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  1. #1
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    Extending Front Jacks before Uncoupling from Truck

    Hello,
    We came home today from a fun trip and it was time to disconnect my Solitude 344 and get it leveled. I extended the front legs and realized that the back end of my Silverado 3500 was off the ground. I never disconnected the hitch from the truck.
    After re-lowering the truck and legs, the system just stopped working (so did one of the slides). I switched to manual and all I could hear was a clicking sound. The only breakers that I am aware of are inside next to the steps to the BR but they only seem to be for the television, refrigerator, etc. I was not able to find breakers for the slides and the leveling jacks.
    Can someone please give some suggestions. Engineering and electronics are not my specialty,
    Thanks,
    Glenn

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by Glenn1 View Post
    Hello,
    We came home today from a fun trip and it was time to disconnect my Solitude 344 and get it leveled. I extended the front legs and realized that the back end of my Silverado 3500 was off the ground. I never disconnected the hitch from the truck.
    After re-lowering the truck and legs, the system just stopped working (so did one of the slides). I switched to manual and all I could hear was a clicking sound. The only breakers that I am aware of are inside next to the steps to the BR but they only seem to be for the television, refrigerator, etc. I was not able to find breakers for the slides and the leveling jacks.
    Can someone please give some suggestions. Engineering and electronics are not my specialty,
    Thanks,
    Glenn
    The breaker for the hydraulic pump should be in the front compartment on the wall behind the battery. Probably under a light weight black plastic cover. Easiest way to find it is follow the heavy wire from the reversing relay (mounted next to the pump) back to the circuit breaker. There will be two heavy wires. One is the ground (goes to the chassis) the other is the power (and connects tot eh circuit breaker. The circuit break should be an autoreset type. You can not reset it manually.

    What year is your trailer? GD used an undersized 50A circuit breaker up through 2018(?). These were known to cause a lot of problems. They have since switched to an 80A breaker.

    Chris

    A little hard to see, but here is a picture from my 2018 Solitude 310GK. The red arrow (middle of picture) points to the red power supply wire that connects to the circuit breaker. The black arrow (bottom right side) points to the black cover over the circuit breakers.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by CoChris; 07-29-2020 at 05:55 PM. Reason: Added picture
    Chris & Karen
    Fort Collins, CO
    2017 F-350 SRW 6.7 Lariat Value CC LB 4x4
    2018 Solitude 310GK - Sold 7/2023

  3. #3
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    Our 344 is a 2018 model. Could lifting the rear end of the truck put such a strain on the hydraulics to cause a malfunction?

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    First thing that comes to my mind is if you hear clicking in manual mode, then the breakers are still working and your battery may be too low to run the motors.
    Get that battery up to full charge and try again.
    If you have my luck, after you lifted the truck off the ground you ended up using up everything that battery had and it may not recover.
    Good luck.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Glenn1 View Post
    Our 344 is a 2018 model. Could lifting the rear end of the truck put such a strain on the hydraulics to cause a malfunction?
    If it is the motor reversing relay (right next to the pump) that is "clicking", check the battery voltage. They hydraulic pump draws a LOT of current and anything less than a fully charged battery will have problems. You can also check this with a voltmeter across the battery while you operate the landing gear. Battery voltage should stay up around 11.5~12v or better with a load. Also, try plugging in the shore power if you can and make sure the converter is charging (and boosting) the battery if you can.

    If the clicking is coming from the circuit breaker on the back wall of the front compartment, that is at least part of your problem. Unless you have upgraded it, you probably have the 50A breaker (we did in our late 2018 build trailer). I bet the circuit breaker is toast. They are not very good quality and will get worse as they are tripped. One massive overload could have killed it. Check on this forum (search "80A circuit breaker") for discussions of changing to higher quality 80A breakers that many people have replaced the stock one with. It does take a little work to replace the breaker with a different physical size one (they are not drop in). Or you can contact Grand Design and see if they will send you a newer 80A breaker (still light duty but I think it is a drop in replacement).

    Chris
    Chris & Karen
    Fort Collins, CO
    2017 F-350 SRW 6.7 Lariat Value CC LB 4x4
    2018 Solitude 310GK - Sold 7/2023

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    Quote Originally Posted by Glenn1 View Post
    Hello,
    We came home today from a fun trip and it was time to disconnect my Solitude 344 and get it leveled. I extended the front legs and realized that the back end of my Silverado 3500 was off the ground. I never disconnected the hitch from the truck.
    After re-lowering the truck and legs, the system just stopped working (so did one of the slides). I switched to manual and all I could hear was a clicking sound. The only breakers that I am aware of are inside next to the steps to the BR but they only seem to be for the television, refrigerator, etc. I was not able to find breakers for the slides and the leveling jacks.
    Can someone please give some suggestions. Engineering and electronics are not my specialty,
    Thanks,
    Glenn
    Just to be clear you SHOULD extend the legs before disconnecting. You just need to stop as soon as the weight is off, you should see a daylight gap between the pinbox plate and the hitch plate. THEN release the hitch.
    Jim (& Sharon)
    2015 GD Momentum 385TH - SOLD
    For Sale - 2015 Ford F-350 DRW 4x4 Lariat w/ AirLift bags, Titan 65 gal. OEM replacement fuel tank.
    The toy:
    2017 RZR XP 1000 EPS SE

  7. #7
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    Thank you all for your replies. I have not checked the voltage as I need to borrow a meter. I did take pictures inside the front compartment and have not yet found the breakers. Attached are the photos that I took. There is one picture where I removed the cover. It is the only apparatus that I found in the front section that has a cover. I am wondering if it is in a different place for a 2018 344GK. I did call the local dealer and they thought that I either blew a breaker or fried it completely.
    I do realize that I need to check the batteries just to be sure that they are not thoroughly drained. They have been hooked up to a 15 amp land line since yesterday. One last thought. There is a picture of the hydraulic fluid reservoir and it seems to be a couple of inches below the fill line.
    Click image for larger version. 

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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Glenn1 View Post
    Thank you all for your replies. I have not checked the voltage as I need to borrow a meter. I did take pictures inside the front compartment and have not yet found the breakers. Attached are the photos that I took. There is one picture where I removed the cover. It is the only apparatus that I found in the front section that has a cover. I am wondering if it is in a different place for a 2018 344GK. I did call the local dealer and they thought that I either blew a breaker or fried it completely.
    I do realize that I need to check the batteries just to be sure that they are not thoroughly drained. They have been hooked up to a 15 amp land line since yesterday. One last thought. There is a picture of the hydraulic fluid reservoir and it seems to be a couple of inches below the fill line.
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Dual Motor Slide Controller.jpg 
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ID:	28461
    Click image for larger version. 

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ID:	28462
    Click image for larger version. 

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ID:	28463
    Click image for larger version. 

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    Your first picture is the Schwintek controller for your bedroom slide

    The second picture is the automatic reset circuit breakers. One of them (looks like the bottom one) should have a heavy gauge wire that goes directly to the hydraulic pump reversing contactor next to the pump. That is the circuit breaker you want to check/replace.

    The third picture (as you know) is the hydraulic fluid reservoir. You can only check the fluid against the "full" line when all the slides are in and all the jacks are up. Ours was 2 guarts (1/2 gallon) low when we purchased it.

    The last picture is one of the level sensors for your auto leveling system.

    Chris
    Last edited by CoChris; 07-30-2020 at 06:54 PM.
    Chris & Karen
    Fort Collins, CO
    2017 F-350 SRW 6.7 Lariat Value CC LB 4x4
    2018 Solitude 310GK - Sold 7/2023

  9. #9
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    We checked the voltage of the two batteries and they are each 13.4 volts and 12.0 under load. So the batteries seem fine. When activating the manual hydraulic front legs, there is a clicking sound that is coming from the hydraulic pump/hydraulic relay area.
    The circuit braker has a 100 imprinted on it so it does not seem to be rated too low. It could be fried. Customer service at Grand Design said it could also be a solonoid. Is there a way to find it and check it?

  10. #10
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    I spoke with Lippert and it looks like the solonoid is bad. I ordered a replacent and it should be here by Tuesday. Thanks for your help,
    Glenn

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