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Old 03-30-2015, 07:33 AM   #21
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Missed this earlier.

The PINNACLE levels fine, but with that said the Lippert manual does state "Park on a fairly level surface" which we usually do. That is also the same wording that Power Gear used on our SENECA and that was a hydraulic system.

Power Gear said the extra boost was needed for their system on the MH "Have the engine running while leveling".
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Old 03-30-2015, 10:56 AM   #22
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I have a Seismic Wave 310 and have used the leveling at two slightly off level spots without problems. What I don't understand, why is dealer not involved? Every warranty item that I have had, I give to the dealer to make right. It seems crazy that you call any third party vendor to try to resolve your problems. Do you realize that they sell and deliver hundreds of these electric self-leveling systems each month? This is not a wide spread problem and you should be angry with your dealer and not Jayco. On top of that Lippert sells both electric and hydraulic systems. Lippert represents that both products are outstanding.
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Old 03-30-2015, 01:01 PM   #23
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Hello all, read thru the thread and have a general landing gear question. We are waiting for our Pinnacle to be delivered, and I've never had a TT with any auto leveling system. I assume if there is a major failure the hydraulic systems cannot be manually retracted were as the electric can? I know on our old TT it was that way.
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Old 03-30-2015, 01:51 PM   #24
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JAYCO has always said their engineers feel elec is better than hydraulic for that reason.
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Old 05-05-2015, 05:13 AM   #25
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i am having same issues with middlelegs not making contact with the ground . sometimes left rear doesnt go all the way down . it always ends with a nice chime sound and reads 'auto level success!' . i think these systems are flawed , like recall flawed . i think they should , but they dont have a fix .
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Old 05-05-2015, 09:45 AM   #26
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Yes even after swapping my main board out which supposedly was a "bad run" with a newer version this exact thing happens on mine as well. Plain and simple: Seismic large format rigs are too much mass for an electric system, and this Lippert system has issues. Combine those two and this is what you get, and two companies in denial: Lippert and Jayco. Heartland and Grand Design for example use hydraulic systems for rigs of this size, for big slides and leveling systems. Oh and now my Schwintek slide on my 14 3914 jams. In the shop again. Over last year I've used it 4 months, rest of time on lot getting or awaiting service or in storage for winter. Beyond frustrated.
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Old 05-08-2015, 07:25 AM   #27
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I have a question for those who have posted about having problems with the six point electric leveling system. has anyone gotten theirs fixed? does your system work as stated it should every time you use it? If so what was the fix that did the trick?
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Old 05-08-2015, 07:31 AM   #28
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Swapped board, using dual batteries fully charged, still doesn't work- rear jacks go "out of stroke" due to amperage seen by controller at end of leveling process when tweaking. Told by dealer who was told by Jayco and Lippert that max side to side is 1.5 degrees per side and what is indicated on the screen isn't necessarily the slope the back of the unit is on therefore even though screen says 1.4 degrees left or right prior to leveling the back may be greater than that therefore it's 'working' as designed. My mid jacks also intermittently stop before they hit ground.
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Old 05-09-2015, 02:12 AM   #29
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I don't have the mid jack issue, but we hold our breath every time we level. 1.5 degrees is about what we have seen that this system will level from. Sometimes I can get it to level from 2 degrees off kilter by doing it manually, though then I can't put down the middle jacks, and I have gotten it to auto level once from 1.8 degrees by cycling the auto level system. The Lippert hydraulic system will level the camper from over 4 degrees off kilter, and I have used it to pick up the camper in manual mode to unbind the axles after backing into a particularly interesting spot. I still don't like the electric system and may choose another brand based on this. It is mis-advertised and does not work well.
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Old 05-10-2015, 01:59 PM   #30
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1.5 to 2 degrees don't seem like much ! It's been a few years since I retired but I believe 1 degree is .017 per inch so if I am correct measure the distance between your jacks side to side and multiply that times .026 which is 1 1/2 degrees and that would give you in inches how much you can be off max Side to side ? Somebody correct me if I am wrong that's less than 3" ????
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Old 05-10-2015, 02:10 PM   #31
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Leveling Problems

You're right on Clayton. It is only guaranteed to +/- 3 degrees total (which is 1.5 either side of zero). Eventually I will either replace mine with a Bigfoot System or trade the unit in for a Heartland or Grand Design. As we speak mine is in again now for Schwintek issues on the big slide. Even a Ground Control 3 system would be better (stronger and has Hall effect tracking) than this old system 2 still being installed in 2015s. Again my opinion is the big slide and the leveling system need to be beefed up (Hydraulic for leveling). Too much slide and too much rig for the systems employed. All other competitors beef their big Haulers up with these systems: Keystone, Grand Design, Heartland, etc.
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Old 05-10-2015, 02:38 PM   #32
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Are the jacks adjustable ? Makes me think they may have them mounted too high which would make them run out of travel after they touch ground ? The reason I am asking is some seem to be ok with their rigs ! Have you talked with a tech at Jayco about this ? They may can give you some options . For a year I kicked myself in the butt for not buying the leveled when I got my rig because the cost is double for aftermarket. After reading of some of the issues on here I am glad I didn't . I park on a lot I have across the street from my home that is so unlevel I have to block the tires so it don't roll and the levelers never have a problem. Don't give up, I am sure they can make it better than it is. Keep us updated and good luck
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Old 05-10-2015, 02:55 PM   #33
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See my comments on leaky ramp door thread . Have had so many issues with our 3914 seismic that now camping is not fun .100,000 on a depreciating investment that is horribly plagued with so many issues from main electrical switch being replaced twice , leveling system not working , large slide working intermittently, daylight showing at floor when slide closed . Could go on , but this is depressing me thinking of what will go wrong next .
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Old 05-10-2015, 03:15 PM   #34
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Clayton the rig has been in twice. Jayco says it's working as advertised and I'm expecting too much from it. It's been in service most of the last year. It's not a matter of the jacks physically reaching stroke limits its them amping out. Legs are adjustable and drop. I think Jayco had a learning curve with this design, 2013 was launch year for it, mine was manufactured in Nov/Dec of 13 and is a "14". Maybe they are figuring it out by '16. Like Slaw said when it isn't in service waiting to be worked on, I am on pins and needles when we use it wondering what's gonna fail next.
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Old 05-10-2015, 09:45 PM   #35
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Jayco also told me mine is working as advertised. It also needs a minimum of 12.5 volts, which is difficult to maintain given the amp draw. Front to back has not been a problem, just side to side. It might work better if all three jacks on one side worked together, but only two do. On the hydraulic system, three jacks lift on each side. Ours is really a four point leveling system with two stabilizers. Lippert told me that my current system is the "Chevrolet" and their hydraulic system is the "Cadillac".
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Old 05-23-2015, 02:37 PM   #36
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Leveling Problems

Ok update. I had the control board replaced. Mine was installed in January 2014 and was part of a bad run. So here's the story with the 6 point Ground Control 2 on heavy 5ers (Pinnacles and Seismics, etc)

Ran a test today. Off level by 1.2 degrees right (low to right) Front to back was pretty level over length of the coach. With two, yes two fully charged Interstate Deep cycle marine batts brand new, the system gave the "out of stroke" error on the rear low jack toward end of leveling process. Had a voltmeter in line and when it amped out, we were at 11 .5 and dropping as it tried to lift the back end weight. So I retracted and started over. This time we hooked jumper cables from my Ram 3500 Diesel (running) to the ships batteries. Mind you the house master switch is off entire time. Well folks, leveled it with ease. Rear jack was working hard, but it completed the process, stabilized the mids and had the all coveted "Success" message.

Here's what I didn't know prior. I assumed when shore power or genny was running the converter powered the battery 12v system to include the leveling system. It does not. Battery gets a trickle charge from then converter and that is it. So all this time when I've been seeing 13.8 volts on the Ground Control panel prior to leveling it was only due to a low current trickle coming off the converter system.

So I will be connecting a 12v Power Pole plug with cover coming off my truck battery to the underside of the front or rear (haven't decided yet) bed or bumper. I'm also putting a connector on the Coach inside the generator/battery compartment with a connection to the ship's batteries and a 12 volt high gauge cord stored in the storage compartment. I'll use the ships batteries to do all functions of the jacks (connecting disconnecting etc) except Auto Level which will be done connected to the truck, then unhook and roll the truck away.

I am going to try steeper grades than 1.2 degrees (as read on control panel). I would like to see how it performs at or around 1.5 (limitation as stated by Lippert) and above.

Id say on a lighter and shorter coach (we weigh in at 14.5k or so without a rear load or full gas) this will do well with batter only, but the long heavy rigs need more juice. Batteries will most always (unless you're running super expensive type) dip in voltage when a motor is pulling big juice. All year last year I ran on a single not fully charged battery thinking the converter was giving me High Current 13.8. Nope. Thus my failed attempts at 0.5 degrees! Note the Out of Stroke error is high amperage being registered at the panel, upstream of 45' of I believe to be 10 gauge wire. You won't get the low voltage error until like 11 or even less. You will never see this in the auto level process, the out of stroke will always come first and stop the show. You will see low voltage warning when manually moving the front landing gear and it goes low. What is happening Is the controller as the voltage dips (our V=IR equation) the amperage increases as the motor is pulling more and more to life the weight. Finally as voltage is going low due to battery being pulled down and current is rising due to weight increasing on jack the controller will sense the amperage limit and say: Out of Stroke. Remember this is not a Hall Effect system. The Ground Control 3 uses Hall effect and knows as the Schwintek does where the motor is in its full travel, therefore with that system uses the Hall effect to say: out of stroke only when the ram is fully deployed. Ground Control 3 doesn't have an amperage out of stroke, only a low voltage system error. This system uses amperage to sense when it's at full travel, assuming it will go high amps when it can't move anymore.

So I know this isn't the best explanation but it's an answer. One I've spent many a day this last year researching.

It's a workaround, unless you can put really great expensive AGM batteries, three of them inline, and even at that, you may still get the voltage drop. An alternator giving a constant 13.8v despite the load is the answer for this thing.

Lippert or Jayco won't give you this answer, just FYI. My rig spent many days on a dealer lot last Fall unused by me and my family due to this.

I'm still going to upgrade to the Bigfoot. Next year, unless we trade this one for a '16.

Happy Camping and may you too enjoy the joy of "Leveling Success!" this season!
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Old 05-27-2015, 05:30 PM   #37
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Update: Jayco is using Hall Effect LCI Ground Control 3 I referenced above in 2016 models and is employing the use of a 6(yes 6) battery capacity compartment for batts. There Ya Go.
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Old 05-27-2015, 07:26 PM   #38
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would be nice to have that capacity. Can one upgrade to the Lippert 3.0 electronics without changing the jacks out? It would be slow, but if that system actually uses all six jacks to level it would be worth it.
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Old 05-31-2015, 11:34 AM   #39
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We went out this weekend. Was on a slope of 2.5 to the right. Used the plastic blocks on the right wheels to get to 1.5. System failed with out of stroke three times trying to tweak the back right rear. I used the truck electrical system as previously explained and was successful.

The cost of the 3.0 system is 3500$. That's only 500$ from the Bigfoot hydraulic kit. I don't believe it uses all four mid and rear jacks for rear leveling. Then again I haven't looked that close to the system. As for wiring it will need additional leads other than Pos and neg for Hall effect like your Schwintek motors. If you're going to replace the system Id highly recommend Bigfoot hydraulic.

I noticed today that my curb side rear jack is about one and a half or two feet further aft than the jack on the street side. Can someone who has a 3914 please tell me if you have the same configuration. Simple Physics says this will put additional force on the rear jacks when operating independently than if hey are equidistant from the rear axles. Hmmm... Please if you have a 3914 let me know either way. I'm gonna repost the question separately.
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Old 06-17-2015, 01:07 PM   #40
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I have another brand of fiver, about 40' and 13.5K lbs, but with the 3.0 leveling system and have the same result as the rest of you. If i were to hook up a battery charger and set it to 10 amps, would that power the system enough to work correctly? When talking top LCI techs, they say a rear sensor may be installed wrong or that the system just needs re-calibrated... done that a couple times with no help.
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