Top wont lower!
 

Hey everyone, I have a 1971 bon voyage ad I can't get the top to lower. Went up fine with full battery and safety bar is disengaged.. I think. it moves freely. So my question is, do u think it could be the solenoid not letting it go down?

Bud, I don't think the solenoid comes into play at all for lowering.

Do you have the 3-position safety switch? Is it in the "Raise/Lower" position? If the safety bar is disengaged, that would be the only thing I could think of that would stop it from going down.

Welcome to the island of Hi-Lo!

- Jack

Jack, I believe there is a solenoid built into the pump assembly separate from the raising solenoid. It is electrically activated also.

Hey jack, thanks for the reply. I have been looking at all the past post and from what I gather the solenoid let's the valve open to let fluid go back in or lower the roof. I may be wrong. But everything else is free and the safety bar moves up and down easily. All the fuses that I see are in good shape, maybe a bad connection?

Thanks, Rich - I wouldn't exactly call that a solenoid, it's just an electrically operated valve. But, for Bud - this could well be your problem. If you can see wiring to it, you could "fake" the action of the lowering switch by applying battery power directly to its contacts. If you hear a click or some kind of sound, it's working and you have a wiring fault.

If it doesn't work electrically, does yours have the "manual opening feature"? I think you simply move a small lever by hand to open the valve (I've never had to do it so I'm working from memory of what I read in the manual for my trailer.) You'd need another person to pull the safety bar release BEFORE you opened the valve though, to keep the top from settling on the safety bar.

A solenoid is a type of relay, that has a metal bar that is pulled magnetically by a small current so that it completes a heavy, large diameter wire circuit that can carry a high Amperage current. I'm not being a "smart-***" here, just explaining why I ruled out the solenoid earlier. It's the thing that allows high current to flow to the lift motor.

- Jack

That's right, I couldn't think of what else to call it. It would be more like water inlet valves on a clothes washer.

I'm still unclear what my problem could be.. I don't think there is a manual lowering valve. Is there a valve inside the pump that can go out? Could it be the up and down switch itself?
A bit of background. Got this camper for free, we have never stayed it as I'm redoing all inside. Camper went up and down easily after I replaced all cables, now it's up and won't go down

You didn't say if you have the 3-position Master Switch in your trailer. (I incorrectly called it a "safety switch" in my first post.) If it's not in the raise/lower position, it won't go down. Do the interior lights light? If so, the switch is in the wrong position.

The fact that it worked well before, makes me suspicious of the switch.

- Jack

Jack, I do have a toggle right In side my door that raises and lowers the top. There is a yellow wire coming from the down position on the switch to the solenoid next to my pump. Would that be the solenoid that accuates to lower the top or is there one internally. I have had all the lights working off the battery... They are disconnected now bc I'm working on walls.

Bud, your lift pump is so different from mine, that I can only guess. The yellow wire, you speak of though, seems a likely 12V feed to lower the top. That silver thing it connects to on the floor could then be the lowering valve.

If you were to connect the positive probe of a multimeter using the DC Volt setting to the end of that yellow wire and your negative probe to the negative post of your battery while having someone activate the lift switch to the down position, if you got a 12V reading, it would confirm this. If no reading, then there could still be a wiring fault, so I'd touch a jumper wire from the positive pole of the battery to the post the yellow wire connects to on the silver thing to see if I would hear a "click" or some indication that it is functioning.

It looks like there is a white wire connected to it too. If so, that's the ground wire. Make sure the connections are good at both ends of it. Then, there is a large diameter black tube at the bottom, along the floor, running from it - where does that go? If it goes into the fluid reservoir, then the silver thing is almost surely the lowering valve, because it appears there is another metal tube running into it at the top - that would bring the fluid from the piston that controls the cables.

I don't see a manual release like the later models have.

And, it sounds to me like you do not have the 3-position Master Switch that I keep asking about. It would be next to/near the raise/lowering switch.

- Jack

Solenoid is not releasing
 

DH read most of the posts and says the solenoid is not releasing the hydrolic fluid to make it go down. DH saw the part at our truck repair shop. He said it was a part for a snow plow. Hope this helps you.

That large diameter black tube on the floor looks to me like a ground cable, the end of it appears to be the end of a connector not a flange fitting. However, the silver nut above it could be the manual lowering valve. Just my guess.
Tree

I think u are right tree, the black tube I think he is talking about is the power to the pump from solenoid. I was also thinking the same thing about the silver nut, it was finger tight I loosened it a little but didn't want fluid everywhere.
So Sam does ur DH think if I change that solenoid it may cure my problem.

BTW thanks for everyones help with this

As I said, I was guessing.

If it's truly the solenoid, it should be delivering battery power directly to the lift motor to make the top go up. But, I don't see how it has any part in lowering the top.

And, if the silver nut above it is the mechanical release (I wondered about that), then it should allow hydraulic fluid to return to the reservoir, not just empty out on the floor. I think I'd try loosening it more, slowly (possibly with a cup under it just in case) while someone has the safety bar retracted. If fluid starts leaking, just re-tighten it. If the top starts going down, you've at least found the manual release.

This still does not answer why the top won't lower electrically, because I can't see how the solenoid has any part in that action.

- Jack

lowering problem
 

Bud; I have to diagree with Jack. The silver solenoid on the floor is to raise the top. The lowering solenoid/valve is the black round object on top of the pump next to the metal pressure line. The black lead should be the 12v hot wire and the white the ground. Put your meter + lead on the black lead to the lowering solenoid/valve, have someone hit the lowering switch. If you have 12v then the solenoid is bad or stuck. If no voltage then a bad switch or bad connection. Make sure all connections are clean and tight. The silver nut that you got fluid out of I beleave is a cap that covers the screw that you adjust the system pressure with. I could be wrong as it does not look like mine. I don't see a manual lowering valve. On my HiLo, at the master switch and lowering switch location there is a fuse behind the switches.

Thanks, Jim - What you posted makes perfect sense. I looked at that thing and thought it was a capacitor (which doesn't really make any sense now that I think of it). And, I agree with your labeling of the wires: +12V - Black, Gnd - White.

Great catch! Looks like that black thing could be replaced if defective too.

Bud - follow Jim's advice to troubleshoot your problem.

- Jack

Thanks Jack, I will check that black thing sticking up off the pump. As for the silver nut I think u are right again because I unscrewed the nut all the way off and u can adjust a screw that's under it

Bud, that was Jim's advice on the silver nut. (Adjusts system pressure. I'd leave the screw alone.)

Jim seems familiar with your system. Do what he says.

- Jack

Hey again guys it's been awhile since I could get back to the project but just to follow up the white wire from the switch to the solenoid was broken somewhere in the plastic conduit. I rigged a wire inside the cab just to see if it worked and it did went right down. Thanks again for the help