Popping noise in hydraulic leveling system-what IS that?? Research shows what additives will help and that it is due to temperature changes, but can someone tell me what exactly is happening in there? Scared they might fail and in middle of night take a nosedive ☹️️
Bill and Linda said
02:56 PM Nov 13, 2016
Peggy:
Ah, you have a "hydraulic Poltergeist." Seriously, most likely air trapped in the lines / cylinder. Very common. The usual way to get air out of the system is to extend the cylinders all the way. Let it sit and cycle them up and down. I'd check your manual for the correct procedure for your particular system. That's the one for mine. But our frame has no issues being totally off the ground. Some other frames may not like that. It depends.
Assuming what you are describing is what it usually is there is no real concern the jacks will "fall." My first set of "Big Foots" had no air bubbles at all in them - hence no "popping" sound. My second set took forever to finally stop popping once, twice - sometimes three times in an evening. When it happened Linda I would just say: "Poltergeist is back." Out of curiosity I actually made some very precise measurements to see if the jacks actually moved after these sounds. Not a millimeter. Never moved. So I have little concern about the noise and after a while it just went away.
Bill
RonC said
08:39 PM Nov 13, 2016
Interesting post ... I have never heard any popping, and haven't seen this in the discussion before. Good to know though. If it would have happened, it probably would freak me out.
MooreFun said
09:28 AM Nov 14, 2016
Ahh, I can sleep again. Thanks for the relief flooding through me!
Barbaraok said
09:53 AM Nov 14, 2016
Do you have HWH jacks? Is it getting significantly cooler at night than during the day? If so, you might be hearing the springs reacting to the temperature change.
Barb
RonC said
10:11 PM Nov 15, 2016
Do you believe this !!!! I now have heard popping noises!!! Quit bringing theses things up people!!! You are killing me!
TheNewhalls said
07:13 AM Nov 16, 2016
I have heard a popping noise from our lippert jacks. It happens so infrequently that I haven't worried about it. It was disconcerting when it first happened though.
2riker2go said
06:07 PM Nov 16, 2016
There have been numerous posts on the Heartland forum about this. It is called the "Lippert pop" on there. Supposedly if you add a CAT hydraulic additive to the hydraulic fluid, that was supposed to be a "fix" for it, however, we added it a couple years ago and we still get the pop, although it seems to have lessened it some. In our experience, it happens more often when the jacks are more extended and/or the temperatures change quickly.
-- Edited by 2riker2go on Wednesday 16th of November 2016 06:12:52 PM
igotjam said
06:50 PM Nov 16, 2016
After lots of problems with my Lippert Hydraulics I switched to electric in my next 5er. Never had the popping noise but its another reason I'm glad I have electric jacks and slides.
Bill and Linda said
09:12 AM Nov 17, 2016
igotjam wrote:
After lots of problems with my Lippert Hydraulics I switched to electric in my next 5er. Never had the popping noise but its another reason I'm glad I have electric jacks and slides.
For those doing research, or interested, we've had both types, hydraulic and electric slides and experience with electric jacks. In the past 8 years we've had no issues with the Quadra Big Foot leveling jacks except to replace a limit switch and a leaky fitting which Quadra did for free and handed me spares, along with hydraulic hoses, "just in case." I seem to read of more problems with the Lippert leveling products than the Quadra products at least on this forum. But to the point, electric and hydraulic have their benefits and problems.
(I will note the "Auto Leveling" system on both products can and does have issues. They can get "confused" after travel as to what is level. We never use auto leveling because it can put more strain on everything then if I do it manually. IMO, manually is just better all around and takes no more time. But that's just my opinion based on experience.)
Hydraulics can "leak." But if properly installed they don't unless something breaks. Electric have the problem of enough torque - especially if the battery is a bit low. We had a lot of trouble with the electric bedroom slide on our previous trailer. To get enough torque to move a slide with a 12 volt motor takes a lot of gearing. We were always having trouble with the gear box breaking - especially the shear pins. I actually carried spare motors and gear assemblies for the big slides.
So far our slide hydraulics on the NH have been fine and due to our frequent travel the slides and leveling jacks get a lot of workout. We have had two shear bolts break on the L/R slide. That system is Lippert. The leveling jacks are Quadra.
I strongly suggest never purchasing a trailer / MH that does not have individual controls to extend and retract the slides. Many times we need to open just one slide. We've had to camp with one slide in due to trees. Just is what it was. With a single slide control button one can never know which slide will open first nor can you open or leave retracted just one slide. Please keep this in mind when selecting a product.
All of this is not a Ford / Chevy discussion. Both types can have issues. All-in-all, based on experience, I've definitely come to prefer the hydraulic system. But that doesn't make electric "bad." It's a choice.
jrzygrl64 said
06:55 PM Nov 17, 2016
We have the same issue, exactly how Jessica describes it above (2riker2go). We also looked it up on Heartland Owners forum and learned it isn't anything more than an annoying sound, no harm being done.
Hogladyrider said
02:22 PM Nov 21, 2016
We also had the "popping" noise with our 2016 Big Horn.
We have NOT experienced any popping noise with our 2017 Cyclone.
Gotta love the forums for research and answers....there is nothing that compares.
Susan
Dranoel said
04:48 AM Nov 26, 2016
After 3 years, we developed the popping sound in our Lippert Level-Up system. The problem appears to be fairly common. Per Lippert's instructions, I added 1 QT of CAT 1U-9891 "anti-stiction" fluid. So far, no more popping.
David and Cheryl said
11:57 PM Dec 11, 2016
We've had that also. It's called "hydraulic stiction", and is not limited to just the Lippert system--it can happen in any hydraulic system. If you want to learn the technical details, you can do so here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiction. We added a quart of the CAT additive and it solved the problem. Be sure to remove a quart of the existing fluid before you add the additive; otherwise, your reservoir will be too full and there won't be a high enough concentration of additive to do the job. LCI's instructions do say that you might need to add a second quart of additive to completely solve the problem.
I've been told that the alternative "fork oils" approved by LCI don't work as well, because they are oil + additive rather than pure additive like the CAT fluid. I don't know if that's true or not but thought I would pass it along.
Regardless, your jacks will NOT collapse. But the noise is enough to make you think they will!
RonC said
08:57 PM Dec 13, 2016
Very familiar with hydraulic stiction. I was a VP responsible for parts and service at a CAT dealership when I retired. This "problem" only occurred (in CAT equipment) when hydraulic cylinders were in transition ... extending or contracting. The manifestation of this stiction issue was a chattering as the cylinders were exercised. This popping in RV's occurs when the the cylinders are static under load, so the cause/solution don't seem to be the same. The additive that CAT sells is a "super lubricant" that eliminates the stiction issue as the cylinders are in transition. The popping that occurs when cylinders are static, but loaded, seems to be most likely to be caused by micro bubbles in the hydraulic fluid. The CAT additive may help by preventing these micro bubbles from forming as it is also an antifoaming agent. But it probably is not related to the issue of stiction ... IMO. As these micro bubbles disappate, they cause a popping sound, but no discernible movement due to the very small size of the bubbles. The reason this eventually disappears is that as the cylinders are repeatedly exercised (extended and retracted), the bubbles are eliminated from the system. The CAT additive aids in this process, primarily due to it's antifoaming properties. In order for stiction to be a culprit, there would have to be movement between two "stuck" surfaces and the instant that they become unstuck and move (relative to each other) the noise would occur, but no discernible movement occurs, so no stiction. But hey ... it's just a theory and I've had a couple of martini's 😎
-- Edited by RonC on Tuesday 13th of December 2016 09:04:37 PM
-- Edited by RonC on Tuesday 13th of December 2016 09:16:17 PM
Clay L said
03:48 PM Dec 21, 2016
I had the problem a couple of times and noticed that it only occurred when the jacks were extended out a lot. It happened at night when the temperature dropped. I put several leggo type leveling blocks under them so there was less extension and the noise stopped.
Cummins12V98 said
11:32 AM Dec 22, 2016
I made these recently to keep the extension to a minimum and create a more stable RV.
Those boxes look like a good idea. The less the rams are extended, the less leverage there is and it should make the whole set up stiffer, and more stable. How's it working in real life?
Cummins12V98 said
09:57 AM Dec 23, 2016
RonC wrote:
Those boxes look like a good idea. The less the rams are extended, the less leverage there is and it should make the whole set up stiffer, and more stable. How's it working in real life?
They are working really well. I used to use 6x8x16" blocks under the fronts and just plywood pcs under the rears. These boxes are lighter and have made the rV more stable for sure. I have an old manual awning rod that the wife used to pull out the blocks by hooking the D rings. Here is a sketch of the blocks. The pic is without the top pc. The big blocks are 10x10x16" long the 4 rear are 10x10x8" high. I used 3/4" solid core A/C plywood.
Popping noise in hydraulic leveling system-what IS that?? Research shows what additives will help and that it is due to temperature changes, but can someone tell me what exactly is happening in there? Scared they might fail and in middle of night take a nosedive ☹️️
Peggy:
Ah, you have a "hydraulic Poltergeist." Seriously, most likely air trapped in the lines / cylinder. Very common. The usual way to get air out of the system is to extend the cylinders all the way. Let it sit and cycle them up and down. I'd check your manual for the correct procedure for your particular system. That's the one for mine. But our frame has no issues being totally off the ground. Some other frames may not like that. It depends.
Assuming what you are describing is what it usually is there is no real concern the jacks will "fall." My first set of "Big Foots" had no air bubbles at all in them - hence no "popping" sound. My second set took forever to finally stop popping once, twice - sometimes three times in an evening. When it happened Linda I would just say: "Poltergeist is back." Out of curiosity I actually made some very precise measurements to see if the jacks actually moved after these sounds. Not a millimeter. Never moved. So I have little concern about the noise and after a while it just went away.
Bill
Barb
I have heard a popping noise from our lippert jacks. It happens so infrequently that I haven't worried about it. It was disconcerting when it first happened though.
There have been numerous posts on the Heartland forum about this. It is called the "Lippert pop" on there. Supposedly if you add a CAT hydraulic additive to the hydraulic fluid, that was supposed to be a "fix" for it, however, we added it a couple years ago and we still get the pop, although it seems to have lessened it some. In our experience, it happens more often when the jacks are more extended and/or the temperatures change quickly.
-- Edited by 2riker2go on Wednesday 16th of November 2016 06:12:52 PM
For those doing research, or interested, we've had both types, hydraulic and electric slides and experience with electric jacks. In the past 8 years we've had no issues with the Quadra Big Foot leveling jacks except to replace a limit switch and a leaky fitting which Quadra did for free and handed me spares, along with hydraulic hoses, "just in case." I seem to read of more problems with the Lippert leveling products than the Quadra products at least on this forum. But to the point, electric and hydraulic have their benefits and problems.
(I will note the "Auto Leveling" system on both products can and does have issues. They can get "confused" after travel as to what is level. We never use auto leveling because it can put more strain on everything then if I do it manually. IMO, manually is just better all around and takes no more time. But that's just my opinion based on experience.)
Hydraulics can "leak." But if properly installed they don't unless something breaks. Electric have the problem of enough torque - especially if the battery is a bit low. We had a lot of trouble with the electric bedroom slide on our previous trailer. To get enough torque to move a slide with a 12 volt motor takes a lot of gearing. We were always having trouble with the gear box breaking - especially the shear pins. I actually carried spare motors and gear assemblies for the big slides.
So far our slide hydraulics on the NH have been fine and due to our frequent travel the slides and leveling jacks get a lot of workout. We have had two shear bolts break on the L/R slide. That system is Lippert. The leveling jacks are Quadra.
I strongly suggest never purchasing a trailer / MH that does not have individual controls to extend and retract the slides. Many times we need to open just one slide. We've had to camp with one slide in due to trees. Just is what it was. With a single slide control button one can never know which slide will open first nor can you open or leave retracted just one slide. Please keep this in mind when selecting a product.
All of this is not a Ford / Chevy discussion. Both types can have issues. All-in-all, based on experience, I've definitely come to prefer the hydraulic system. But that doesn't make electric "bad." It's a choice.
We have NOT experienced any popping noise with our 2017 Cyclone.
Gotta love the forums for research and answers....there is nothing that compares.
Susan
After 3 years, we developed the popping sound in our Lippert Level-Up system. The problem appears to be fairly common. Per Lippert's instructions, I added 1 QT of CAT 1U-9891 "anti-stiction" fluid. So far, no more popping.
I've been told that the alternative "fork oils" approved by LCI don't work as well, because they are oil + additive rather than pure additive like the CAT fluid. I don't know if that's true or not but thought I would pass it along.
Regardless, your jacks will NOT collapse. But the noise is enough to make you think they will!
Very familiar with hydraulic stiction. I was a VP responsible for parts and service at a CAT dealership when I retired. This "problem" only occurred (in CAT equipment) when hydraulic cylinders were in transition ... extending or contracting. The manifestation of this stiction issue was a chattering as the cylinders were exercised. This popping in RV's occurs when the the cylinders are static under load, so the cause/solution don't seem to be the same. The additive that CAT sells is a "super lubricant" that eliminates the stiction issue as the cylinders are in transition. The popping that occurs when cylinders are static, but loaded, seems to be most likely to be caused by micro bubbles in the hydraulic fluid. The CAT additive may help by preventing these micro bubbles from forming as it is also an antifoaming agent. But it probably is not related to the issue of stiction ... IMO. As these micro bubbles disappate, they cause a popping sound, but no discernible movement due to the very small size of the bubbles. The reason this eventually disappears is that as the cylinders are repeatedly exercised (extended and retracted), the bubbles are eliminated from the system. The CAT additive aids in this process, primarily due to it's antifoaming properties. In order for stiction to be a culprit, there would have to be movement between two "stuck" surfaces and the instant that they become unstuck and move (relative to each other) the noise would occur, but no discernible movement occurs, so no stiction. But hey ... it's just a theory and I've had a couple of martini's 😎
-- Edited by RonC on Tuesday 13th of December 2016 09:04:37 PM
-- Edited by RonC on Tuesday 13th of December 2016 09:16:17 PM
They are working really well. I used to use 6x8x16" blocks under the fronts and just plywood pcs under the rears. These boxes are lighter and have made the rV more stable for sure. I have an old manual awning rod that the wife used to pull out the blocks by hooking the D rings. Here is a sketch of the blocks. The pic is without the top pc. The big blocks are 10x10x16" long the 4 rear are 10x10x8" high. I used 3/4" solid core A/C plywood.