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    Grand Design may be well aware of this, but when I called them from the field and got the regional rep., he didn't have a clue what the problem was and how to solve it. He had me check a bunch of things and then referred me to Lippert. The Lippert tech new exactly what the problem was. He had me check the voltage into the breaker, and out of the breaker. And told me I had a bad breaker. When I replaced the 50 amp breaker, I took the failed breaker apart to see what I could find out. The breaker has simple contacts one of which is on a bi-metallic strip. When the strip heats up from too much current, it bends (from the difference in thermal expansion of the two materials) and breaks the contact. In my failed breaker the contacts were totally fried.

  9. #9
    Manufacturer
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    Quote Originally Posted by larsslc View Post
    I have submitted this thread to Grand Design because their techs don't know what to do with this problem. It has been addressed in other threads but I post it again as it is a common problem.

    I have a 2018 Solitude 310GK-R. I have continually had problems with the hydraulic jacking/leveling system. It got so bad that each time I tried to raise the RV off from the hitch, it would go part way and then stop. The green light on the outside push button panel would be red. I would have to go inside to the leveling panel and reset the system then go back outside and push the raise button again to complete the action. The same thing would often happen when trying to retract the leveling jacks. I have just completed a 50 day trip to Canada. On the last day (in Idaho - I live in Utah) when I was preparing to leave the campsite, the large slides would not completely retract. They were about 6 inches from being retracted. After trying everything for about 10 minutes they finally retracted all the way. The when I punched the hitch height button the rear jacks started to retract then stopped. The light turned red again. I reset the system and pushed the raise button. The hitch raised after two tries to the proper height (I have an Andersen Hitch) and lowered properly onto the ball. The rear jacks finally retracted but I could not get the front jacks to retract (they stopped with one partially retracted and the other not retracted at all). I tried everything for 15 minutes. I then called Grand Design Tech support and talked to a tech. He suggested trying several things that did nothing. Finally he suggested I call Lippert. I spoke to a tech there and he asked several questions about the status of my batteries and then had me take voltage measurements of my batteries (13.7 volts) and the voltage at the circuit breaker feeding power to the hydraulic pump. Power in was 13.7 volts. Power out was 0. He said I had a bad circuit breaker and that it was an 80 amp 12 volt breaker. He suggested that to get on the road that I manually retract the jacks. The process to do that wasn't difficult but what I expected would take 15 seconds rotation of the pump with a drill motor took over 3 minutes - but I did get the jacks retracted and on my way (over 1 hour late).

    I was on my way to St. George, UT with a 2 day stopover in Salt Lake (where the dealer I bought the RV from is located). I removed the faulty circuit breaker and found out it was a 50 am breaker (not 80 amp like the Lippert tech had said). I called the dealer and asked if they had a 50 amp breaker in stock which they did. I went to the dealer to get the breaker and found it was a different style (side mount rather than end mount) which would be difficult to install as there are 4 such breakers in a row with a common bus bar between them. In talking to one of the parts guys there, he said they had been having problems with 50 amp breakers on hydraulic jacking systems and had been replacing them with 80 amp breakers. I asked if they had any 80 amp breakers in stock. They said no but would have some in 4 days (too late for my schedule). I then asked if there was any place in town where I could get an 80 amp breaker. They suggested Intermountain Fuse. I went there and asked if they had an 80 amp breaker. They said they had never carried more than a 50 amp breaker of this type. They did have a 50 amp model of the same configuration as the bad one, so I bought it ($5).

    I then went home and called Lippert again to get to the bottom of the 50 amp / 80 amp situation. Finally the tech told me that Grand Design had upgraded the jacking system in 2018 but had forgotten to upgrade the breaker to an 80 amp. He said the new pumps need an 80 amp breaker because they will have power spike requirements that go to as high as 80 amps. He also said this same pump controls the slide outs and that is why I had problems with both the jacks and slideouts. I asked if they had 80 amp breakers in stock and they did and shipped me one under warranty. These 80 amp circuit breakers of this style are not readily available - even on line. To get me back on the road I replaced the 50 amp breaker and it worked fine and probably will for a while, until it goes thru a few cutouts and then it will likely fail. I am going to install the 80 amp breaker as soon as it arrives in St. George.

    For Grand Design I suggest you look further into this problem and determine how many units have shipped with the 50 amp breakers where there should have been 80 amp breakers. I have seen in the forum, several threads where users have problems with the jacking system cutting out.

    Good morning! Thank you for posting this. I would like to know if you could message me your VIN and contact info (phone #). Specifically the number you would have called either GDRV or LCI on. I would like to do some research on this information posted!

    Appreciate your help!

    Emily

  10. #10
    Seasoned Camper Clanker24's Avatar
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    I
    Quote Originally Posted by larsslc View Post
    Grand Design may be well aware of this, but when I called them from the field and got the regional rep., he didn't have a clue what the problem was and how to solve it. He had me check a bunch of things and then referred me to Lippert. The Lippert tech new exactly what the problem was. He had me check the voltage into the breaker, and out of the breaker. And told me I had a bad breaker. When I replaced the 50 amp breaker, I took the failed breaker apart to see what I could find out. The breaker has simple contacts one of which is on a bi-metallic strip. When the strip heats up from too much current, it bends (from the difference in thermal expansion of the two materials) and breaks the contact. In my failed breaker the contacts were totally fried.
    I had been having issues and contacted customer support who knew exactly what I needed and they shipped me an 80 amp breaker. Easy install
    John & Joanne
    2018 Solitude 374TH
    2018 GMC 3500HD Duramax CC DRW
    2001 Harley Ultra Classic

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