Leveling Problems

[P25ct]

Originally Posted by DirtTrailGarage

I was thinking about buying 2 more batteries to have 3 but not sure I'd need the juice since I have a generator. 90% of the time I'm plugged in, the other time I can just use the generator. But if 3 batteries helps with the leveling, I'd get them, since it won't help, I'll just stick with 1 battery for now.



We leave for Myrtle Beach for a 10 day vacation, the spot we are on should be level, so I'm hoping I can get it to work correctly.

Keep in mind, the 12v power coming from gen or shore power to batteries and down line to leveling system is ONLY a trickle charge. You will be lulled into a false sense of security when you see 13.8-14 v on the Lippert panel but this is just a trickle charge current. One would assume you have the full DC potential of the converter, however you don't. The relay system isolates the leveling system to the batteries as with a few other small items and just charges the batteries from the converter. Same as why you can turn off battery switch and run the leveling system. This is why I tested system with TV power from alternator last year.

If you get no improvement from hooking to TV DC electrical system with alternator power then adding batts won't help. See dealer. Wires, connections, jacks, controller, and more all can be limiting in the system.

I'm on my second Seismic. Bigfoot is in my future, although this rig is light years better than my last model 3914. That couldn't level within half a darn degree. This one is good up to Lippert spec, 1.5 degrees port to starboard (visa versa) consistently.

Remember the jacks need to be greased. Much forgotten or unknown fact. My fronts had to be replaced within a year on my 3914. They sheared and ate themselves up. Too much weight.

Other than this thing enjoy your rig!!! Don't obsess over the negative, focus on the bright points.

[GlampinLife]

Originally Posted by P25ct

Keep in mind, the 12v power coming from gen or shore power to batteries and down line to leveling system is ONLY a trickle charge. You will be lulled into a false sense of security when you see 13.8-14 v on the Lippert panel but this is just a trickle charge current. One would assume you have the full DC potential of the converter, however you don't. The relay system isolates the leveling system to the batteries as with a few other small items and just charges the batteries from the converter. Same as why you can turn off battery switch and run the leveling system. This is why I tested system with TV power from alternator last year.

If you get no improvement from hooking to TV DC electrical system with alternator power then adding batts won't help. See dealer. Wires, connections, jacks, controller, and more all can be limiting in the system.

I'm on my second Seismic. Bigfoot is in my future, although this rig is light years better than my last model 3914. That couldn't level within half a darn degree. This one is good up to Lippert spec, 1.5 degrees port to starboard (visa versa) consistently.

Remember the jacks need to be greased. Much forgotten or unknown fact. My fronts had to be replaced within a year on my 3914. They sheared and ate themselves up. Too much weight.

Other than this thing enjoy your rig!!! Don't obsess over the negative, focus on the bright points.

Thank you for all this feedback! The only thing I'm not sure about is when you say

If you get no improvement from hooking to TV DC electrical system with alternator power then adding batts won't help.

I'm not sure what that is to hook up from my truck battery. I went from truck battery to house battery next to the generator. Should I be hooking the other end of the jumper cables to something other than the TT battery?

[P25ct]

So this is not manufacturer approved and only what I did, but turn off the house battery switch and disconnect shore power and shut down gen. With truck running connect truck batt to house battery. Do this only as a test. I went as far as creating a plug from the leveling system controller to the truck electrical system on the previous Seismic. What that test does is gives plenty of juice to the system. If it's a night and day difference you know power source is an issue. If very little to no noticeable difference then it's one or more of many other factors.

[P25ct]

And I must make this statement. Above is only things I've done on my own. Please refer to your manual or Jayco or Lippert for official guidance on the system. I would contact dealer right away. Get claim in. I understand though, people are quick to say that, take it to thebdealer but then you're without something you're paying or paid a lot of money for and watching camping weekends go by in your driveway.

[GlampinLife]

Ok the only thing I did differently is I didn't have the generator running, but I did have the TT plugged into my garage 50amp stepped down to a regular outlet plug and I did NOT have the master switch to the battery turned off.

One thing I did notice when I wasn't plugged into my garage was the jacks ran slower just off the fully charged 1 house battery. When I plugged in to the garage outlet, the speed of the motors picked up noticeably in sound. However I still was getting the error. Sometimes it was just an Error and sometimes it was a Stroke Error.

You had mentioned the jacks need to be greased, is there a zerk fitting on them to pump some grease in or how did you make sure they had grease? I was going to check tonight to make sure this was done before I picked it up from the dealership the end of March.

I'll also try your approach tonight with shutting off the master switch to the battery and then hooking battery to battery with the truck running. Do I need to sit in the truck and keep the RPM's up a little or just letting it idle is fine?

[Coloradorv]

If you get new batteries go with the dual purpose ones, noticeable power difference.

[GlampinLife]

Originally Posted by Coloradorv

If you get new batteries go with the dual purpose ones, noticeable power difference.

Any particular brands I should look at?

Can I add them to the battery I already have?

[Coloradorv]

You can add a similar battery to the one you have but you cant mix dual purpose with what you have.

If you bought 2 dual purpose or 3 you would see much better results.

Duracell Ultra 34 AGM Battery Dual Purpose (Starting/Cycling) BCI Group 34M Marine and Boat is what I have.

Battery plus has them.

[Loboclone]

Man do I feel your pain! I have a 4212 Seismic with Lippert 2.0 Ground Control. Out of stroke messages more times than not......I have 6 AGM batteries, why AGM's? If you have a Seismic how do you maintain wet cell batteries in that compartment? You can barely get a battery of any kind in there without drawing blood!
I have more than enough Volts to operate the system, Solar keeps my batteries at 13.5 and up. The control panel for the leveling system and my solar controller are always the same for Voltage. I even removed my AGM's and charged and tested them with a Optima charger. No issues found. I still get error messages 50% of the time. Just a cheap badly engineered excuse for leveling system. Don't get me started on the Swintech slide system.
http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/at...1&d=1464129078

[GlampinLife]

Did they warranty the slideout issue you had in the pic?

I didn't think the battery compartment looked that tight, but then I again I haven't tried to put a battery in there yet either. I'm just curious what you should put on top of the first row of batteries for the top 3 since it's just one big open area.

Is there not much difference between the 2.0 you have and the 3.0 I have?

I'm not getting Out of Stroke errors, I'm just getting "Auto Level Fail" error.

I called Jayco today to see which system I had since I was at work and not in front of the TT, she said let me point you in the direction of their documentation since talking to someone there on the phone that can help is about impossible. So she took me to these 2 documents to start with:

http://www.lci1.com/assets/content/s...ice_Manual.pdf

http://www.lci1.com/assets/content/s...ting_Guide.pdf

It looks like the side to side angle of my driveway is right at 1" based on the reading on the control panel. When I put a level in the floor, I have to raise it maybe 1/4" of an inch side to side to be level- maybe I'm crazy but that doesn't seem like my driveway is that far off from being level.

Other than the attention to detail aspect of the trailer and it being a little on the flimsy side in some aspects, I like the trailer - although I've only used it on 1 weekend trip to GA to go riding. Next week is the big 10 day trip to Myrtle Beach, staying at Ocean Lakes Family Campground where the concrete pads seem to be pretty level, so I'll keep my fingers crossed or my kids are going to hear a lot of F bombs when we are setting up.

[GlampinLife]

Originally Posted by Coloradorv

You can add a similar battery to the one you have but you cant mix dual purpose with what you have.

If you bought 2 dual purpose or 3 you would see much better results.

Duracell Ultra 34 AGM Battery Dual Purpose (Starting/Cycling) BCI Group 34M Marine and Boat is what I have.

Battery plus has them.

I just ordered 2 from Batteries Plus to pickup tomorrow. They only had 1 and had to transfer the only other 1 in town so maybe I'll get more down the road.

[Loboclone]

Originally Posted by DirtTrailGarage

Did they warranty the slideout issue you had in the pic?

I didn't think the battery compartment looked that tight, but then I again I haven't tried to put a battery in there yet either. I'm just curious what you should put on top of the first row of batteries for the top 3 since it's just one big open area.

Is there not much difference between the 2.0 you have and the 3.0 I have?

I'm not getting Out of Stroke errors, I'm just getting "Auto Level Fail" error.

I called Jayco today to see which system I had since I was at work and not in front of the TT, she said let me point you in the direction of their documentation since talking to someone there on the phone that can help is about impossible. So she took me to these 2 documents to start with:

http://www.lci1.com/assets/content/s...ice_Manual.pdf

http://www.lci1.com/assets/content/s...ting_Guide.pdf

It looks like the side to side angle of my driveway is right at 1" based on the reading on the control panel. When I put a level in the floor, I have to raise it maybe 1/4" of an inch side to side to be level- maybe I'm crazy but that doesn't seem like my driveway is that far off from being level.

Other than the attention to detail aspect of the trailer and it being a little on the flimsy side in some aspects, I like the trailer - although I've only used it on 1 weekend trip to GA to go riding. Next week is the big 10 day trip to Myrtle Beach, staying at Ocean Lakes Family Campground where the concrete pads seem to be pretty level, so I'll keep my fingers crossed or my kids are going to hear a lot of F bombs when we are setting up.

The slide out issue is raging as we speak, Seisemic has been at Camping World for 3 weeks. We just found out today they even hadn't ordered parts till today!
They are replacing all the motors with 500:1 motors, slide mechanisms and adding 3 more rollers vs only 3 as built. The residential fridge is way to heavy for the OEM slide system.
Auto level fail is a new for 3.0' you have a 2016 model and my Seisimic was the last one off the line 2015 last May.

[GlampinLife]

Originally Posted by Loboclone

The slide out issue is raging as we speak, Seisemic has been at Camping World for 3 weeks. We just found out today they even hadn't ordered parts till today!
They are replacing all the motors with 500:1 motors, slide mechanisms and adding 3 more rollers vs only 3 as built. The residential fridge is way to heavy for the OEM slide system.
Auto level fail is a new for 3.0' you have a 2016 model and my Seisimic was the last one off the line 2015 last May.

Is this your first Jayco? The only other toyhauler I looked at was a Grand Design Momentum. I was very particular in what I was looking for... it had to have at least a 12'6 garage for my RZR 900 4, under 40 feet, tandem axle and not more than 16,000lbs since I have a F250 Diesel. I felt any bigger should require a dually. Technically this trailer is more than what my 250 is rated for, even if the 350's really aren't that much different other than a stiffer rear suspension.

My father was always a big fan of Jayco, so that's why I looked at them so hard and ended up buying Jayco. I had a 2003 Georgie Boy Cruise Air diesel pusher and didn't like having to tow the RZR and not have a vehicle on buggy trips. When my wife came along for family vacations I had to tow our Murano. Driving it was a bit annoying cause if you didn't take the mountains just right, it would want to overheat. Once I got the bigger truck and the wife didn't like the RV and wanted a 5th wheel, I found one of the last 310's Jayco had. I was originally going to have a new one built but they changed the production run and I was risking not getting it for this Myrtle Beach trip. So since they had this one still with a little more than I was originally going to order, I jumped on it.

I just hope I don't regret it

[GlampinLife]

So is the bigger problem with the TT being on too much of an angle that the jacks would lift the tires too high off the ground causing issue with flexing of the walls and frame?

I ask because I notice when the jacks are doing its thing, you can hear the slides and windows shifting, making some sounds.

Or is it just a issue with the jacks not having enough strength? This is in regards to the error I've been getting which isn't the jacks running out of length or the amp issue. The error I'm getting, according to their documentation is based on "Unable to auto level due to uneven ground" or "Unable to auto level due to zero point being set incorrectly."

But when I read about calibrating the zero point - you have to actually get it level to before you can set that point. I just don't understand the point of needing to set that zero point because the jacks are always going to be different based on where you are trying to level it. Maybe I'm not understanding what that is.

[klassic]

It's not zeroing the length of the jack. It is zeroing the "brain" of the controller. There is one in the front and one inside the underbelly behind the axels.

Once you tell it what level is, it will remember and create that condition again.

[GlampinLife]

Originally Posted by klassic

It's not zeroing the length of the jack. It is zeroing the "brain" of the controller. There is one in the front and one inside the underbelly behind the axels.

Once you tell it what level is, it will remember and create that condition again.

Ok that makes more sense now - so it's about telling the system what "level" is... Tomorrow I'll pull it out into the cul de sac where I know it's damn near level and see if I can get it level to do this calibration.

Thank you for that!

[P25ct]

Originally Posted by DirtTrailGarage

So is the bigger problem with the TT being on too much of an angle that the jacks would lift the tires too high off the ground causing issue with flexing of the walls and frame?

I ask because I notice when the jacks are doing its thing, you can hear the slides and windows shifting, making some sounds.

Or is it just a issue with the jacks not having enough strength? This is in regards to the error I've been getting which isn't the jacks running out of length or the amp issue. The error I'm getting, according to their documentation is based on "Unable to auto level due to uneven ground" or "Unable to auto level due to zero point being set incorrectly."

But when I read about calibrating the zero point - you have to actually get it level to before you can set that point. I just don't understand the point of needing to set that zero point because the jacks are always going to be different based on where you are trying to level it. Maybe I'm not understanding what that is.

I've read posts in the past for the 3.0 system on other Jayco 5ers and setting zero. It seems users have been walked through doing it with Jayco or brought to dealer and their performance improved. I vaguely remember it. Search the 5th wheel subforum.

Maybe we can all do a group buy for Bigfoot and get discounted price on the kit.

[klassic]

Here's how to do it if you don't know.
There is a phone app for all the LCI systems on your rig, trouble shooting, manuals, etc.

[GlampinLife]

Originally Posted by P25ct

I've read posts in the past for the 3.0 system on other Jayco 5ers and setting zero. It seems users have been walked through doing it with Jayco or brought to dealer and their performance improved. I vaguely remember it. Search the 5th wheel subforum.

Maybe we can all do a group buy for Bigfoot and get discounted price on the kit.

My Georgie Boy had the Bigfoot hydraulic system on it and it was magic. You'd hit auto level and it was spot on, every single time, no matter the situation (within reason). Only advice the dealership gave was don't extend the jacks too far, you risk bending them the further you're extended.

[Coloradorv]

Zero issues with bigfoot system unlike old lippert system.