Don't misunderstand grease being flung out of the cogs, that's totally normal, its the microscopic film on the cog's contact faces that matters, the rest of it is only of some psychological value to the observer!
Grease is nothing more than a sponge like structure holding an oil, avoiding it drying out is what is critical.
Grease is nothing more than a sponge like structure holding an oil, avoiding it drying out is what is critical.
just went out to move van and my mover not working, when powered up a bit of smoke came out of unit. let it sit and checked all fuses, tried again and trys to move for about a second and then remote travel indicator light turns red. HELP.
Which bit did the smoke come from?
I assume here the word "unit" is referring to the control unit?
If so time to speak to A&R , and check the credit on your card, I am afraid.
LINK
My experience there left me both impressed and pleased.
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Took van back, swapped mother board in ECU and all good now.
I partially disassembled the movers tonight. All bearings seem good and they are in very good condition generally. There is no sign of water ingress anywhere and plenty of unhardened grease. I think the van can hardly ever have toured after these were fitted, to be honest.
I also pulled the bushes for inspection as suggested. I've attached some pics of one motor's set. The other side were similar. I've cleaned the push connector contact area. Would you bother changing these?
All working well on reassembly. The slower side is on the far side of the van, but runs closer in speed if I connect it to the shorter cables. One set is about 1m long (so cannot swap sides on the van), the other about 3m. I'm thinking to try them under load (ref JTQ) before final fixing and sealing, so if she does favour one side I'll order and fit a replacement set from Powrtouch. I'd hope the voltage drop over the 4.5m full length to the 'faster' motor would even up my speed. But of course, I may get lucky and it not really be needed, hence the initial fit and test.
I also pulled the bushes for inspection as suggested. I've attached some pics of one motor's set. The other side were similar. I've cleaned the push connector contact area. Would you bother changing these?
All working well on reassembly. The slower side is on the far side of the van, but runs closer in speed if I connect it to the shorter cables. One set is about 1m long (so cannot swap sides on the van), the other about 3m. I'm thinking to try them under load (ref JTQ) before final fixing and sealing, so if she does favour one side I'll order and fit a replacement set from Powrtouch. I'd hope the voltage drop over the 4.5m full length to the 'faster' motor would even up my speed. But of course, I may get lucky and it not really be needed, hence the initial fit and test.
Brushes
It looks to me as though the Brushes have plenty of life left in them.
Motor speed
There can be no doubt that a motor mover will consume a several Amps of current when its running and moving a caravan. Consequently voltage drop along the length of the supply cables could make a difference. Whilst it would be nice to have matched speeds, it's really not a major problem as whoever is driving the mover can make in course corrections.
Some mover manufacturers do suggest cable length matching to each motore to account for voltage drops.
It looks to me as though the Brushes have plenty of life left in them.
Motor speed
There can be no doubt that a motor mover will consume a several Amps of current when its running and moving a caravan. Consequently voltage drop along the length of the supply cables could make a difference. Whilst it would be nice to have matched speeds, it's really not a major problem as whoever is driving the mover can make in course corrections.
Some mover manufacturers do suggest cable length matching to each motore to account for voltage drops.
The cabling associated with high power 12V devices is a science all of it's own. An end device running at say 1200 watts (number chosen to make the example calculations easier) draws 1200/12 = 100AMPS. At 240 V the current is 1200/240 = 5Amps. To carry current you need much larger diameter cable.
After many years of dealing with 12V wiring on boats, it's very easy to "let the smoke out of the wires" - small diameter cable equals higher resistance and the cable will get hot, possibly melt the insulation, and potentially catch fire.
After many years of dealing with 12V wiring on boats, it's very easy to "let the smoke out of the wires" - small diameter cable equals higher resistance and the cable will get hot, possibly melt the insulation, and potentially catch fire.
My Powertouch Classic always had a slight tendency to move left as you looked from the front of the caravan. I checked tyre clearance, input contacts etc but eventually decided I could live with it.
Following on from Profs post my offside motor had the shorter cable and that’s the direction it veered to. It was only slight and noticeable if you wanted a longer straight movement. Putting it on the drive, pitch or storage it really wasn’t that inconvenient.
Following on from Profs post my offside motor had the shorter cable and that’s the direction it veered to. It was only slight and noticeable if you wanted a longer straight movement. Putting it on the drive, pitch or storage it really wasn’t that inconvenient.
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If I was a gambling man I bet once fitted you will not notice any difference in the individual motor speeds. You know the mechanics and electrics are in good order. Follow the good advice on wiring length. I’ve checked my Powrtouch and see both motor cables are within 12” of each other .
Without the units having speed control integrated into the system, mine have not, then expecting the caravan to run straight under all conditions, is "chasing rainbows".
The "effort" coming from the battery will bias to the easier route.
What happens with speed of these motors, under no load, so low levels of current and consequently voltage drop, has very little relevance to what each individual motor will encounter under the torque needed to move the caravan over differing challenges.
As Prof has said, we live with that limitation as it is so readily corrected for either via the handset or a bit of applied manual bias directly to the van.
IMO, way better than seeking the significant additional complication the control system would need to control individual speeds, and for me the expense that would add into the build costs of a mover system,
The "effort" coming from the battery will bias to the easier route.
What happens with speed of these motors, under no load, so low levels of current and consequently voltage drop, has very little relevance to what each individual motor will encounter under the torque needed to move the caravan over differing challenges.
As Prof has said, we live with that limitation as it is so readily corrected for either via the handset or a bit of applied manual bias directly to the van.
IMO, way better than seeking the significant additional complication the control system would need to control individual speeds, and for me the expense that would add into the build costs of a mover system,
Thanks for all the knowledgeable replies. Noted that I could be "chasing rainbows". I'm definitely going to suck it and see initially and if it's within coo-ee, I'll leave it alone.
If the difference in speed was due to cable length, then the side with the shortest wires (least cable losses) would actually perform faster and cause the caravan to swing towards the slower side, Based on your comment it seems yours is veering towards the shorter wire side, which suggests that something else is causing the speed differential.
Our jockey wheel is central and have never had a caravan where it is off to the side? Our mover also moves our caravan in a perfectly straight line?
I don’t think I ha seen any caravans where the jockey wheel is central, if they were they would have to to either behind or in front of the handbrake, but they can’t sit behind because of the brake rod & they can’t sit in front because of the draw tube. So they are normally hanging on the left hand chassis member, so not central 🤔
Apologies you are correct. Ours is slightly off centre towards nearside, but doesn't affect direction when using the mover. Handbrake is definitely towards the offside and way off centre.
Probably a more important influence from the jockey wheel, than its symmetry or otherwise, is like the electric flow to the motors take the route of least difficulty, it will take its least difficult route it can roll along, so could bias the tracking of the van's path.
Placed a long way from the axle it has some level of leverage to affect this, and it will be more evident with single axle caravans than twins, where the latter are more resistive to turning.
Placed a long way from the axle it has some level of leverage to affect this, and it will be more evident with single axle caravans than twins, where the latter are more resistive to turning.
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All sorts of things can cause an imbalance in a mover. Our storage site slopes slightly left - right and gravity takes the jockey wheel down hill...
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