[89480]

Hi there,
only had the motorhome a few weeks but it has the annoying tendency of beeping every time i go over a bump -the beep being the step not in warning. Anyone else had this problem? I will take a look, then if i cant remedy will disconnect the warning noise until i can take it back to the dealer.
I suspect the step, though retracted has a certain amount of free play.

 

[89425]

Its a common problem, but don't go disconnecting the buzzer, annoying as it may be. Those steps are a couple hundred quid at best to replace, plus the associated damage they do when hit.

Anyway, it's a common problem with retractable steps, dirt etc tends to collect at the back of the step thus preventing it fully retracting. It only takes a small amount of crud to get to the situation your in now. Slide the step out and then clean around the back where it sits back in its framework. In some cases you may need to reset the position of the switch so that it makes good contact when the step is retracted into its park position.

 

[88741]

Having had a step retract button that failed just when I needed it I endorse Steves comments above. I now have a ribbon that hangs over the switch to the step and when the step is down this always gets tied to the steering wheel just in case it ever happens again. Suggest you do something similar to remind you the step is down, if you do disconnect the buzzer. You are sure you will remember, but if in a hurry one day, van the wrong way round to spot step down, that bang when the step connects to something is a sickening sound

 

[gromett]

I just had the same problem with my 2 week old hymer. It had been slinging it down and the dirt appeared to have washed into the switch. I removed the rubber boot over the switch. Dowsed it in WD40 and put the boot back on. Its been fine since. Took about 1 minute to do.

Cheers
Karl

 

[androidGB]

On my Benimar when you turn the ignition on with the step down, a warning light comes on and the step automatically retracts.

Well that's in theory, a half an hour before leaving on our recent trip to Croatia, I decided to pop up the road to fuel up whilst my wife was finishing off a few things. Only to be flashed by a chap who was following me to be informed that my step was reshaping the banks in the narrow road.

I returned home and literally in less than 15 mins with the aid of a vice and a 4lb lump hammer reshaped the bent stays, to my complete amazement and relief, when operating the switch the step worked perfectly.

As a consequence we now ensure that the step is raised manually, and do not rely on the automatic feature which incidentally decided to start working again a fortnight into our trip.

Andrew

 

[Sunseeker]

Last week whilst travelling down an 'A' road through extremely heavy rain a HGV travelling towards us at speed drenched us with spray from the wheels. The result was within a few minutes we could hear a buzzing sound from the rear, we had the wipers on clearing the window, the noise from the continuing rain, so the noise was dulled a little. Upon investigation we found the noise to be coming from the electric step buzzer, which in my Kontiki is located behind the switches on the panel near the habitation door. My daughter, who is a mechanical engineer stripped the mechanism down and removed the buzzer. We found the computer above the door no longer registered the power in the vehicle battery although everything else seemed to be working correctly except the step and that didn't work at all :roll: .

As the motorhome is still under warranty I returned to my dealer the following day. They found the fuse which serves the habitation area and located under the bonnet was blown as was the relay behind the switches. The dealer believes that the problem was caused by the wagon drenching us with spray. :roll: :evil:

Sunseeker


still seeking the sun. 8)

 

[89480]

many thanks everyone. i shall take a good look, take on board your advice. if all else fails i'll pester the dealer. The problem is the 180 mile drive. If it comes to it i'll try andnegotiate a local repair funded by them if its more than a tenner. Thanks again!

 

[88812]

Recently John Wickersham did an article in one of the magazine about fitting an electric step. He could not work out why a capacitor had to fitted in the circuit.

I was fitting a step at the same time and did some investigation.

If the step retracts automatically, as soon as the microswitch is made it cuts off the power. The step is only just retracted and the slightest bump can unmake the microswitch and the buzzer goes off. The capacitor is there to discharge and fully shut the step.

Could this be your problem?

Colin

 

[89480]

Unfortunately its a manual step, and it only just goes into place with a lot of play when retracted-almost as if the spring isnt strong enough. Hence any bump and it goes off. To remedy it for this weekend ive added a good old bungee to stop the play on it, and will investigate further.
Many thanks