Hydraulic Fluid/Battery/Not Going Up - Hi-Lo camper travel trailer forum

Janice Gealey · 05-01-2015, 02:33 PM

Ok here is the problem. How do you get the hydraulic fluid in that container with the hi low down? number two, how do you get to the battery when it is lowered?? number three, the trailer isn't going up, don't know if the battery is dead or does it need hydraulic fluid?? any help would be greatly appreciated. 2009 Hi Lo0 19T and I came back from a trip to Asheville NC on April 7th and everything was fine. Left it in the down position because I came back sick. Better now. Janice

JackandJanet · 05-01-2015, 03:09 PM

Hi Janice -

You SHOULD have a "half door" over the pump so that you could insert the manual lifting handle into the manual pump socket. It should be fairly obvious at the front of the pump reservoir. Once you've inserted the manual handle, just move it back and forth to raise the top. After you get it up a bit, you'll be able to reach the battery terminals.

If the battery IS dead, you can then attach jumper cables from a known good battery (such as the one in your tow vehicle) to raise the top electrically the rest of the way.

For future battery failures, it would be good to attach short battery cables to the screws on the posts. Cover the other ends with something that won't conduct electricity and position them where you can reach them with the top down. Then, if you need to jump it, you can just open the little door and attach jumper cables to those cables you added after you remove the covers you installed to prevent short circuits inside the battery box. Also, DO mark these little cables + and - so you'll know which is which. Jumping a battery backwards can cause it to explode!

To add fluid with the top down, use a funnel with a short length of neoprene tubing attached. You should be able to insert the tubing into the reservoir through the little access door. And, I check the level of the fluid with the top down by bending a drinking straw into an "L" so that it will reach into the filler opening in the manner of a dipstick. You can, of course use anything that can be bent this way, such as a length of wire, but it is easy to see hydraulic fluid on a white straw.

If the battery is dead, you should not hear the lifting motor making any sound, or maybe only "clicks" as the solenoid repeatedly opens and closes.

If the motor runs, but the top doesn't raise, check the fluid level. If low, add fluid. If it is at a good level and the top is not going up, maybe your lowering valve is open. Get back to us if that is the case.

- Jack

Luckydog671 · 05-01-2015, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackandJanet

Hi Janice -

You SHOULD have a "half door" over the pump so that you could insert the manual lifting handle into the manual pump socket. It should be fairly obvious at the front of the pump reservoir. Once you've inserted the manual handle, just move it back and forth to raise the top. After you get it up a bit, you'll be able to reach the battery terminals.

If the battery IS dead, you can then attach jumper cables from a known good battery (such as the one in your tow vehicle) to raise the top electrically the rest of the way.

For future battery failures, it would be good to attach short battery cables to the screws on the posts. Cover the other ends with something that won't conduct electricity and position them where you can reach them with the top down. Then, if you need to jump it, you can just open the little door and attach jumper cables to those cables you added after you remove the covers you installed to prevent short circuits inside the battery box. Also, DO mark these little cables + and - so you'll know which is which. Jumping a battery backwards can cause it to explode!

To add fluid with the top down, use a funnel with a short length of neoprene tubing attached. You should be able to insert the tubing into the reservoir through the little access door. And, I check the level of the fluid with the top down by bending a drinking straw into an "L" so that it will reach into the filler opening in the manner of a dipstick. You can, of course use anything that can be bent this way, such as a length of wire, but it is easy to see hydraulic fluid on a white straw.

If the battery is dead, you should not hear the lifting motor making any sound, or maybe only "clicks" as the solenoid repeatedly opens and closes.

If the motor runs, but the top doesn't raise, check the fluid level. If low, add fluid. If it is at a good level and the top is not going up, maybe your lowering valve is open. Get back to us if that is the case.

- Jack

Jack, how far from the top should the fluid be when lowered? I seem to recall around a 1/2" but please correct me if wrong.

Janice, if you do use the manual pump handle, it may be easier if you remove your propane bottle(s). Good luck!

JIM L · 05-02-2015, 09:21 AM

Janice; A problem here is that you have not told us what model HiLo you have. As with my 2805C HiLo you cannot access the Battery or Hydraulic pump when the top is down. There is no half door, and many Hilo's do not have a manual pump. Sounds like your HiLo is somewhat like mind. If your HiLo was Raising and lowering OK before I am going to guess that the battery is dead or low. When you try to raise the top do you hear the pump trying to run at all? Has the RV set all winter not hooked up to shore power. If this is the case then the battery may be totally bad. If you can hook it up to shore power do so to see if the converter will put a charge back into the battery. You can also plug in the power cord to your tow vehicle and let the TV help charge the battery. After 15 or 20 minuets you can try to raise the top. Just bump the switch to the raise position to see if the pump runs. Do not try to raise the top all the way with the power cord plugged into the TV as you may blow the power fuse in your TV. The pump pulls far more amps than the TV can supply. Now to the Hydraulic side. If the pump runs and sounds strong but the top does not go up you could be out of fluid. You would have to have had a bad leak for all the fluid to have leaked out. When the top is down the fluid level should be within 1 inch of the top of the resevoir. Even if half the fluid has leaked out the top would still raise aprox halfway up. If you do not see where a lot of fluid has leaked on the ground I don't think this is your problem. For the little fluid I have had to add to my reservoir, I add it when the top is up and there should be aprox 1 inch of fluid in the bottem of the resevoir. Do you know for sure that you do not have a manual pump? Try the above an get back here with the answers so we can help further. I also sent you a private message.

JackandJanet · 05-02-2015, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luckydog671

Jack, how far from the top should the fluid be when lowered? I seem to recall around a 1/2" but please correct me if wrong.

Janice, if you do use the manual pump handle, it may be easier if you remove your propane bottle(s). Good luck!

Greg, the spec is within 1" of the top, and I adjusted mine to 1/2" from the top.

Janice, to piggyback on Jim's post, if you had a hydraulic leak that stopped the top from raising, I think you'd know it. There would be a huge puddle/mess under the trailer. From your post, I doubt this is the case.

So, my money's on the battery. do what Jim said regarding shore power/connecting to a tow vehicle, If you can get it high enough to attach jumper cables, then you can raise it the rest of the way without fear of blowing a fuse.

I don't know how you store yours over winter. I have my battery connected to a Battery Minder, which is connected to house power. This little device is better than a "trickle charger" - it won't boil the battery and it applies a pulse modulated desulphanating input that helps condition the battery too.

- Jack

Janice Gealey · 05-02-2015, 08:17 PM

Have camper up. Cranked it up enough to get to the battery and charged it from my car. The hydraulic fluid was low so filled leaving 1/2 inch. Battery was low on water, so filled. Now up and will keep an eye on the battery. Also used some sandpaper to clean some of the terminals that had "powder looking stuff" on them. Will get those terminals to hook on the battery to reach if this happens again. Thanks all of you, couldn't do it without all of your help.

sam · 05-02-2015, 10:49 PM

Thought I would mention that it is best to use distilled water when the battery is low on water.

JackandJanet · 05-02-2015, 11:45 PM

Also, I would NOT trust a battery that had low electrolyte. In my experience, once you start adding water to a battery, it's time to get a new one. The low state of charge also tells me the battery has now been weakened considerably.

I just recently had to replace the battery in my old truck. It was suddenly too low to start the engine after sitting about 5 days. I jump started it and it did fine that day, through up to 10 restarts - we were moving stuff out of a rental house we were selling, but the next day, it was dead again. I jump started it again and drove the truck to Costco to get a new battery, but decided to get gas there first. When I attempted to start the truck and pull away from the gas pump, you guessed it - didn't start. Fortunately, two employees pushed me to a parking spot and I went in and bought a battery which I installed there.

Once they start acting up, I think they should not be trusted.

- Jack

Pinn · 05-03-2015, 05:29 AM

I had to replace my battery when it became low on water.

Janice Gealey · 05-03-2015, 09:06 AM

The Fluid was low, filled that, the battery after I cranked her up to get to was charged. The battery water looked low so I filled it, and when the trailer went up the water started to over flow, why? I wound up putting paper towels in to dry up some of it, in the wells but now realize I might have over filled. Where do you fill it up to. Also, if the battery is on its way out, how can I tell. I want to say again THANK ALL OF YOU, I don't know how I would do this if it wasn't for people like you to help. one last thing, how do I post pictures on this site, I promised Pinn I would post pictures of "Just Enough" and also the rest of you can see her.

JackandJanet · 05-03-2015, 09:51 AM

Janice, you're most welcome.

But, now I'm a bit confused. When you say the "water overflowed" do you mean the fluid (electrolyte) in the battery? I've never seen that happen during "use" of a battery, but I have seen one "boil over" during charging. If it lost electrolyte that way, you definitely need a new battery. You've lost sulfuric acid, and the concentration in the electrolyte is now incorrect.

And, since the electrolyte contains sulfuric acid, make sure you wash it off anything outside the battery. You can also apply baking soda to any place it contacted to neutralize it, but DON'T allow any soda to get into the battery!

When filling a battery, don't go above the bottom of the filler holes. Stop when the electrolyte touches the bottom of those tubes.

You can take a battery to an automotive store like Autozone or O'Reily's and they can "load test" it. Personally, I don't bother - I just test the voltage at the terminals with an inexpensive multimeter (you can buy them at places like Home Depot and I think every trailer owner should have one). If the battery is fully charged and in good shape, the voltage at the terminals should be about 12.7V with nothing pulling current from it. This measurement should be taken at least 6 hours after any charging to let the surface charge dissipate. I usually do it a day later. If the voltage is below 12.6, the battery is suspect.

The way I post pictures is to load them from my computer to PhotoBucket, an online image hosting service and you can have a free account there that will hold a lot of pictures.

Then, when you click on a picture in a PhotoBucket album, it will appear bigger and you will see to the right of it two "links". The bottom one is an "img" link. Left click on that link and it will turn yellow and tell you it was copied. Then you can just "paste" the link into the text you are posting, the way I'm doing with my picture here:

Handsome devil, ain't I?

- Jack

JIM L · 05-03-2015, 10:38 AM

You do not fill a battery to the top. Look down into the cell and you will see a plastic tube that extends down into the cell aprox 3/4 of a inch. You fill the cell to the bottom of the tube. To see if the battery is still good, take it out of the RV and take it to a good auto parts store and they will check it under a load, no cost to you. This is the best test for a battery.