2011 Windsport 31D hydraulic problem alert

[richardtribble]

I purchased a new 2011 Windsport 31d in July '10 and immediately encountered low voltage problems with my hydraulic leveling system. Thor told me to fast idle my engine to increase voltage which sometimes took more than 5 minutes. On May 9, 2013, my hydraulic pump started pulsating.

I called Thor Tech Support and they told me to check the bus breaker on the firewall - there was none. By this time the pump had burned up. Latter that day I called Lippert who walked me through. We located the pump in the house battery compartment and it was wired directly to the house batteries with no breaker in line. Lippert said it was wired contrary to their instructions. Thor claims they have wired thousands this way and no one has ever complained they had a problem. I paid to have a new pump, pressure sensor, and breaker installed and a power line run from the breaker to the chassis battery. I now have no low power problems and the system is working exactly as Lippert said it should.

Another MH owner asked "What difference does it make as long as the house batteries are fully charged?" to which my response is: the house batteries are never charged adequately to power the continuous drain of the hydraulic pump motor unless you are connected to shore power or running the generator. I've tried everything over the last three years. Thor Tech Support always indicated, but never said, that the hydraulic system was connected to the chassis battery and the alternator until this incident.

I'm looking for Windsport owners who have experienced or are currently experiencing the same problems to share their experience.

In addition, I'm looking for owners who will inspect their rigs hydraulic wiring to insure that 1) it has a 100 amp bus breaker in line
and 2) it is wired to the chassis battery instead of the house batteries. I can assure you it gets expensive making these repairs and Thor refuses to step up to the plate.

[wolfe10]

Richard,

Welcome to the FMCA Forum.

Two points:

1. With engine running, both chassis and house batteries are charged, so should be no difference in voltage.

2. While I agree you should have a fuse/breaker to protect the wiring and pump, their presence will not affect voltage or cause a very slight drop-- certainly, its presence will not boost voltage.

Did they make any other modifications, such as increasing wire gauge from battery to pump motor? That and verifying that connections are clean and tight are about all that can be done to increase voltage available at the pump.