Powr Touch motor mover

May 6, 2010
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Hi,
Felt that I just had to make comment about the problem I had with the Powr Touch mover and the excellent service provided by Powr Products.
I had the mover fitted by the dealer when I purchased my new caravan in 2008. Since taking delivery I had problems with it simply stalling and restarting whilst in use. Just as if you had taken your finger off of the button. I complained to my dealer at the vans first service and they told me they had replaced the control module and that it was now OK. Well as you may have guessed it was just the same.
I decided now to contact Powr Touch technical direct. They advised me that there were a couple of things I should check. 1. The aerial from the control unit must be taken outside of the van through the floor. 2. Their experience showed that if I had a 110amp hr battery fitted that many standard van chargers might not able to maintain it in a fully charged state. Upon checking the dealer had simply left the aerial laying in the under bed area (fixed bed van). I duly drilled a small hole in the floor, passed the aerial through and carefully sealed it with non setting mastic. The battery, I could not find any charge faults and it held its charge ok. Still the mover was no better. I called Powr Touch again and was asked to take several battery voltage measurements, no load - motor load etc., this I did and all readings were ok. I was also asked to measure the roller distance from the tyres (28mm should be 20mm). Having done this, I again called PT technical and they said they would send out an engineer. Two days later he arrived and without any promting replaced the control unit and adjusted the roller gaps. On testing, one roller would not disengage from the tyre. A quick call by him to PT and he had authority to also replace both actuator motors. The mover is now working fine.

My advice to people looking for a mover - more things than just price are worth considering. The aftersales service of PT is second to none and with their price match policy, it's worth giving them a call to get a quote. I would also have them fit the unit. You can be sure of excellent back-up service. Even if it fails whilst you are away on holiday they will get an engineer out to you.
 
Aug 23, 2009
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I've had two over four vans in the last 7 years and they have always delivered that level of service. It would take a lot to convince me to change to another.
 
Dec 11, 2009
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Hi Martin, you say you’ve always received “that level of service”. How many times did you have a problem over the 7 years? I’m looking at getting a mover and don’t doubt Powrtouch’s excellent after sales service but I seem to read a lot of posts about it, which makes me question the reliability in the first place. I do of course realise that due to the high number of units sold there are bound to be more faults reported but every time I read about the excellent service provided I think “another one gone wrong”. I’m more interested in getting a reliable mover in the first place than one that will be repaired quickly for nothing.

I’m now waiting for hundreds of posts from satisfied customers who have never had a problem with their Powrtouch.
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Jan 19, 2008
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So far I've never needed them but the reason I bought the PowrTouch is because I've only ever seen one complaint and that wasn't even warranted. Different to the crap, or should I say non service, I received from Truma, the mover I had previously. My engineer wanted a part and they couldn't send it for two weeks because the factory was closed for stock taking. This was in July, the height of the holiday season
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Well done PowrTouch and I only hope they are as good as many say if I ever need them.
 
Aug 23, 2009
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issues over the mover being on the same frequency as next door neighbours door bell was the first issue, followed by user error the second time. Have also telephoned for advice twice and had immediate positive responses.
 
Jan 19, 2008
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Martin24 said:
issues over the mover being on the same frequency as next door neighbours door bell.

What did you do (or PowrTouch) to fix that.
Mine sets my next door but one neighbours door bell. He says he always knows when we're going away even if he can't see us
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If we go off a long way this means we are moving the van out onto the road at 6.30ish. Thankfully we get on, as all do in our road, but it would be nice to get it fixed. I know most bells allow you to change the frequency but it's me causing his bell to ring, not his bell causing the van to take off on it's own
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Mar 14, 2005
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I wonder if you used the direct wire connection if it would cut out the radio signal
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Powrtouch may be able to tell you how to select a different frequency or modify your remote
Certainly its necessary to "pair" the remot to the mover if a replacement is needed
 
Mar 10, 2006
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Top Cat said:
Hi,
Felt that I just had to make comment about the problem I had with the Powr Touch mover and the excellent service provided by Powr Products.
I had the mover fitted by the dealer when I purchased my new caravan in 2008. Since taking delivery I had problems with it simply stalling and restarting whilst in use. Just as if you had taken your finger off of the button. I complained to my dealer at the vans first service and they told me they had replaced the control module and that it was now OK. Well as you may have guessed it was just the same.
I decided now to contact Powr Touch technical direct. They advised me that there were a couple of things I should check. 1. The aerial from the control unit must be taken outside of the van through the floor. 2. Their experience showed that if I had a 110amp hr battery fitted that many standard van chargers might not able to maintain it in a fully charged state. Upon checking the dealer had simply left the aerial laying in the under bed area (fixed bed van). I duly drilled a small hole in the floor, passed the aerial through and carefully sealed it with non setting mastic. The battery, I could not find any charge faults and it held its charge ok. Still the mover was no better. I called Powr Touch again and was asked to take several battery voltage measurements, no load - motor load etc., this I did and all readings were ok. I was also asked to measure the roller distance from the tyres (28mm should be 20mm). Having done this, I again called PT technical and they said they would send out an engineer. Two days later he arrived and without any promting replaced the control unit and adjusted the roller gaps. On testing, one roller would not disengage from the tyre. A quick call by him to PT and he had authority to also replace both actuator motors. The mover is now working fine.

My advice to people looking for a mover - more things than just price are worth considering. The aftersales service of PT is second to none and with their price match policy, it's worth giving them a call to get a quote. I would also have them fit the unit. You can be sure of excellent back-up service. Even if it fails whilst you are away on holiday they will get an engineer out to you.

What an unreliable product!
Not for me i'm afraid.
I would imagine PT are the top dog with the repair service, lets be honest, they have lots of practice!
 
Jul 31, 2010
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Ray.

As someone who obviously has never owned a Powrtouch mover, how do you reach that conclusion.
Most of customers of Powrtouch have nothing but praise for the company. Very rarely do you find someone who post on a forum that they purchased a product and absolutely nothing has happened,that it performs exactly as described, has no faults or peculiar little failings.
Why do you take pleasure in deriding a perfectly acceptable product from a British manufacturer, who try very hard to produce a good quality product and a very good after sales network for when the odd failure does occur. Unless you have personal experience of poor service or product malfunction, I don't see that you are qualified to offer advice on whether these products are good value for money or not.

Steve W
 
Jun 20, 2005
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What an unreliable product!
Not for me i'm afraid.
I would imagine PT are the top dog with the repair service, lets be honest, they have lots of practice!
[/quote]
Hi Ray
I'm surprised at your comments particularly as I think you always give a balanced view.
I don't think there is one make of caravan that is not without it's faults so on your basis of thought I'm surprised you have bought one at all.
smiley-wink.gif


As for the movers I only have experience with Truma and Powrtouch.
Some years back the Truma lost a roller whilst up in the Highlands. A quick phone call to Truma resulted in a new roller delivered to the site, special delivery, next day. Easy to fit and that was that.
My latest Powrtouch , nearly four years old, does the job but has had the following issues:-

The red isolation key lost its brass pin. Replaced by return.

The manual tommy bar wrench socket broke. Replaced by return.

The main motor gearbox bearings failed . Replaced 48 hours later at my home by a Powrtouch engineer. Seems a faulty batch of bearings had been supplied by a TP manufacturer.
Two things .
The failures were not directly of Powrtouch's fault.
Their responses to my problems were instantaneous. Absolute peace of mind.
What more could I want and would buy powrtouch again? Yes.
smiley-kiss.gif
 
Mar 14, 2005
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I have in the past commented on the level of service various manufactures provide, and what messages that service may be hiding. I know and still maintain that a good after sales service can hide failings in design or reliability of a product or service.

But I suspect that every make and model of mover has some history of failures. It is the nature of the usage product that a failure is likely to occur at a relatively critical time, and in many cases the failure may jeopardise a family holiday which is a very precious and sensitive commodity for most families.

So any manufacture that fails to recognise the crisis that a caravan product failure causes, is not truly tuned into their customers needs.

Whether there are any great differences in the reliability of different makes and models of movers and how that might direct manufactures approach to their after sales service is difficult to establish. But from the customers perspective, what is important is the ability to get the product working again. Time is of the essence.

In general, even if a product has inherent reliability faults, the customers perspective can be skewed in favour of a company with a proven track record of good and fast customer service.

There are many other companies where customer service enhances the customers experience and encourages then to buy again. There must be many but some I know of include;-
  • Marks & Spencer
  • Lakeland Plastics
  • NFU

Rarely the cheapest in their field, nor the most expensive, but as an overall package they are perceived as offering good value especially where customer service is concerned. One mover manufacture stands head and shoulders ahead in this respect.
 
Jan 19, 2008
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RAY said:
What an unreliable product!
Not for me i'm afraid.
I would imagine PT are the top dog with the repair service, lets be honest, they have lots of practice!

I was going to reply earlier to this comment but simply couldn't be bothered. I just saw it as as trying to flamebait but the replies that were posted were appropriate and correct. As the Prof says, all things will break at the very time you need them, take a wiper motor for example, but in having a choice in waiting for a response for two weeks or an immediate response I will go for the latter.
I'm basing my assumption on the many, many posts praising PowrTouch and not from experience of their backup because I've never needed them. It's gratifying to know that the service is there though if I ever do.
The two mover manufacturers I've mentioned in this post and my post earlier are the ones I've had experience of in having bought their products. E-Go, Rhino etc. I cannot comment on because I've never owned one
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Aug 4, 2005
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Re Powrtouch reliability and customer service I can only go on my own experience with them. I have had a different powrtouch fitted to my last two caravans, I'm guessing a time span of approx 7 years. I have had to have an engineer come to carry out a repair, I think no more than twice in that time. I have phoned their technical helpline on more occasions than that and received advice that solved any problem I had. Latest time was a few weeks back when one of the rollers seemed to have failed when I was in the Dordogne. The tech guy diagnosed the most likely cause as a simple slack/faulty connection and told me how to check this out, two minutes later mover was fixed. Any time I have phoned I have always been assured that if the online advice fails to solve the problem then an engineer would be arranged. In my experience whether it be to fit a mover or repair one the engineer always makes contact swiftly and arrives on the time and date as promised.
Regards the movers breakdown rate considering these items are fitted under the van about a foot above the road surface and subject to all the spray and muck that gets flung up I don't think it's unreasonable to expect an odd problem from time to time.
If I had to buy another mover tomorrow Powrtouch would be my first port of call.
Robert
 
Mar 10, 2006
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Dustydog said:

What an unreliable product!
Not for me i'm afraid.
I would imagine PT are the top dog with the repair service, lets be honest, they have lots of practice!
Hi Ray
I'm surprised at your comments particularly as I think you always give a balanced view.
I don't think there is one make of caravan that is not without it's faults so on your basis of thought I'm surprised you have bought one at all.
smiley-wink.gif


As for the movers I only have experience with Truma and Powrtouch.
Some years back the Truma lost a roller whilst up in the Highlands. A quick phone call to Truma resulted in a new roller delivered to the site, special delivery, next day. Easy to fit and that was that.
My latest Powrtouch , nearly four years old, does the job but has had the following issues:-

The red isolation key lost its brass pin. Replaced by return.

The manual tommy bar wrench socket broke. Replaced by return.

The main motor gearbox bearings failed . Replaced 48 hours later at my home by a Powrtouch engineer. Seems a faulty batch of bearings had been supplied by a TP manufacturer.
Two things .
The failures were not directly of Powrtouch's fault.
Their responses to my problems were instantaneous. Absolute peace of mind.
What more could I want and would buy powrtouch again? Yes.
smiley-kiss.gif


[/quote]

Dusty
Thats my point, your mover has failed, repeatably.
When you consider how little use a mover has, over a year, then the mover in question is dire.
My 7 year old Reich has never broke, no doubt it will, but lets be honest, every mover should give a reasonable length of service, before replacement is required, say after 5 years use.
Consider what a mover consists of, theres not a lot to go wrong.
If your car broke as often, would you then be posting praise on the car dealer for mending it quickly?

I just don't understand the constant posts praising a REPAIR service.
Buy British? Not if its unreliable.
 
Jun 20, 2005
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Hi Ray
I appreciate the validity of your point.
We caravan all year round and use the mover a heck of a lot. It's a heavy duty 2x2 rather than a 4x4 moving nearly 1700kgs. It does it quite well . Apart from the bearings the rest were minor issues.
Without wishing to swell our Italian Jonny's head , his point about statistics probably has some bearing here (sic).
If we knew the frequency of failures in relation to the numbers sold we may gain a clearer picture.
All I know from this forum and two others the Powrtouch seems a popular buy and the backup service is second to none. If failures were very frequent and expensive I doubt Powrtouch would still be in business.
The other odd thing is that it is most unusual for the majority to praise a product that fails . But then that five year guarantee and customer care does help.
Prof John hit the nail on the head with his analogy to Marks and Spencer.
 
Dec 11, 2009
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I was going to post this earlier but Ray beat me to it.

Just a general point, not aimed at anyone or any make of mover.

I wonder how many faults there are per hour used? What's the average time someone actually uses their mover? 3 minutes at the storage site, 3 minutes putting on drive, 3 minutes taking off drive, 3 minutes at camp site. Same time for return trip. Call that 30 minutes per trip at the outside. Twenty trips a year? Ten hours maximum per year and that's probably lots more than average.

Now think of the component parts.

Electric motor: the wiper motor on my car has run for hundreds of hours without a fault
Gearbox: the gearbox on my car has run for thousands of hours without fault
Remote control: my TV one gets a real hammering (when Mrs Chrisbee lets me use it
dont_tell_anyone_smile.gif
) without a fault
Control box: a PCB & relays, my car's have thousands of hours use
Wiring: if correctly installed what's to go wrong?

The positioning of the motors obviously make them susceptible to water damage faults but they should be designed and built with this in mind. Likewise the bouncing about of the caravan makes the control box vulnerable but again they should be built to withstand it.

If your washing machine went wrong at the same hourly/use rate you'd be jumping up or down, not singing the praises of the repair man.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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I am not trying to denigrate any specific manufactures products but this thread is demonstrating how easy it is dupe the public.

The promise and reports of a great after sales service has convinced many caravanner's to opt for one particular manufactures products. This has been a very successful strategy as demonstrated by the large numbers of posts praising the company and its increasing market share.

There is no statistical evidence available to me to indicate that products form any one manufacturer are significant more or less reliable than any other, so one manufacture has found a way to stand out from the crowd and strangely for what should be the wrong reason - "We are good at fixing our mistakes"

In other threads relating to power consumption of movers I have pointed out the surprisingly small power drain they have on a battery, which also alludes to the limited time they are actually working. Chrisbee has put that into perspective in terms of Mean Time before failure (MTBF), and in that context the movers we do hear about represent rather poor value.

The point is these products have now been with us for more than 13 years. More development seems to have been put into making mover variations, and less on making the systems more bomb proof.

What I can't knock is the fact caravan movers have enabled many people to continuing to caravan long after the time they would have previously stopped, and that was one of the prime reasons that Carver & Co persevered to produce the first caravan mover.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Its very valid to expect total reliability and its also valid to say that you don't want good service for a duff product
I can only say about 2 movers that I have owned just as others can only say how their own individual unit has performed
More people can say about Powrtouch because more people have them
I had a Carver for 7 years and after 6 months it needed a new motor under warranty and then the control panel failed at 18 months costing me £200+
The Powrtouch is now nearly 5 years old and the warranty is still in force backed by excellent service that has rarely been needed
The remote was replaced in 2 days while I was in France when it was damaged by heavy rain getting into the mechanism(operator error?)
The van wheel came off and the weight fell onto the Powrtouch mover which acted as a skid for 200 yards and it still worked
It was replaced as part of the van repair with no problem over parts availability
Last week my friend replaced his 7 year old Powrtouch with ---one guess
smiley-cool.gif
 
Mar 10, 2006
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WatsonJohnG said:
Its very valid to expect total reliability and its also valid to say that you don't want good service for a duff product
I can only say about 2 movers that I have owned just as others can only say how their own individual unit has performed
More people can say about Powrtouch because more people have them
I had a Carver for 7 years and after 6 months it needed a new motor under warranty and then the control panel failed at 18 months costing me £200+
The Powrtouch is now nearly 5 years old and the warranty is still in force backed by excellent service that has rarely been needed
The remote was replaced in 2 days while I was in France when it was damaged by heavy rain getting into the mechanism(operator error?)
The van wheel came off and the weight fell onto the Powrtouch mover which acted as a skid for 200 yards and it still worked
It was replaced as part of the van repair with no problem over parts availability
Last week my friend replaced his 7 year old Powrtouch with ---one guess
smiley-cool.gif

A Reich of cause!
smiley-surprised.gif

But the right Reich, the model with the inboard motor gearbox, out off the water spray from the road wheels.
The one with the galvanized metal work, finished with a durable black Finnish, and held together by stainless steel bolts.
smiley-laughing.gif
 
Mar 4, 2007
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I have just had a Reich fitted to my van. The idea of inboard gearboxes and motors, together with the quality of construction really appealed.
Have had the Powr Touch on my previous van, thought it was a little slow when in operation, the Reich seems to be a bit faster.

Each to their own.
Dodger
 

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