Powering hi-lo (
 

Hello everyone,

I bought a hi-lo, yesterday. It is an oldie, 1982. I still don't know the exact model. The guy hooked it up to a regular car battery and showed me it lifted. Today, I tried to plug it into a house socket and it did not work. I purchased a new marine and rv battery from Walmart, but that did not work either. At least with the battery I here some clicking like it wants to start. I know nothing about these batteries accept what I found online. So I do need a starter battery? Also, I assumed the battery was ready to go out of the store, but realized I might be wrong since it sounds like it isn't getting enough power. Any ideas or suggestion have a 24DC 690 cranking amps 101 amp hours it is Everstart. How many cranking amps do I need? Thank you.

Hello, Naomi and welcome!

The battery you bought should be fine to raise the top half. How are you getting the power from the battery to the lifting motor? That may be the problem, if you don't have proper connections.

I know I may be asking questions you don't understand, but does the trailer have a manual lifting crank? You would normally find this under a small door at the front of the battery box. Look for a short round tube that points up. You put a crank handle into that (anything that will fit will do, such as a short piece of pipe) and then you move the handle back and forth to raise the top manually.

Once you have the top at least partly up, you will have better access to the battery compartment.

Also, is the Master Switch inside the trailer door in the proper position? It's usually a black switch that you press in at the bottom. Then, you press the upper part of the white switch next to it to raise the top electrically. If you find the Master Switch, try it with the top part pressed in too - some of them were installed reversed.

Since you saw that it worked, it probably still does, if you get things hooked up right. If all else fails, drive it back to where you bought it and have the previous owner help you. I would think he would.

- Jack

Thank you
 

I didn't see a master switch but it was dark. I will check it tomorrow. This could be the problem, I never used a master switch or saw one. Thank you so much. It is just nice to have a place to ask questions and get ideas. I feel better already as I had no idea where to start. Naomi

Naomi, Welcome to the forum, you have found the source for everything Hi Lo. Somewhere, I can't seem to find them right now, is a set of videos for the operation of most of the systems found on the Hi Lo. Thought they were in the reference library.
Someone will pop up and let us know where they are.
Tree
PS I'll be in your town in Nov, but not camping.

Naomi, Understand those videos are on youtube "Hi Lo video operators manual". I think that's it.

Yep, that where to find them. Just checked. There are about 37 short videos done by sting 32. I downloaded them to "my favorites". On a rainy day, they are interesting AND informative. Check them out!
Tree

Thank you!
 

Wow, thanks! Didn't know that existed.

QUOTE=Treeclimber;39507]Naomi, Welcome to the forum, you have found the source for everything Hi Lo. Somewhere, I can't seem to find them right now, is a set of videos for the operation of most of the systems found on the Hi Lo. Thought they were in the reference library.
Someone will pop up and let us know where they are.
Tree
PS I'll be in your town in Nov, but not camping.[/QUOTE]

Thank you, looking up user name now. Really appreciate it.

Thank you so much. Haven't been able to find more than a brochure until now.

Welcome to the forum
 

You have joined a very good helpful group of dedicated HiLo owners. The guys are really good and will keep posting until you get your problem solved.

Update: still not working. There is no master switch on this model. I upgraded to a bigger battery but no luck. I am going to try the car battery as seller suggests. May have to rewire everything as it is almost 40 years old. I watched the videos by Sting 32 and found some generally helpful advice. Will keep searching for the manual. Thank you!

HiLo problems
 

Hi Naomi: Welcome to the forum. Do NOT go back to a car battery. He just wants you to spend money. The marine/RV battery is the correct battery for the HiLo. This is a simple circuit and we should be able to help with finding the problem. I sent you a private message. Read it and get back with me.

Pay attention to what Jim is saying. You ARE using the correct battery.

I think you have either got it hooked up incorrectly, or there is a faulty contact somewhere in the circuit, or, the lift motor has failed.

But, you said you heard "clicking" in your first post? That sounds like the motor solenoid is engaging, which would supply power to the motor. I wonder if it's possible you have hooked the battery up in "reverse"? (In other words, have you possibly connected the negative cable from the trailer to the positive terminal of the battery and the positive cable to the negative terminal?) If so, I think the solenoid would still pull in, but the motor would try to run backwards.

Pictures of your hookup would be helpful. But, work with Jim. He certainly knows how this system works, and I'm sure he can help you.

- Jack

HiLo problems
 

Naomi; Jack suggested that you may have hooked up the battery cables wrong. Lets hope not. This is a place that you need to know what you are doing is correct. The positive lead hooked to the positive post and the negative lead to the negative post on the battery. We know you have a new battery and you said you heard a clicking when you pressed the switch to raise the top. The pump/motor is a very reliable unit and rarely goes bad. Lets hope yours has not. My guess is that when you are hearing that clicking and you have a good battery is that you have a bad connection that is not letting enough power, voltage and amps , to run the pump. The negative battery cable is usually connected to the frame. Clean that connection and tighten it. Do the same to the positive cable that goes to the solenoid and the connection from the solenoid to the pump motor. The pump motor is either connected to the metal frame or has a ground lead from the motor to the frame to complete the circuit so clean and tighten this connection. Bad/corroded connections are a major problem thruout all RV circuits. When you hear that clicking this usually means a bad battery or connection. When you press the switch to raise the top the solenoid closes (click) then the voltage goes thru to the motor and the motor pulls so many amps, (over 100) that the voltage drops so much that the solenoid drops out, then the motor is no longer connected, the voltage goes back up and the solenoid snaps back in (click) and this just keep repeating its self. Since yours is over 30 yrs old another problem can be the battery cables themselves. The cables are made up of many small wires and these wires do corrode inside of the insulation where you cannot see them. As these wires corrode they get smaller in diameter and no longer able to carry the amp/voltage load and this can cause that voltage drop so something as simple and inexpensive as replacing the cables on old equipment can correct these problems. Hopes this helps. I can help better on the phone.

Thanks, Jim - I have to admit my thought of reversing the connections was a bit of a stretch. I like the degraded connections you so aptly explained much better. The only hangup I have with that though is that the seller demonstrated the top lifting to Naomi before it was purchased. Why would the connections suddenly go bad?

Since there are no microprocessor circuits or other "delicate" components in the lifting circuit (just a magnet and a DC motor) it MIGHT be able to be connected in reverse without "letting any of the magic smoke out".

I dunno. I'd really like to see a photograph of how the battery is connected.

Naomi - the cables you are connecting to your battery should be very thick ones with round, bolt-on connections at the ends that fit over the battery terminals. If those cables are "colored", the RED one should go to the "+" terminal of the battery and the BLACK one should go to the "-" terminal of the battery.

- Jack

Naomi, I've not tried this on my 2176RB yet, but I've learned here on the forum [if my Brain is working correctly] that it may be just the Brushes in the Motor. If so, just tapping with a rubber mallet may dislodge any build up on the Brushes. Otherwise, new brushes may be the trick.

Doesn't make sense that it worked when the previous owner raised it for you though!

HiLo problems
 

Jack; I agree that it seems strange that the top lifted when Naomi bought the HiLo but didn't later at home. Naomi should at least call the previous owner to see if he has any idea why it won't raise now. Owners over the years have made changes to their HiLos and hopefully this might be just a simple fix that he would know about. Jack you are wrong about there are no delicate components in the lifting circuit. On my HiLo the Positive battery cable goes directly to the hot side of the solenoid and directly from that stud to the two main 30 amp circuit breakers. The power then goes to the master switch but also bypasses the master switch and goes to the fridg and the power converter. If you reverse the battery cables on my Hilo just to check if they had been hooked up wrong you would be reverseing the polarity to the fridg and power converter. This is why I said that a person needs to know the correct way to hook up the battery in the first place because an instant of reverse polarity will do a lot of damage. Naomi's HiLo has no master switch so I would bet power is fed to all components when the battery is hooked up. The lifting circuit is not an isolated circuit in the HiLo.

Bruce you are right that it could be brushes. After all It is about 35 years old. I have heard about the old hammer trick but never tried it. Any good auto electrical shop can rebuild the motor or replace it with a new or rebuilt one. It is just a common auto starter motor.

Good catch, Jim! The refrigerator is certainly able to be powered directly from the battery, and, if it received reverse voltage, I suspect it would damage the control circuitry there.

But, if it were turned off, I think it would be isolated from the lifting circuit and would likely escape damage. Now, the Converter may or may not see that voltage - I don't know what happens if it is not connected to shore power.

I'm not going to try this out, because, like you, I don't like the idea of a reversed battery connection. I was just trying to come up with a possible reason for the lift motor not working, when it did before. And, from the OPs first post, I'm getting the feeling that Naomi might have limited knowledge of electrical systems.

If I'm wrong, I hope Naomi is not insulted. I'm just looking at all possibilities and trying to help.

- Jack

Jim,- My Old 2176B is connected just as yours. The Positive Cable goes directly to the Pump and all other Power is directed from that point. As I recall (haven't refreshed my memory by looking again) the ground connects to the solenoid or top of the Pump.{?}