Here’s an issue that cropped up over the past couple of weeks… thought I’d share in case anyone else has it in the future.
So I’ve got the Lippert (LCI) 6-point, hydraulic auto-leveling system on my rig. Except for having to replace that 50amp breaker back in 2018, it’s given me zero issues over the past 8 years… until 3 weeks ago.
Woke up one morning to hear a high-pitched BEEEEEEP sound coming from somewhere on the rig. Not real loud, but it would repeat about every 6 or 7 seconds. After showering & grabbing a quick bite for breakfast, I began to investigate. Finally figured out it was coming from my curbside basement bay, and it was the Level-Up control pad. It showed **** ERROR ****, and then alternated to the next screen which simply said Press ENTER to acknowledge. (photos below) Doesn’t state what the error is… just an error:
I did as instructed, and the beeping stopped. Ok… gremlins, I figured… no big deal.
2 days later I returned back to the rig after a being gone for the day… and as soon as I got out of the truck, I heard it again. Same thing… same remedy.
The next day I was moving the rig to a new location. Turned the system on, and it worked as usual. Got to my new campground, set up was normal… no issues. But sure enough… 3 days later, it did it again.
At this point, I’m getting concerned about a REAL potential problem coming on, so I call the LCI support number. Told the guy there what it was doing, to which he immediately diagnosed it as “communication error” between the actual controller and the touch pad. He told me to get out my multimeter, and sent me an email with the following instructions:
If voltage by probing red/yellow out of the controller shows 5-7v, go to the touch pad, check red/yellow there...with the harnesses plugged in, one probe to red, other to yellow. If you have 5-7v at the touch pad, replace the touchpad.
So I go out there, but as my controller is on the roof of my front-bay compartment… with my spinal issues I can’t contort my body to get in there to probe the wires. But I do pull the touchpad from the wall, and seem to be getting the voltages from the wire harness he says I should.
It’s not 2 hours later when I hear it beeping again… but before I can get my shoes on and back outside, it stops. Uh oh… it’s never done that before.
So I get out there, and the pad display reads: COMM ERROR… and the buttons on the pad are now completely inoperable. Pressing any of them does nothing. I unplug the harness from the control pad, and it goes blank. I wait 10 seconds or so, plug it back in… same thing: COMM ERROR, and the buttons are dead.
So I know the harness has power flowing thru it… but now, do I have a bad controller, or a bad touchpad? And oh yeah, I’m at a place with no mobile techs, and I’ve gotta be gone in 3 days. (the campground is booked solid)
Hoping like hell I’m not going to have to resort to raising all 6 jacks manually in a few days, I do a Google search and only find 1 old post where someone had the same issue. He said he was at a service center where a tech had an old used touchpad that they swapped in for his, and the system worked again. So I began looking at options for overnighting a new controller & touchpad to me, figuring it’s gotta be one or the other… right?
I can get a new touchpad from Amazon in 2 days… but it’d be a week before getting a new controller. So I go ahead and order the touchpad hoping that’s it.
The next day, I decide to try to see if I can set up a folding chair, and try somehow to contort myself to reach & measure the voltage on the controller. It’s gonna hurt like hell, but I gotta try. After cleaning the compartment of the stuff I keep in there, I manage to get to it, and unplug the wire harnesses going into it. I manage to get one probe in position, but I just can get both. Just too much pain… way way too much. After taking a breather, I plug the harnesses back in, put my stuff back in, and secure the door. I walk back to the touchpad, and… SHAZAAM!… it’s on, and appears to be working as normal.
Next day… no beeps. 2nd day… no beeps, and the new touchpad arrives to the campground via UPS. But if it ain’t broke, DON’T FIX IT!
3rd day, I go out to break camp, and get ready to move. Everything works as advertised. Arrived at the new location, and setting up was normal.
So I’m not sure what it was… but unplugging & replugging the harnesses at the controller seems to have done the trick. Been a few days now at the new location, and no issues… no more beeps.
I haven’t even opened the new touchpad, and am tempted to return it. But now that I’ve got it… I just KNOW with my luck, I’ll need it at some point in the future. So I guess I’ll keep it as “insurance”.
BUT… it’s always something. In the course of doing all of this, I also found another potential issue that I’ll bring up in a new & different thread later.
Linear Mode
