eric@babin.com

2014 Itasca Ellipse 42QD Thetford Tecma toilet Symptom: Push flush button, water enters bowl, when it's time for pump to macerate there is an electrical draw and slight thump noise. Controller on wall flashes red triangle and water level blinks yellow to green alternately. Called Thetford customer service at:1-800-543-1219 Basically no help other than to send me a troubleshooting guide that talked a lot about voltage checking. I was confident it was not a voltage issue so I used a Youtube video to show me how to remove and take apart the toilet to check pump for blockage. There are plenty of videos, but I used this one: One difference on my toilet was there was a hard black PVC pipe coming out of the floor about 8" to the pump discharge hose. This meant I had to spin the toilet clockwise after removing the 4 bolts holding it to the floor. This allowed me to access the rear opening of the toilet to disconnect plumbing and wiring. Once plumbing and wiring was disconnected I was able to lift the toilet straight up to get it over that hard pipe. I removed the pump and bench tested it. It did not turn. I took the pump apart and there it was.... a SOCK stuck in the macerator area. This must have happened as my wife was emptying the drying, which is right above the toilet. Removed sock, bench test sat. One thing I didn't do was put caulk between toilet and floor. I don't think it is necessary. One note of caution: when putting the bolts back to secure the toilet to the floor, be careful of torq. This is porcelain and can crack with too much torq.

Today's update / maybe the final? We were going to take a test drive today to see if we would be able to get it to the shop to check the air leak, and then worry about leveler issues later. Started coach, it took a very long time to come up to ride height...... maybe about 5-6 minutes..... but it did. Of course, as mentioned, I had previously raised jacks manually so we would have to worry about that today.... but jacks still showed "jacks down" via the warning light. Wife says, "just check the levelers, see what happens, you know how to raise them manually if you have to". Turned on leveler control pad.... sure enough they show "jacks down" but they are not. I push "retract" and you can hear it struggling to raise since they are already up. It doesn't give me any fault code and now shows "jacks up". OK... .that is good.... shall we be bold enough to try to level? Sure..... and, guess what..... it worked, fully leveled and shows "success". OK..... but what about that pesky air leak? I can't hear any leak...... no leak? Yep..... no apparent leak. Maybe it was the house batteries that needed to be replaced? Either way, things are working normal..... .for now.

Yes..... I'm thinking maybe a bad pressure switch? I'm contacting Lipper this week to troubleshoot. Yes, fluid level is full.

No. This is LCI / Lippert. No springs.

Today's update: House batteries have been replaced. We started coach to see if we still had an air leak and if the jacks would work properly. Jacks began to work correctly, from the 1/2 up position, the air bags filled, and the jacks retracted. It did sound noisier than normal, but my wife said it was normal sounding. One thing that was strange is when they were fully retracted, as normal you could hear the pump struggle, but usually that is when it stopped and moves on to the next jack. This time the "struggle" sound continued longer than normal, much longer. All jacks did retract. We tried to level at that point, the jacks seemed to work, once all were grounded and it tried to level, we got the "can't complete level" code. We then tried to retract. The airbags emptied, the front began to retract.... very very slowly, but after raising about 4 or 5 inches I got the "return for service" fault. I can clear the code by pressing "enter" and "retract" buttons but the code returns when I try to retract again. I've manually retracted via opening valves and putting power drill on pump. All jacks are up, but still getting "Jacks down" alarm. I am not low on fluid.

The airbags do fully inflate and raises to normal ride height. The leak sounds very faint. I will contact him to get some advice. Thank you!

Today's update: Guy from Triad came out to look at air leak. We got error code on jacks so we ended up having to send him away since we ended up not being able to fill the bags and recreate the leak. Right now we are pretty sure the jack issue is due to house batteries needing replacement. We're on the original batteries from 2014. (and we've been full timing in it since 2018). Just ordered 6 batteries, exact replacement NAPA 8831DT. Good news, I suppose, is NAPA is offering 20% off right now, which saved $451! Once we get those replaced we'll try leveling system again. If that works, we may try to limp into the repair facility.

Update February 10: I have a guy coming take a look at it Monday Feb12. I'll keep everyone updated.

2014 Itasca Ellipse 42QD We live in coach full time. We've been stationary for just over two months. When we are stationary for more than a month we always start it up, pull slides in, level, then let slides back out. We do this so we have no surprises when it's time to pull out for a trip. (Well, to minimize the surprises). Today was our day to start, relevel, and set back up. We have noticed the passenger side of the coach has always had the air suspension come up slower than the driver's side. In November it actually took about 5 minutes. Today it was going slow, and didn't quite get to it's normal height, and was significantly lower than the driver's side, especially in the front. At that time, with engine still running, I noticed we had some sort of air leak coming from the passenger rear axle area, not the tag axle, the one right in front of it. It won't let me attach a video, but the leak is coming from the inside area at the rear axle (not tag) on the passenger side. When I turned the engine off, air leak continued for a couple of minutes. We then leveled and the leak stopped. We then retracted levelers, bags filled, and I no longer heard an air leak, although, as usual, passenger side took longer to come up. Brake air gauge steady at 110psi. We aren't traveling until April so we have a little time. Any thoughts on what the leak could be? I'd assume it's not an airbag since it didn't seem to leak the second time we retracted levelers. Maybe pressure relief valve got stuck open? Other ideas? Here is a link to the video that I shared on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reel/792627659547761

It's a rear radiator I'll have to climb under there... and look to see if there is a hose right there.

So I have coolant flowing out from the coils. Any chance it could be a busted hose behind the coils spraying through or damaged coils. We haven't traveled in about 2 months and started the RV to relevel today and got the low coolant code. You can see a little dent in the coils so maybe I threw a rock up while mowing? Link to video: https://www.facebook.com/1460845187/videos/1081877406105850

I replaced it today..... If it does it again then we know for sure it's the controller module in the back of the toilet. We do live in it full time so that switch get's a lot of work. I'll update later if it does it again. (if the switch/button replacement wasn't the answer)

There have been two separate times in which I hit the small flush button that the macerator continued to run. Normally it only runs about 1 second. These two times it ran continuously even after the water had stopped flowing. It finally stopped after I mashed the button a few times. The first time I actually got a screwdriver and pulled the switch control off the wall only to see it's an enclosed back. There is no place to disconnect it at the switch / button housing. I am fairly certain that half of the switch is in the process of failing. My question is this.... The back of the switch housing is closed, not able to open up, with wires within a gray insulated housing leading to the wiring harness near the end. Looks like the wiring harness is pretty basic.... one black, one red. There is no way I'll be able to fish this wire and harness through the wall. I'm thinking I could just cut the wires near the switch housing, and splice in the new switch / buttons. Here is a link to the part: https://www.fisheriessupply.com/thetford-tecma-plus-double-button-wall-switch/36387 Anyone think I may run into a problem doing that?

It was stuck in the down position. I rolled it up like a poster then used 3 Irwin quick release hand clamps. Would have been great if I could manually roll it back up on it's own roller but due to the position it's at it would be very difficult without taking it all the way down.

We just have electric on the windshield. All others are manual. No telephone type connector. We did try to shut everything down / batteries etc. to reboot.... Didn't help.

2014 Itasca Ellipse 42QD (Winnebago Tour) I have the double electric shade (solar and night) for the windshield. When I tried to operate the solar shade it would just have short beeps, about 1 per second, but wouldn't go up or down. I contacted MCD Tech Support in McKinney TX at 972-548-1850 (MCD is owned by Airxcel so you can find the products at AirXcel.com, click the "RV Group" tab at the top then select MCD. Or, just go to MCDInnovations.com) I spoke with Samantha Green email sgreen@airxcel.com. She explained that the motor will require replacing. Motor part number: 50.338 $155 She also said I would need the "updated" bracket kit since I have the "old style" motor. Bracket kit part number: tech-abk1 $29.99 (I got the updated bracket kit but did NOT need it) The reason for the bracket kit is the new motor (white) has very small tabs on the end. These tabs I'm told won't fit into the bracket of the old style. It did fit fine into the bracket. The other option, if it didn't fit is you could grind the tabs down.... it would be very easy to do this if you had to. However, for me, the tabs fit into the bracket I already had. Total cost of parts: 155+30+$15shiipping+tax brining it to just over $200. I installed myself, description and pictures below, in about 2.5 hours. You will need a second person to drop the rollers and replace the rollers since they are about 6' long, and awkward pulling out and putting back in. Step 1: First thing you need to do is clean out the cabinets above the windshield and remove the felt panels. This allows you to see the top rail of the blinds' rollers and the clips that it's clipped into. These panels may be screwed or stapled in. I had one that was screwed, the other 3 were stapled. They are pretty tight so I used a paint can opener to hook behind them to be able to then get my fingers in there to pull them out. Step 2: Remove the plastic shade guides on each side of the windshield. This is the piece of plastic the shade bars fit into to guide the bottom of the shade as it goes up and down. Each plastic guide has 4 self tapping metal screws you'll need to remove. Step 3: Have a second person on one side preventing the rollers from slamming down on that side as you unclip the top railing (silver aluminum at the top of the rollers.) ) I also put down pillows just in case the rollers fell to prevent windshield breakage.) Once you unclip one side have the other person unclip their side. There are a total of 6 clips. 2 near each end, then 2 spaced out towards the center. Step 4: You'll have to maneuver the shade rolls (by the way, I say "rolls" but both are attached to each other via an L bracket).... anyway, maneuver the rolls in such a way to bring one side down first, then pull to the right, out the open door in our case, to allow the other side to be able to be lowered. On the right side, passenger, you'll have to cut the wires. It will be a total of 6 wires, 3 an each roller. In my case it was a double black wire (counting as 2) and a single brown. Once the wires are cut you can now take the rollers to your workbench to replace the motor. Step 5: Remove the 2 screws from the motor side (each roll only has a single motor, on the passenger side of the rollers). The other side of the rollers just fit into a round pulley tip of fitting. Once you've got the 2 screws that attach the motor to the bracket you should be able to push it over a little to access the motor. Pull the motor out of the shade roller and replace with new motor. In my case the old motor was red, new motor is white. (see pictures). You may have to mess around with the motor to get it to fit all the way in due to the slots required to keep it from slipping when operating. Once it's all the way into the roller with only the black plastic head out, attach back to the bracket using the 2 screws. I'm assuming if the tabs on the end of the motor don't fit onto your bracket this is where you'd replace the old bracket with the updated. This was not needed for me. My coach was built February 2014 so I guess they were using the new brackets at that time? Step 6: Now it's time to put the entire roller assembly back up into it's holding bracket clips at top of windshield. This is NOT an easy task and requires 2 people. Be aware of where your wires need to be while putting it up into the clips. NOTE: These clips are not like the ones on your house blinds.... the clips have one side you must slide the rail into, then up to click into place. The forward (windshield side) of the clip is the "slide into" and the back of the clip is the " push up to click into". We were able to get it to click into 5 of the 6 clips. One clip must have been damaged somehow when we pulled it down. No worries, I just zip tied that section to the cross bar. Step 7: Now it's time to connect the wires. Since we cut 3 wires for each roller motor obviously you connect 3 per motor. Since I marked the wires for which was solar and which was night it was easy with no guessing.... HOWEVER..... When attaching the double black wires (the new motor had black, red, and yellow wires, old motor had the double black and brown).... The yellow wire from motor goes to the brown wire on coach..... AND.... the black and red go to the double black.... You'll have to connect them and test. If you get them backwards, the up button will send the shade down.... etc.... No way to know until you test it. Once all six wires are connected organize and secure them up in the area above the rollers, and to the side of your cabinet space. Be sure to test both rollers prior to organizing and putting the wire up into the blank area above rollers. Step 8: Replace roller guides on sides of windshield and felt panels back in cabinets. Step 9: Set "stop" guides for top and bottom/ Up-down limits. (I'm holding off on doing this for now) Step 10: Grab a cold beer and pat yourself on the back for saving about $300 by having someone else do the job. Picture descriptions: MCD box - new motor box, Cabinets prior to pulling out panels, Paint can key used to pull felt panels out, cabinets with felt panels out, rollers after they were removed, red motor = old motor, wires on the motor side of rollers / passenger side of coach, felt panels and roller guides that had to be removed, white motor (new motor) in box.

2014 Itasca Ellipse 42QD. I have a saying "Easy Day" which means this.... when something bad happens / something breaks, and you start to think.... oh crap, this will cost a couple hundred bucks to fix (or in some cases thousands) but after a few minutes you've got it fixed for nothing, or almost nothing. Today's example: Exhaust fan's cover opens but fan doesn't come on. Check fuse: It's good. Check switch: It's good (continuity check) Check for voltage at switch: None. Go up on the roof to look for a part number on the other side of the fan and just for giggles I jiggle the ground wire..... fan comes on.... and there you have it.... Just a loose ground wire Sharing this experience to if anyone else has an inop exhaust fan after checking fuse and switch... check ground. Here's the pics: Red arrow pointing at ground wire. This is the top of the fan.

Yes... I use autolevel 100% of the time. Good to know the probably "reason". I was a little worried. Also, I've always thought it raised it too high.... Maybe I'll start doing a manual level. Manual retract. Yes, I was able to retract mine using the exact method you described.

We normally don't sit still for very long so I was never really able to run an experiment to see how much diesel the AquaHot uses to operate furnace heat and water heater. We showed up in Foley Alabama (just north of Gulf Shores / Gulf coast of Alabama) on November 15th. I topped off the diesel tank just prior to parking. Other than exercising generator a couple times and running engine for a few minutes every few weeks, I only used the diesel to operate Aquahot. Here are my findings: Average temperature range in December was 44 - 62, January was 48-63 with a couple of cold snaps that lasted for a few days with lows into the very high 20's and highs in the mid 50's. Number of days: 75 AquaHot "burner" and "electric" on the entire time to heat water and furnace when it was needed. Total fuel usage: 100 gallons. Distance from gas station about 22 miles each way, so about 7 of those gallons were used to drive RV and exercise generator. Estimated AquaHot diesel usage over 75 days 93 gallons. 93 gallons / 75 days = 1.24 gallons per day 1.24 gallons x $3.56 per gallon (today's price 1/31/22) = $4.41 per day That seems like a LOT when added up for the month ($132.00). I can't imagine what it would be in a colder climate! I think I'm going to turn off that burner until I absolutely need it!

Original post updated with the fix! RV tech found it!

Yes.... RV Tech coming to take a look today. I have given up. I hope he has experience with this.... I just hate to spend $200 for him to say, "hmmm..... that's a tough one".

zero.

I've tried to reset via the touchpad.... won't do anything except show "low voltage". I've looked through all the obvious breakers and fuses but can't find one that services the levelers. I've checked under the drivers window and in battery compartment. As well as the ones inside under the bed. Made in appt for an RV tech to come out next week... so, would be great if I found it prior to that!

I called Lippert at 432-547-7378. They were very informative...... Everything points to it being a tripped breaker. I've called Winnebago at 800-537-1885 to find out where that darn thing is but they are closed until tomorrow the 4th. Where is this leveler breaker on a 2104 Itasca Ellipse (Winnebago Tour)?????

2014 Itasca Ellipse 42QD I got a "low voltage" screen and alarm when retracting jacks today. Jacks partially up now. Can't get "low voltage" fault to clear. I have tried with engine running, in park, and neutral. (as always) Voltage at coach panel shows 14.0 volts on both chasis and engine batteries. I've tried powering everything down and back up. (chassis and house batteries off, then back on) I've tried unplugging lippert panel and back in. Still getting low voltage. I checked 15A inline fuse near pump. It is fine. I can't find any other fuse or breaker. I've looked at breaker and fuse panels under drivers window. I've looked at 12v breakers under bed and near chassis batteries. Where the heck are the fuses / and or breaker(s) for the lippert leveling on a 2014 Itasca Ellipse (Winnebago Tour). I have found the control box which is attached to ceiling of compartment behind driver's door under a rounded box. But can't see any reset there? UPDATE: FIXED: Could not find the high amp fuse so I called in the pros. I gave Ewing Mobile RV Repair in Foley Alabama a call (251-207-5922). I didn't tell him anything I had come up with since there was a good chance I was way off base. He gave Lippert a call, checked some voltages and came to the same thing I came to... must be a fuse... but where is it? He found it. The fuse is pictured below. Strangely enough... the fuse didn't "look" burnt.... but it was. He got a new one at a local auto parts store. Replaced it (which was not easy because of the location / see pic) To help with the location... it was in the driver's side rear compartment, (same as chassis batteries) under the push button breakers, behind 2 removable panels. Total cost: 2 hours labor + service call + parts: $268.50