LOTO/zero energy procedure for hydraulic leak. 2017 thor ACE 29.3

[martix_agnet]

Does anyone have a LOTO/ zero energy procedure or schematics for the hydraulic lift system? I found a leak on my driveway from one of the front leveling pistons. I'm not about to remove hydraulic hoses unless I know they're not under pressure. Anyone have an idea how to do this, or is this an email to THOR sort of thing?

Luckily I do have a very good hydraulic shop in town so I should be able to have a hose made for this once I get it removed safely.

 

[16ACE27]

It's a Lippert thing. Have you checked your leveling system manual? The LCI website? The RESOURCES area of this Forum? Youtube?

Master Owner's Manual <br> Leveling and Stabilization | Lippert Customer Care Center

Here you can find a document containing all of the owner's for our Leveling and Stabilization product lines.

support.lci1.com

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lci+electronic+leveling+hose+replacement

Tripping the 100 amp DC breaker near your house batteries will lockout the hydraulic pump/motor.

You will need to bleed off the retract side pressure if that's the hose you are replacing.

 

[martix_agnet]

It's a Lippert thing. Have you checked your leveling system manual? The LCI website? The RESOURCES area of this Forum? Youtube?

Master Owner's Manual <br> Leveling and Stabilization | Lippert Customer Care Center

Here you can find a document containing all of the owner's for our Leveling and Stabilization product lines.

support.lci1.com

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lci+electronic+leveling+hose+replacement

Tripping the 100 amp DC breaker near your house batteries will lockout the hydraulic pump/motor.

You will need to bleed off the retract side pressure if that's the hose you are replacing.

The manual given through the resource area of the thor website just talks about how to change and check the oil, and how to maintain the leveling jacks.

What you posted is hopefully the information that I'm looking for.

edit:
I'm been looking through the manual you posted, and watching some videos. There's nothing about how to bleed system pressure to make it safe to work on, but it does state that there could be up to 1500psi in the system and to make sure to bleed it.
I'm not a huge expert on hydraulic systems, but I know enough to stay away from high pressure. This seems like an easy remove and replace problem, but not if I can't figure out how to bleed the system if it needs to be. The lippert manual has a ton of photos and drawings, but nothing to indicate how to bleed pressure to the tank. page 10 of the manaul states that there is pressure on the orange lines when the jacks are retracted, to hold them up.

You know what? In all the drawings and photos, I've not seen an accumulator used to hold pressure. Kind of weird, because I assumed it would have one to help hold the jacks during extended use of them or to use if power is unavailable. Maybe this system is a lot less complicated than I thought. But still... if the jacks are retracted, how do i bleed that pressure?

edit again:
Maybe what i'm missing is the manual override for the valves? If I open that, that should it release pressure? Does this mean that the override for the retract valve will open if I use the manual override, and the jacks will drop because they've lost pressure?

 

[16ACE27]

The jacks may very slowly migrate down if you open the retract valve to bleed pressure., but that is unlikely To move down the space above the piston has to fill with hydraulic fluid which can't happen if the extend valves aren't open unless it leaks by the piston.

 

[16ACE27]

The jacks may very slowly migrate down if you open the retract valve to bleed pressure., but that is unlikely To move down the space above the piston has to fill with hydraulic fluid which can't happen if the extend valves aren't open unless it leaks by the piston.

I think you're overthinking it. I'd just crack on jack's retract hose connection to bleed the pressure.

 

[martix_agnet]

I just confirmed that the orange hose is is the one leaking. Luckily I'm not a big guy and I could squeeze into a space to get a phone camera.

I dunno, I think I'm going to email lippert because I really don't want to release 1500psi. Multiple sources agree that these orange lines are under constant 1500+ psi when the jacks are fully retracted. Also sounds like these orange hoses like to fail. Maybe they're not rated properly, and maybe it's because they're under almost constant pressure.

Even the how-to video says the first step is to fully extend the jack to replace a return hose
How do I do that? I guess the easiest way is to unbolt the jack from the frame. Lifting an RV takes a serious floor jack that I definitely do not have.

 

[PS89]

Even the how-to video says the first step is to fully extend the jack to replace a return hose.

How do I do that?

I recall watching a u-tube video of a guy who found a removable storm drain in a Walmart parking lot. He parked over it and, with the drain grate removed, he was able to fully extend the cylinder and drop it down into the open hole to get it off the frame.

That was really "thinking outside the box"....

 

[martix_agnet]

Ha! maybe I'll dig a hole in my yard. Any idea what the stroke length of these are?

 

[jeanluc001]

I have replaced all of my retract hoses (the orange ones).
one i have replaced three times. extend the jacks and level the coach. the jacks don't need to be fully extended. the pressure will be in the extend hoses to hold up the coach. then crack open the hose that your replacing at the jack fitting.
you will lose some fluid so have a small container handy.
the system is self bleeding just top off fluid and extend and retract a couple of times after replacing hose. lippert ultra level on a 2013 thor challenger.

 

[PS89]

Ha! maybe I'll dig a hole in my yard. Any idea what the stroke length of these are?

It depends on what's installed. Stoke length is probably about 3/4 the overall length of the jack when fully retracted. On my rig, the jacks are about 21" retracted and have a 15" stroke.

 

[martix_agnet]

I have replaced all of my retract hoses (the orange ones).
one i have replaced three times. extend the jacks and level the coach. the jacks don't need to be fully extended. the pressure will be in the extend hoses to hold up the coach. then crack open the hose that your replacing at the jack fitting.
you will lose some fluid so have a small container handy.
the system is self bleeding just top off fluid and extend and retract a couple of times after replacing hose. lippert ultra level on a 2013 thor challenger.

Lippert was not very helpful at all. They just sent me a 30 second youtube video and didn't see interested to answer any questions I had.

Since you just did this, maybe I can ask you?
Do I need to extend all my jacks? Does the coach have to be level, or is that just to ensure that the jacks are extended enough? Does there need to be pressure on the leveling jacks, to release pressure from the extend lines?

Self bleeding is very nice to know. I was a bit worried I would have to run a flushing operation when this was over with.

 

[jeanluc001]

Lippert was not very helpful at all. They just sent me a 30 second youtube video and didn't see interested to answer any questions I had.

Since you just did this, maybe I can ask you?
Do I need to extend all my jacks? Does the coach have to be level, or is that just to ensure that the jacks are extended enough? Does there need to be pressure on the leveling jacks, to release pressure from the extend lines?

Self bleeding is very nice to know. I was a bit worried I would have to run a flushing operation when this was over with.

The jack's work in pairs. the two front, the two rear, two right, two left. so as not too inadvertantly put a twist on the coach frame. I always use the manual level instead of the auto mode. the auto mode on my coach raises it much higher than necessary.
level the coach front first than the rears than right to left if needed. when i changed the retract hose i leveled the coach which puts hydraulic pressure on the jacks to raise it. then i loosened the hose fitting at the jack itself and let the residual fluid in the hose drain into a plastic container. then the other end gets loosened and hose pulled out. head to the closest hydraulic hose facility near you that has the orange non conductive hose in stock. they will make you a new hose assembly with cost being by the foot for the hose and the fittings and a charge for labor.go home and string hose in place. run jacks up and down a few times to bleed. top off reservoir with fluid with jacks retracted (jacks up).

 

[martix_agnet]

The jack's work in pairs. the two front, the two rear, two right, two left. so as not too inadvertantly put a twist on the coach frame. I always use the manual level instead of the auto mode. the auto mode on my coach raises it much higher than necessary.
level the coach front first than the rears than right to left if needed. when i changed the retract hose i leveled the coach which puts hydraulic pressure on the jacks to raise it. then i loosened the hose fitting at the jack itself and let the residual fluid in the hose drain into a plastic container. then the other end gets loosened and hose pulled out. head to the closest hydraulic hose facility near you that has the orange non conductive hose in stock. they will make you a new hose assembly with cost being by the foot for the hose and the fittings and a charge for labor.go home and string hose in place. run jacks up and down a few times to bleed. top off reservoir with fluid with jacks retracted (jacks up).

I have a very competent hydraulic shop that I plan on using, that part is somehow to simple part in all of this.
My driveway is on an incline, so I'm not able to actually level the motorhome. you think I can just extend the jacks to the ground, put a bit of pressure on them and it'll work? Or do I actually need it to be level? I do understand in order to check the fluid at the end, I need it to be level.

 

[16ACE27]

Leveling will have no bearing on the repair operation.
As soon as the jack in question starts moving down the pressure has been released on the retract side.

 

[jeanluc001]

exactly
the reason I leveled my coach is to give me more room to work under it.
If your working underneath on an incline be sure to chock all wheels.
safety first. In fact you may want to find a more level surface to park on.

 

[martix_agnet]

Lippert is telling me that its safe to work on when the jacks are retracted, which is opposite of what everything else says. I think they're confused. I missed my opportunity to call them directly because I had more important things to do after they gave me a number to call.

I'm gonna give it a shot today in my driveway. I'll extend the jacks so that they're touch the ground and pressure should be out of the orange lines. With extreme luck, I'll just have a loose connection that needs to be tightened. At worst, I'll end up in the ER with hydraulic injection injuries. (which is extremely unlikely thanks to you guys and your first-hand experiences with this)

edit:
Success! I managed to do it with minimal fluid loss and 0 pressure.
Thanks everyone. I gotta run to a hydraulic shop on Monday and this should be solved.

 

[lwmcguire]

Wow, guys listen to ACE for a bit
Hydraulic fluid doesn't compress, were talking a tiny amount to release pressure. No need to move the jack at all, in fact secure it and just take off the hose and replace it. Tractors have accumalators as does equipment that needs backup for brakes or critical equipment, not leveling acks
Extending a jack to remove it is like why?

 

[jeanluc001]

in hind sight i think that the fact there is a leak would show there's little or no pressure in the line.if under pressure the fluid would be spraying out pretty good.
the leak itself would be a breech in the system releasing pressure. just opinion.
thoughts?

 

[martix_agnet]

Because the lippert system manual states that the "jacks lowered" system warning shows when there is less than 1500psi in the orange hoses. This indicates that when the jacks are retracted, there is more than 1500psi in the orange lines, when they're supposed to be retracted. There's posts elsewhere on the internet where people talked with lippert and they confirmed this.

Jeanluc001, you bring up a good point, I was thinking about this while I was contorted under my RV today trying to find the best way to get to the hose connections.