Frozen electric step

[bluztoo]

Anyone experience this? There's power as I hear it attempt to move when I open and close the door. But it just stops after a little effort - just stops. I see a lot of rust underneath but bear in mind this is a two-year old Melbourne. Frustrating as all get out. Appreciate any ideas or advice, and wondering if this has happened to others. Thanks in advance for any insight.

[Grumpy]

Needs to be well lubed..including the arms on the motor.

Any friction will stop the step from moving, it's part of the safety in case it hits something.

[bluztoo]

Will attempt some lubrication.

[Onyrlef]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

Needs to be well lubed..including the arms on the motor.

Any friction will stop the step from moving, it's part of the safety in case it hits something.

Just a friendly heads up, when you're under there lubing, have the steps unplugged or keep the door closed during the operation. Any friction may stop the steps coming out but your body parts won't.

[Jagiven]

I always recommend a dry lube (goes on wet, and dries). This is an area where a lot of road debris (dirt) can build up and cause future issues.

[Scoutmaster253]

While you are down there it would be wise to clean any ground connections you see. A poor ground could also cause the motor to stop in transit.

[JimD]

Just had mine fail a few weeks ago. Being an electronic tech the first thing I did was print out a schematic and got ready to troubleshoot. Before crawling underneath (not something I enjoy doing) I thought I would check the power source which is the engine battery. The battery is over 5 years old and I keep it on a constant trickle charger but hoped it was bad. It was reading good voltage.

I opened and closed the door many times and the steps refused to extend. I had already banged on the magnet without success. I decided to start the engine to verify the battery was good. Engine started fine.

I don't know why but I decided to try the steps one more time while the engine was running. They extended! Opening and closing the door caused the steps to operate normally. I shut down the engine and the steps continued to operate normally but had a groan and a squeak to the operation.

My best guess is that the higher battery voltage while the engine was running was just enough to break free a bind in the steps. I had previously lubed the easy to get at joints with white lithium grease which looked like it was gumming things up. I had never lubed the actual motor linkage because it was harder to access (not that hard actually, I was just lazy).

I cleaned the white grease off and then proceeded to lube ALL pivot points with motorcycle chain lube which I had. I researched lube for the steps but did not want to pay the high price for the manufacturer's lube. The chain lube was recommended as a good alternative.

After lubing I have exercised the steps many times. They operate quietly now with no groans or squeaks. I am still testing every few days but feel good that they appear to be working normally. Happy days!

From now on lubing the steps will be done on a regular basis. I can't imagine what would have happened had I been camping with a step failure. Imagine opening the door and stepping out expecting the steps to be there and they are not.

[ltcboyd73]

Hi all;
Checked on the MH today when unlocking the door and opening the screen the step worked fine. Got ready to leave in a couple of hours and nothing. I checked the light under the step and it was on and also checked the inline 5 amp fuse good. Lubed it about three weeks ago. I do not hear anything. Could it be a ground wire? The unit is a 2018 Jayco 29 mvp Prestige.
Thank.

[Berjr]

Originally Posted by ltcboyd73

Hi all;
Checked on the MH today when unlocking the door and opening the screen the step worked fine. Got ready to leave in a couple of hours and nothing. I checked the light under the step and it was on and also checked the inline 5 amp fuse good. Lubed it about three weeks ago. I do not hear anything. Could it be a ground wire? The unit is a 2018 Jayco 29 mvp Prestige.
Thank.

We recently had stair trouble as well 2018 Greyhawk MV I had to disconnect and tie them back to travel as they where stuck out. Figured out the controller died so I replaced it and all was great for about 5 weeks then the motor went. Both easy repairs. Controller I bought from Etrailer and the motor came off amazon. Each repair took me about 15 mins to complete.

[ltcboyd73]

Thanks

[pconroy]

The controller isn't cheap, $120 USD give or take, if I recall. There's a Youtube video from Lippert on how to debug things. That'll help pinpoint the issue down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AzkvylZH7Y

[ltcboyd73]

Thanks for the link, very helpful.

[LCBOYER]

My wife took a good tumble when the steps didn’t come out, and it was all my fault

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by LCBOYER

and it was all my fault

Of course it was.

Seriously - hope the tumble wasn't too bad.

[Hollander Mutthaulers]

We had stair problems last May after I missed seeing a curb exiting a gas station. Steps got crushed a bit and wouldn't work so we had to take a big step in and out. Once home a sledge hammer and crow bar repaired them without too much trouble. Reinforced steps and mechanism at the time. Electric may be nice, but I sure like simple manual components!

To those with electric steps - best wishes for care-free operations or at least few and reasonable repairs. : )

[rodpod]

Originally Posted by bluztoo

Anyone experience this? There's power as I hear it attempt to move when I open and close the door. But it just stops after a little effort - just stops. I see a lot of rust underneath but bear in mind this is a two-year old Melbourne. Frustrating as all get out. Appreciate any ideas or advice, and wondering if this has happened to others. Thanks in advance for any insight.

I have a 2018 Greyhawk 29 MV and my steps failed twice. I checked the voltage and it was fine. The fuse was good. I disconnected the linkage and tied the steps. Turns out it was the motor. I replaced it and all was good. After I purchased the new motor i found a youtube video which shows how to fix the motor. I had saved the old one and did the fix. Good thing, the new one failed within a year. So I put the old (repaired) motor back on. Then did the repair on the failed motor to have as a back up. The fix is easy, take the motor apart. Clean the armature and lightly sand it, and the brushes. Good as new.